Updates from the VfP - APSI
from academic professional societies
"Rehabilitation Care" Nursing Symposium – November 24, 2026
Join us as the latest research findings, professional policy perspectives, and practical experiences come together.
Rehabilitation Care: Role. Impact. Responsibility.
Wann: Dienstag, 24. November 2026
Wo: Volkshaus Zürich
Here’s how you can help shape the future of rehabilitation care:
How can rehabilitation care make its impact more visible and strengthen its professional role? This symposium provides a platform for that—with insights, meaningful dialogue, and concrete recommendations for action.
Programm-Highlights:
- Kickoff Event on Professional Policy with Patrick Hässig—Looking Beyond Our Own Institution to Examine the Perception, Impact, and Responsibility of Rehabilitation Care
- New Position Paper—Presented by AFG Rehabilitation Care and IGRP: Key Findings from a National Survey and an Expert Panel, Including Recommendations for the Future Direction
- World Café – We’d love to hear your experiences! Join the discussion with colleagues from clinical practice, nursing development, education, research, and management
- Poster Presentation – Current Projects Highlight Developments and Foster Dialogue
Registration deadline: November 6, 2026
Now Sign In and get more information!
Calls and announcements
A Buzzy for Every Child: Crowdfunding by Kind+Spital
Kind+Spital has launched the “A Buzzy for Every Child” campaign. The Buzzy is a small device that buzzes and cools. It is placed on the skin just before the needle is inserted and helps distract from the pain. Children and adolescents with chronic conditions—such as diabetes, growth hormone therapy, or regular blood draws—are expected to be better able to cope with the pain and anxiety associated with recurring needle procedures.
Families can request a Buzzy on the campaign page. The devices are distributed in the order in which requests are received. The campaign is run as a crowdfunding initiative, and 50 francs secures one Buzzy.
We ask that you pass this campaign along to affected families in your network, support them, or share it.
View the flyer
All the details about the campaign
Join the Discussion: New Quick Tips on Medication Safety
As part of CIRRNET, the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation regularly publishes anonymized real-world cases as “Quick Info” updates. Currently, there are two cases: a duplicate prescription during a switch from basal insulin to another medication, and medication found in the wrong box. Both situations are familiar to nurses in their daily work. You can use the comment feature to share your experiences and suggested solutions.
All Quick Facts
PatBox.ch: Patients and family members report safety incidents
On the PatBox.ch reporting platform, patients and their loved ones can report (potentially) safety-compromising incidents, regardless of the institution or sector. More than 750 reports have been received to date. The latest issue of PatBox.ch News focuses on cardiovascular diseases. It includes sample reports as well as links to resources for healthcare professionals and those affected. Please feel free to direct patients and their families to the platform.
You can find more information here.
Room of Horrors: A Manual for Diagnostic Radiology
The “Room of Horrors” is a simulation exercise in which teams identify risks to patient safety in a simulated room. The manual for diagnostic radiology was published in July. It contains four cases involving MRI, X-ray, CT, and the reception area. The cases were tested at the Spirit of MTR conference. The manual has not yet undergone comprehensive pilot testing and is currently available only in German. Manuals are also available for hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, family medicine and pediatric practices, pharmacies, psychiatry, and home health care (Spitex). A manual for obstetrics is planned for early 2027. All manuals are freely available. Organizations can thus conduct the training themselves with minimal effort.
Go to the project page
"Orange Is The New Safe" Podcast: New Episodes to Listen To
New episodes of the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation’s podcast were produced in conjunction with Patient Safety Week in September 2026. They focus on the theme “Noncommunicable Diseases: Providing Safe and Effective Care.” These episodes are of particular interest to our members:
- Support Throughout Cancer Treatment: How Patient Navigators Provide Guidance
- Hospital@Home: Hospital-Level Care at Home—What Does This Mean for Safety?
- By People with Mental Illness, for People with Mental Illness—The Role of Peer Specialists in Psychiatry
All episodes are available for free on Spotify.
Swiss Public Health Conference 2027, Call for Abstracts
What does the future hold for healthcare professions? The Swiss Public Health Conference 2027 will address this topic under the title “The Future of Healthcare Professionals: From Challenges to Solutions.” It will take place on August 31 and September 1, 2027, in Sion. The conference will focus on challenges such as demographic change, staffing shortages, and rising costs, as well as new roles, competencies, and the governance of the healthcare professions. Abstracts may be submitted starting November 2, 2026.
