Health · Healthcare & Policy · 6 hrs ago
Spain starts process to create emergency and critical care nursing specialty
Spain’s National Health System has started the process to create a new nursing specialty for critical care, urgent care and emergencies.
The proposal was put forward by two nursing groups and would cover care in hospitals and outside them, including mobile emergency services.
The EIR residency system currently has six nursing specialties, and this would add another route for nurses to train.
The proposed training would last two years, with placements in emergency departments, intensive care units, mobile units and health coordination centres.
Nurses would learn to assess patients quickly, identify life-threatening problems and provide advanced support, including care for people on assisted ventilation.
The aim is to improve care and patient safety by helping nurses provide more consistent care as patients move between services.
The agreement begins a formal process; the specialty has not yet been established.
Spain’s National Health System Human Resources Commission has agreed to begin processing a new nursing specialty in critical care, urgent care and emergencies.
The proposal was submitted by two Spanish nursing societies representing intensive care and emergency nursing.
It would bring the three fields together in one specialty, with a proposed two-year residency and clinical rotations.
The training would cover hospital and out-of-hospital care, including mobile emergency units and health coordination centres.
A nursing division of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine has argued that emergency nursing and critical care nursing should have separate specialties.
- Who
- The National Health System Human Resources Commission agreed to begin processing the specialty. Two nursing societies submitted the proposal.
- What
- Spain is beginning the process to create a nursing specialty in critical care, urgent care and emergencies.
- When
- The commission’s decision was reported on 26 October 2026.
- Where
- Spain’s National Health System.
- Why
- The proposal aims to recognise nurses’ specific skills and strengthen the quality, safety and continuity of care in critical situations.
The Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Units Nursing and the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Care Nursing
The nursing division of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine
Scope of the specialty
The Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Units Nursing and the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Care Nursing
They proposed combining critical care, urgent care and emergencies in one specialty.
The nursing division of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine
It argued that emergency nursing and critical care nursing should each have their own specialty.
Training approach
The Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Units Nursing and the Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Care Nursing
The two nursing societies said the fields have similar competencies in more than 80 percent of cases, while noting that training paths could later differ.
The nursing division of the Spanish Society of Emergency Medicine
It opposed bringing the fields together, according to the article.
Spain approved the medical specialty in emergency and emergency care.
The medical specialty appeared in the specialist health training intake, with 82 training places.
The National Health System Human Resources Commission agreed to begin processing the nursing specialty.
- Proposed specialty
- Critical Care, Urgent Care and Emergency Nursing
- Proposing societies
- Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Units Nursing; Spanish Society of Emergency and Emergency Care Nursing
- Proposed training
- Two years
- Proposed rotations
- Intensive care, hospital emergency departments, mobile units and health coordination centres
- Existing EIR branches
- Six
- Medical emergency specialty places
- 82 in the 2026 intake; 279 in the next competition
3 sources
What people are saying
specialties are a necessity and a guarantee of the quality of care in different areas
they provide patient safety
specialties should not be created just for the sake of creating them
They are different areas of nursing, but with more than 80 percent of competencies in common