45th National Congress of the Sociedad Española de Enfermería Intensiva y Unidades Coronarias and 1st Iberian International Congress on Intensive Nursing

A challenge finally met, an international congress with our colleagues from Portugal. They were investigating before we were able to within our area of knowledge – care – because the bachelor's degree did not enable access to a master's degree or doctorate. We had to wait for the Bologna agreements of 2006.

Together we shared experiences, innovations and research projects. We hope that this will be the first of many such congresses. You are invited to attend the 2nd international congress that will be held in Porto, pending setting the specific dates, in April–May.

We shared the congress and our dreams with physiotherapists, for the third consecutive year; our collaboration is gaining in strength. Physiotherapists are essential in ICUs; they should form part of care teams and there is increasingly more evidence of this. Ageing critical patients and their frailty require more and better nursing and physiotherapist care. There were three speakers at this congress, 43 moderators according to their area of expertise and per working group and 34 workshop teachers.

The joint sessions tackled clearly cross-cutting themes. Simulation, a training methodology that can help to train teamwork, providing the teachers taking part represent both the nursing and medical professions. And the management of analgosedation and delirium, where nurses are crucial if there are protocols that allow self-administration of medication.

The up-to-date sessions covered topics that are shared with physiotherapy such as swallowing and phonation, and new updates of clinical practice guidelines. And the round-table discussions addressed topical issues, such as possible roles of advanced practice nurses and the current organ and tissue donation situation. Strategies to prevent and treat post ICU syndrome were discussed, some implemented in Portugal, as well as mobilisation protocols by the interprofessional working group on early rehabilitation, a group recently launched in the society that we hope will be long-lived and joined by speech therapists and occupational therapists.

In relation to the technology/humanisation pair, a roundtable dealt with the technification of nursing interventions; to what extent technology impedes interaction with patients and their family members and vice versa, whether it enhances patient safety in a setting with a high risk of human error.

Thirteen workshops were held, 6 financed by industry, classic workshops on therapeutic hypothermia by Becton Dickinson/Bard, and Baxter's renal therapies. There were second sessions of workshops, such as those on beds and devices for mobilisation, joint-financed by Linet and Arjo, and the training session on delirium, by Orion Pharma. The first ECMO workshop financed by Maquet and a double session of the workshop on ultrasound-guided puncture were held due to the demand expressed at the last congress, supported by Sonsonite and Vygon.

The other 7 workshops were financed by the society, some already in their fourth sessions, because they are highly valued year on year by the congress attendees and there is ongoing demand (tracheotomy workshop, non-invasive mechanical ventilation workshop and simulation workshop).

The bioethics working group, in addition to holding the interprofessional workshop in previous congresses, presented the results of the “Dying in ICU” survey.

The quality and number of accepted abstracts were another source of great satisfaction. Seventy-three oral communications and 288 posters were presented, of which 5 were in video poster format, and one will be selected according to the rules published by the simulation group to be posted on the SEEIUC website.

The awards, like every year, were presented in the closing ceremony and the poster prize is yet to be awarded. We want to encourage congress attendees to become members, to stand for the society's awards and grants. A first step towards more active participation in the society, standing for vacant positions on the scientific committee and executive board, and applying as new members of working groups, we already have seven, all published on the internet, as well as the form to contact the coordinator of each.