Care for Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Care for Europe

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 higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cooperation between educational institutions and business; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Health and wellbeing

Project Summary

The “Care for Europe” project brings together 4 higher education institutions in 4 European countries: IRFSS AuRA in France, University of Pécs in Hungary, Universitat de Lleida in Spain and Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland. This location of participants across the 4 corners of Europe will enable rewarding exchanges as a result of complementary visions, cultures and practices of care.

“Care for Europe” aims to contribute to the internationalization of nursing education, through a quality welcome and a better integration of incoming students carrying out clinical placements. The nursing profession is in fact particularly concerned by the current globalization, whether that is in patient care (populations that are increasingly more mobile) or in the professional mobility of nurses, as a consequence of the demand for nursing staff in different countries. It is therefore important that these professionals are trained to work in a multicultural team and that they acquire certain intercultural skills.

Although it can vary from one country to another, nursing education systematically involves – in addition to theoretical courses – a professional immersion in the field via compulsory clinical placements. The “Care for Europe” partners have come to realize that incoming Erasmus students often find it difficult to build a relationship of trust with the professionals who accompany them during their clinical placement, because cultural differences can become obstacles in the way of proper communication and comprehension.

In order to address these issues, we have therefore identified three objectives that will guide the “Care for Europe” project:
– Encourage the welcoming of nursing students on mobility, in particular by offering a suitable range of courses and services
– Improve the placement and clinical integration of these students, by training all of the professionals who intervene before, during and after an Erasmus clinical placement
– Involve all local students in this internationalization process (especially those who do not have the possibility of carrying out an Erasmus or international mobility), by encouraging and accompanying interactions between international and local students.

In order to achieve our objectives, we have decided to create innovative educational resources that can be used by those involved in the nursing education. These resources are:
– a MOOC for professionals supervising the nursing clinical placements, in order to provide them with the tools to avoid or manage problematic situations (support, communication, different care practices), but also to show them just how enriching welcoming an Erasmus student within a care service can be and how the latter can turn into a real added value for the whole team
– a Good Practices Guide for higher education institutions with a nursing department. This guide will focus on the welcoming of incoming nursing students and their internship placement, but will also include recommendations in terms of alternative mobility solutions (virtual, mixed) that will be studied or tested during the project.
– a film tracking the experience of incoming nursing students who are carrying out a clinical placement, in order to democratize the practice of Erasmus nursing internships in hospitals, health or medico-social establishments.

All the tools developed will be available in English and in the language of each of the participating countries. The activities and tools put in place within the framework of the “Care for Europe” project will be co-constructed by all those involved in the nursing education belonging to the 4 partners: students of all nationalities (local and incoming), trainers / teachers, but also health professionals who are the student internship tutors. Although the latter are not part of the staff of faculties or training institutes, they are key protagonists of our trainings, since around 50% of the nursing curriculum takes place during a clinical placement. This project therefore gives them all the importance they deserve. The expected results are an improvement in the sensitivity and intercultural skills of those involved in our training (local, international students, trainers, health professionals), which will allow us to facilitate interactions between them and to ensure the welcoming and integration of incoming nursing students on all levels. What is more, by mobilizing partners from different countries around a common problem, “Care for Europe” will help develop the international dimension of all partner institutions.

Finally, “Care for Europe” is designed so that its final results are transferable and usable by other educational organizations in Europe and even in the world. All the results and productions will be accessible online free of charge.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 237974 Eur

Project Coordinator

CROIX-ROUGE FRANCAISE – INSTITUT REGIONAL DE FORMATION SANITAIRE ET SOCIALE AUVERGNE-RHÔNE-ALPES & Country: FR

Project Partners

• PECSI TUDOMANYEGYETEM – UNIVERSITY OF PECS
• UNIVERSIDAD DE LLEIDA
• LAUREA-AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY