The Professional Societies

The National Board of Health in Denmark increasingly asks the Professional Societies and the Danish Nursing Society to participate in councils and committees, for example when it comes to working groups under the The National Board of Health. Thus, nurses are an increasingly important factor in Danish health politics, contributing with nursing expertise and clinical and managerial skills.

WHAT IS A PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY?

According to the constitution of the Danish Nurses’ Organization, a Professional Society is defined as a nationwide network of professional nurses working on nursing development within a specific scope of nursing practice. The scope of practice must be encompassed within one or more of the four functional domains of nursing:

• performing clinical nursing care
• supervising and coordinating nursing care
• communicating nursing care and
• developing nursing care.

The mission of the Professional Societes is to

• promote collegial unity between members of the society
• provide support to engage in mutual training and work tasks
• contribute to members’ continuing learning, including meetings and courses
• encourage and assist in research within the specific scope of nursing practice
• support nursing development
• promote cooperation across the Professional Societies.