Nurse of the 21st century. Exchange of good practices in continuing education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Nurse of the 21st century. Exchange of good practices in continuing education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The project was an example of a strategic partnership supporting the exchange of good practices. The partnership was created by three entities from three EU Member States, and the project responded to the needs of all Partners. It is worth emphasizing that although the formal partnership was created by three research and training organisations from Poland, Germany and Belgium, all Partners were very well prepared in the area of needs and expectations of the nursing profession. All Partners cooperate with large hospitals in the area of improving competencies and lifelong learning, and most of the joint activities were dedicated to nurses.
The idea of the project emerged in October 2017 during a partner meeting held as part of the Time2Grow Project (POWR.04.03.00-00-W300/16) dedicated to developing a model of preventing occupational burnout in various industries, including medical care. After the presentation of the results of the primary research carried out in the project, it appeared that nurses from the hospitals cooperating with the Partners (The Lower Silesian Oncology Center [DCO] in Poland and the University Hospital in Antwerp [UZA] in Belgium) notice similar risks for the development of competencies in their profession and have reliable solutions which can complement each other. Hence the idea of strategic partnership enabling the exchange of good practices. The Project was attended by the German Partner (ASH), a reputable university widely recognised in Germany as well as other countries, which specialises in teaching substantive issues in the field of nursing.
The main objective of the project – thanks to the international exchange of experiences – was to develop good solutions in the area of improving skills and competencies of nurses, allowing them to overcome barriers, restrictions and risks arising from the specificity of their profession. As part of the project, we developed three results related to the project objectives:
1) A map of hazards in the nursing profession in current socio-economic conditions.
2) A catalogue of good European practices in overcoming barriers, restrictions and risks in the nursing profession.
3) The scope of the competency gap in soft skills in preparing nurses for the profession.
The innovative character of the project lies mainly in a comprehensive approach to the issue of preparing candidates for the nursing profession through lifelong education and sharing knowledge and experiences. The target group of the project were people directly involved in the professional preparation and functioning of nurses at work – mainly head nurses and people responsible for personnel policy and staff development in hospitals. These people are aware of the risks connected with this profession as they face various obstacles on a daily basis and often remain powerless and helpless. The implementation of the project provided the opportunity to learn about the solutions used in various areas related to the work of a nurse (interpersonal communication, difficult patients, empathy, facing the suffering of patients, a risk of burnout, staff shortages, low social status, a lack of satisfaction, the need to improve one’s qualifications on a regular basis, support from employers, conflicts in a team, etc.).
The exchange of experiences and good practices made it possible to solve problems faced by nurses from many countries in a better and more effective manner, avoid possible mistakes and pitfalls, and learn from the best. On the one hand, the partnership structure allowed us to take into account the actual needs and expectations of the target group in conducted activities. On the other hand, it guaranteed high quality of the results achieved.
The topic raised in the project is very important, but at the same time difficult to solve and thus postponed and marginalised for many years. Hence the idea to develop solutions in an international partnership. This is especially important nowadays, when more and more countries are experiencing staff shortages in the nursing profession, which is the result of many factors, including the difficulty of the profession, responsibility, a lack of proper gratification and insufficient social status. The Partners jointly decided that the project involving the exchange of experiences would be the best way to promote good solutions, exchange ideas and stimulate the search for further improvement solutions.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 38425 Eur

Project Coordinator

Dobre Kadry. Centrum badawczo-szkoleniowe Sp. z o.o. & Country: PL

Project Partners

• TRENDHUIS
• Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin