Educating students for innovative infection prevention and control practices in healthcare settings Erasmus Project

Project Title

Educating students for innovative infection prevention and control practices in healthcare settings

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 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

1) Context/Background of the Project:

It’s recognized that healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) and antimicrobial resistance are some of the most serious threats to patient safety and care efficiency (Council Recommendation 2009/C 151/01 of 9 June 2009) with a great impact on morbidity and mortality.
The World Health Organization (2015) emphasized this problem and the importance of making HCAIs prevention and antimicrobial resistance core components of professional education, training, certification, continuing education, and development in health, reinforcing the role played by the academia in generating such knowledge and translating it into practice.
The European Council recognizes structured education and training in the field of HCAI prevention and control as a key action for health providers’ professional development.
The primary context of the InovSafeCare project is nursing education in the field of HCAI prevention and control. The project’s context is extended to healthcare organizations as well as healthcare staff and consumers of healthcare services.

2) Objectives:

a) To develop the InovSafeCare Model, a Model comprised of innovative pedagogical practices for nursing students focused on developing their competencies in HCAI prevention and control;
b) Educate nursing students and related key figures such as teachers, healthcare professionals, and mentors on how to implement the InovSafeCare Model;
c) Foster entrepreneurial skills in nursing students, enabling them to conceptualize innovative solutions that tackle challenges in the field of HCAI prevention and control and antimicrobial resistance;
d) Develop collaborative networks between Higher Education Institutions (HEI), health institutions, and national technological enterprises in order to support the expansion and implementation of the InovSafeCare Model, as well as to support the development of the innovative solutions designed by nursing students;
e) Create conditions for the continuity of the project, disseminating the InovSafeCare Model in the Community, involving students, teachers, healthcare professionals, patients, and communities from other countries.

3) Number and Type/Profile of Participants/ results and impact attained:

The participants were addressed were mainly nursing students, nursing teachers from various areas of knowledge and clinical practice nurses, counting participation of 1.326 nursing students (original target: 600) and 622 nursing teachers/lecturers/mentors (original target: 80) from 53 different HEI (original target: 5), through qualitative studies, five Multiplier Events (ME) and four Learning, Teaching and Training activities (LTT). We had several other dissemination activities (e.g. oral communications, poster presentations, publication of scientific articles) that certainly significantly increased the number of stakeholders reached.
The community created serves as a strategy to spread innovative solutions and exchange good practices in the field of nursing in this specific field.

4) Description of Undertaken Activities:

-Development of the InovSafeCare Model;
-Development of E-Book with MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) (https://openedu.savonia.fi/course/view.php?id=93) – 1st step: log in with Google or Microsoft account; 2nd step: Password: “inovsafe”;
-Development of the InovSafeCare Website (http://inovsafecare.eu/);
-Simulation Scenario-based simulations are comprehensive and standardized exercises, which focus on core competency outcomes instead of individual skills;
-4 Transnational Project Meetings (TPM);
-5 Multiplier Events with the participation of 363 people outside the Consortium and from different countries;
-4 LTT with the training of 180 local stakeholders;
-Publication of 8 scientific articles derived from project results;
-Patents registration.

5) Results, Impact attained and Longer-term Benefits

-The innovative InovSafeCare Model helps to increase the awareness and increase skills or improved abilities, with a new approach with new methodologies to “see” the HCAI in a creative way;
-The E-Book with a training online platform – MOOC (Open Access – Free of charge);
-The extension of the project to Asia having already obtained funding through the Capacity-building – PrevInf (618396-EPP-1-2020-1-PT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP) creates conditions for the continuity of the project, disseminating the InovSafeCare Model in the Community;
-Scientific articles, some of them have been published in Impact Factor journals;
-Innovation generated with the registration of patents (Industrial Property);
-The shared knowledge, the informal and non-formal learning, the cross-cultural dialogue during all events; the new skill developed by the students.

Project Website

http://inovsafecare.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 282840,33 Eur

Project Coordinator

ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE ENFERMAGEM DE COIMBRA & Country: PT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDAD DE SALAMANCA
• Państwowa Szkoła Wyższa im. Hipolita Cegielskiego w Gnieźnie
• SAVONIA-AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DE SANTAREM