Collaboration with ACNAP

International Liaison Outside Europe

Nursing Council of the American Heart Association

After several years of informal collaboration between the Nursing Council of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Working group on Cardiovascular Nursing (now Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Profession in the European Society of Cardiology) the two groups decided during a meeting at the AHA congress in Chicago 2002 to formalise their collaboration.

Conferences
The two Councils plan to continue and extend their collaboration regarding the programme at the annual ESC and AHA conferences. The coordination between both AHA and ESC nursing sessions will be enhanced as well as the trans-Atlantic participation in AHA and ESC conferences. Educational initiatives of AHA and ESC will be announced on their respective Web Pages and journals.
The liaison of CCNAP to the AHA Cardiovascular Nursing Council is the Council’s past chair; Tone M. Norekval 2008 – 2010; and Christi Deaton 2010 - 2012.
The AHA Liaison, International Representative of the Leadership Committee of the Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing (CVSN) Council for the term 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015 is Donna Fitzsimons, current Chair of the Council.
The liaison of the Nursing Council of the American Heart Association is the Chair of their International Committee, currently Lynne Braun.

Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA)

CCNAP also has established a strong liaison with the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA) of the U.S.  Activities include joint sessions at the ESC Congress and CCNAP Annual Spring Meeting, and the writing of a white paper promoting the role of nurses in cardiovascular prevention.  This paper was published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing and the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing in July 2011 (full text).  CCNAP members who have participated in writing this paper include: Christi Deaton, Catriona Jennings, Tiny Jaarsma, Sabina DeGeest, David Thompson, Simon Stewart, Sabina Roos, Kathy Berra, Barbara Fletcher, and Laura Hayman. 

Research collaboration

In view of research collaboration, it is envisioned that the model of the UNITE group could be extended across continents. The funding in this regard needs to be further explored as it would create major opportunities for cardiovascular nursing research.

Liaison with ESC groups

CCNAP has strong collaborations with other ESC communities, including the Heart Failure Association, European Heart Rhythm Association, European Association on Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, Council on Cardiovascular Primary Care, and Acute Cardiac Care Working Group.  These collaborations include nursing involvement as members of boards and committees.