Supporting Internationalisation of Traineeships in the Healthcare Sector Erasmus Project

Project Title

Supporting Internationalisation of Traineeships in the Healthcare Sector

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 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

Supporting Internationalisation of Traineeships in the Healthcare Sector (HEALINT) was a three year education innovation project which completed in December 2020. By illuminating evidence based standards and tools to support to audit the clinical learning environment, HEALINT has transformed professional and vocational discourse relating to the quality and impact of learning for clinical practice. HEALINT offers a protocol and tools for European application and international discussion and debate within healthcare settings.
HEALINT Objectives
1. to develop a protocol for certification of hospitals to receive trainees which will allow for the creation of a standing-list of suitable institutions qualified to work with Erasmus Charter Higher Education Institutions in the provision of traineeships
2. to establish guidelines for evaluation of cross-border student traineeships which could specify a European standard for documenting, assessing and recognising credit acquired in professional training experiences abroad.
3. a monograph on transferability to compile lessons learned in the project and target decision makers in Higher Education as a whole, with the aim of facilitating their own introduction of similar schemes
Participants
29 experts from the seven partner institutions developed the project, including nurses and midwives, expert educators and academics, experts in auditing of quality and standards, and administrative and governance teams. Participation also included professional staff from National Health Trusts, students based locally, nationally and internationally and expert groups and policy makers within each of the partner nations and internationally. More than 450 stakeholders contributed to HEALINT developments.
Activities
Our innovative iterative development methodology enabled;
• Scoping of 300 core references, creating an evidence base and shared consideration of commonality and diversity. This included National and International evidence, standards and ‘grey’ literature including policies and benchmarks.
• Eight design and visioning ‘hothouses’ using ‘briefing papers’ creating new and exciting materials. Designs for an audit protocol, a checklist and tools for audit, training and evaluating clinical practice environments. Four briefing papers were written for guidance in each output.
• 30 Review panels and 12 ‘live’ dry testing pilot activities, materials were shared with national experts and dry tested as pilots in clinical environments hosted by practice partners (Clinica Vistahermosa and Pori and Tarnow),
• More than 8000 dissemination engagements, including publications, conference participation, policy influencing measures and media and social media publications.
Results
1.An innovative protocol for clinical learning environment audit that illuminates detailed quality standards, including 16 themes and 31 sub-elements within four core quality priorities of Governance, Resources, Traineeship, Planning and Control and Recognition. Inclusion of ISO terminology facilitated concise and accurate interpretation of meaning and uniquely enables an international discourse to be assured. Use of the protocol can thus enable certification of hospitals to assure similarity of quality assurance across the EU nations.
2. An audit checklist and guideline for use by trained educators and nurses and midwives to use the protocol. The guidelines and the checklist work with the protocol to realise a common European Standard for documenting, assessing and recognising practice learning and training experiences abroad and may include provision for recognising experience and credit acquired.
3. Digitally available training materials and assessments to support learning and best practice on how to successfully undertake a quality audit of the clinical learning environment and use the materials in future partnerships.
4. Evaluation tools to embrace student experience as a component element of quality audit and enable retrospective and prospective comparison .
Project resources are freely available under creative commons licence in the four project languages on the HEALINT website (www.HEALINT.eu) linked to EPALE and hosted in perpetuity by KIC.
Impact
HEALINT offered a unique cross-cultural opportunity for participants to contribute expertise in ensuring fantastic healthcare learning environments, thus enhancing long term safety across the world. The protocol forms the basis of an international workshop agreement (IWA 35) sponsored by British Standards Institute BSI and adopted by the international standards organisation ISO within 165 international member countries. Opportunities to hold dialogue appreciating different viewpoints and practices was identified as unanimously positive.
Project resources are freely available under creative commons licence in the project languages on the HEALINT website (www.HEALINT.eu) linked to EPALE and hosted in perpetuity by KIC.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 412649 Eur

Project Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM & Country: UK

Project Partners

• MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION
• UNIVERSIDAD DE ALICANTE
• SATAKUNNAN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY
• Porin kaupunki
• KNOWLEDGE INNOVATION CENTRE (MALTA) LTD
• CLINICA VISTAHERMOSA GRUPO HLA SL
• PANSTWOWA WYZSZA SZKOLA ZAWODOWA W TARNOWIE