Maria Hayes RGN, BNS, MSc (Clinical Practice), FFNMRCSI, Honorary Teaching Associate RCSI, MSc (Advanced Practice), RANP, RNP, RNR (Rad), Adjunct Lecturer/Assistant Professor University College Dublin, FHFA. Maria is a registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Cardiothoracic surgery and current President of the Irish Nurses Cardiovascular Association (INCA). She is actively engaged with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and was previously the European Nurse advisor on the study group on Valvular Heart Disease. She is a current member of the ACNAP Education Committee. She is a committee member of the Irish Association Critical Care Nurses (IACCN) since 2016. She is also a committee member of CONNECT Cardiac Surgery International Nursing & Allied Professional Research Network. She was awarded the FFNMRCSI Fellowship of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery RCSI by examination in 2017 and was awarded a Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology Heart Failure Association.