Events
You can find the latest events from our partners and members at any time on our Website – or at LinkedIn.
We'd also like to draw your attention to some other events:
Online Lunchtime Seminar on Peer Support: Recovery Colleges
People with personal experience of mental illness, addiction, or chronic illness are increasingly supporting others facing similar challenges, for example in psychiatry, addiction treatment, and rehabilitation. The third and final lunchtime seminar in the series, taking place on November 11, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., will focus on the topic of Recovery Colleges. The discussion will cover opportunities, challenges, and current research findings on peer support. Participation is free of charge.
More information about the seminar
Global Health, Planetary Boundaries
How do changes in Earth’s systems affect health, and what options for action exist in research, policy, and practice? The English-language webinar “From Planetary Boundaries to Human Health: Understanding Earth-System Change and Pathways for Action” begins with a keynote address by Prof. Jan Fehr. This will be followed by time for discussion and exchange. It will take place online on December 3, 2026, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Digital Health Literacy Symposium 2026
Who do we trust when it comes to health information, and what is needed to ensure that digital services and e-health are perceived as understandable, secure, and reliable? The symposium organized by Swiss Post AG and the Careum Center for Health Literacy will explore these questions.
Date: December 10, 2026, 9:15 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Location: Swiss Post AG, Wankdorfallee 4, Bern
Program and Registration
CIRRNET Conference on January 19, 2027, in Bern
Under the theme “Between Error and Progress: Safety for Patients and Teams,” the conference will address the question of what happens after an error occurs: How do organizations learn from critical incidents, and how are professionals supported afterward? The hospitality industry and public transportation sectors will also provide external perspectives. The conference also celebrates CIRRNET’s 20th anniversary. It will take place for the first time at Welle7 at the Bern train station, exclusively in person and with simultaneous interpretation (German/French/Italian).
More information and a link to the waiting list
Continuing Education: CAS in Safety in Healthcare (MedSafe), UZH
In January 2027, the CAS in Safety in Healthcare (MedSafe) will begin at the University of Zurich. It is offered by the Helvetiae Center of Excellence for Medicine, Ethics, and Law (MERH). The program is designed for medical and healthcare professionals with work experience, lawyers, and other healthcare leaders. There are still spots available. Dr. Annemarie Fridrich, Executive Director of the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation, will serve as a lecturer.
Read more
Save the Date: European Symposium on Digital Health Literacy in Montpellier
March 15–16, 2027 | Montpellier, France
The 2nd European Digital Health Literacy Symposium will take place in Montpellier from March 15 to 16, 2027.
The symposium is aimed at anyone interested in digital health literacy and health literacy in the context of artificial intelligence. Researchers, experts, policymakers, and organizations will discuss the following topics at the international level: perspectives across the entire lifespan, equity, and responsible implementation
Researchers, educators, and industry partners may submit a contribution in the form of a poster or an oral presentation (in English). Further information about the program and the call for abstracts will follow.
Anyone interested in submitting a paper is encouraged to contact Carole Délétroz (HESAV, carole.deletroz@hesav.ch) in advance. She will be happy to assist with the submission process.
Please save the date and stay tuned for more information.
Follow us on LinkedIn
We're thrilled: Thanks to our regular activity on LinkedIn, we gained over 700 new followers last year!
This shows that our topics are resonating, and we’d like to keep building on this momentum together with you.
Follow our LinkedIn page, if you haven't already, and stay up to date on the latest news in nursing science, events, and articles from our AFGs.
Tip: Would you like to invite your own network to follow us? It's easy—we've put together a short guide with tips and tricks on our website: Tips & Tricks
Every interaction—whether it's a "Like," a comment, or sharing a post—helps us raise the profile of nursing science. Thank you very much for your support!
Jobs
You can find our job board right here here on our website.
We would like to further strengthen the platform and would appreciate it if our collective members would share job openings and calls for proposals from their institutions with us. This will allow us to publish them easily via LinkedIn disseminate and increase visibility within the nursing science community.
We welcome feedback and ideas from your workplace.