The Nursing program at ISTH was initiated at the XX^th ISTH conference in Sydney, Australia, 2005, to provide a unique forum for nurses internationally to share practice related knowledge pertaining to disorders of hemostasis in both pediatric and adult populations.

To date, the ISTH and its congress organizing committees recognize that nurses play a key role in the care of and in promoting adherence in patients with chronic disorders of haemostasis. Nurses are vital in their role to assess, educate, advocate, and optimize care for patients and are integrally involved in clinical research.

Nurses are important members of the care team because of their direct involvement in information flow, and by virtue of their direct, one-on-one interactions with patients and their families^1. Interactions necessarily include the need to education on the: nature of the disease, choice of appropriate products used to treat, techniques for self-therapy, indications for acute treatment versus on-the-spot prophylaxis, availability of home care services, financial coverage for treatment and life planning (career selection, participation in sports, etc)².

Nurses are an essential part of the circle of care which begins with the patient as source of new information and ends with the patient as beneficiary of scientific advances. ‘Care coordination is a core foundation of professional nursing practice, reflecting interdisciplinary communication skills, evaluation, judgment and decision-making by nurses, and is not achieved by reliance on health information technology alone’³.

1. O’Daniel M, Rosenstein AH. Professional Communication and Team Collaboration. In: Hughes RG, editor. Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2008 Apr. Chapter 33. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2637/

2. J Interprof Care. 2010 Sep;24(5):587-96. Final ACO Rules Adopt ANA’s Recommendations on Nursing Leadership, Patient-Centered Care, 10/25/2011