On 21-23 November 2018 Warsaw held the meeting of  WHO mission: Optimizing the Role of Nurses in New Integrated Primary Care Pilot Programme. The WHO experts included: Howard Catton (ICN), Chris Stockport (Great Britain), Margrieta Langins (Canada), Paloma Cuchí (Chile) and Polish experts:

Anna Koziel (World Bank), Katarzyna Wiktorzak (National Health Fund), Urszula Jaworska (Urszula Jaworska Foundation), Medical and Diagnostic Centre in Siedlce: Artur Prusaczyk, Paweł Żuk, Marika Guzek, and the representatives of nursing specialists: i.a. Polish Chamber of Nurses and Midwives and Polish Nurses Association.

The Medical University of Lodz was represented by dr  Dorota Kilańska, a specialist for integrated health care of MUL Department of Health Systems Development. The presented issues concerned i.a. models of integrated primary care in the world, principles of inter-professional collaboration which begins at the undergraduate level of education (teaching program at various faculties which includes joint design of integrated primary care by ’case study’ method). What was underlined by the lecturers was a new role of nurses in the integrated primary care, communication improvement by means of an electronic patient record and standardized (EBM) care guides to support high quality and low cost health care.

The mission members also interviewed the experts and, as a result, a road map to strengthen the role of the nurse in Polish Health Care system will be designed.