Improving Working Environments for Nurses in the Critical Care Unit Erasmus Project

Project Title

Improving Working Environments for Nurses in the Critical Care Unit

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Pedagogy and didactics

Project Summary

According to recent estimates on the availability of healthcare professionals in the Member States, the EU is expected to be confronted with a shortage of approx. 1 million health professionals by 2020. Researchers indicate that shortages are expected to be particularly for Critical Care Nursing (CCN) , elderly care and general practice professionals (Kroezen, M. et. al. 2018). In this context, reducing nursing staff turnover and increasing the appeal of the nursing profession becomes of paramount importance for the European Union Member States.
In this context the project we propose will focus on CCN staff and suggest an intervention aimed at reducing staff turnover and rates for nurses leaving the profession by supporting critical-care nurses in developing the skills required for a healthy work environment.
The project OBJECTIVE is to develop the first open and multilingual blended (online and face to face) training course for nurse training professionals to develop Healthy Work Environments (HWE) knowledge, skills and competences for CCU nurses. To this end, a sectoral partnership was created consisting of organisations in five different countries. Organisations active in the (continuous) development of CCU nurses in Cyprus, Spain, Poland and Croatia are joined by a company highly experienced in the development of customised training curricula in soft skills from Romania in order to jointly develop the first blended training course in HWE. Partners will work together to develop the blended training content according to their experience and expertise.
A healthy workplace is one where workers and managers collaborate to continually improve the health, safety and wellbeing of all workers and by doing this, sustain the productivity of the business (Burton, J., 2010). Research in this field indicates a positive correlation between healthy nurse work environments, nurse job satisfaction and retention, and patient outcomes (Ulrich, B. et. al., 2014).
The content of the blended training will be addresses at trainers working with CCU nurses. Trainers will develop relevant knowledge, skills and competences in HWE and will become able to train CCU nurses in this field. The blended training content will comprise the following 4 modules:
– Module 1 – Facilitator content: aimed at familiarizing trainers involved in the (continuous) development of CCU nurses with the notion of HWE, the relevant knowledge, skills and competences required. The module will also comprise detailed guidelines to support trainers in the design and delivery of HWE training.
– Module 2 – Toolbox: a set of methods, tools and supporting materials for HWE development.
– Module 3 – Student content: one detailed Lesson plan for each of the six dimensions of HWE: Skilled communication, True collaboration, Effective decision-making, Appropriate staffing, Meaningful recognition, Authentic leadership.
– Module 4 – Assessment and Recognition tools for trainers and CCU nurses completing the blended training solution.

The blended training solution will be developed by the project partners based on their experience and expertise.
In order to evaluate how effective the online training is, the blended training content will be tested in four pilots with the support of 8 trainers and 32 CCU nurses in Cyprus, Spain, Croatia and Poland. This step is an essential one in the completion of the training content as it will allow project partners the opportunity to collect valuable feedback regarding the content proposed, its suitability and accessibility, as well as the functioning of the online platform from both trainers and CCU nurses.
The online training course will be hosted in an e-learning platform, accessible from computers, tablets and smartphones. The platform will be available in six languages: English, Spanish, Greek, Croatian, Polish and Romanian.
At the end of the project, the blended training content will be available online, as an Open Educational Resource, to be accessed freely by any interested party. The content will be available in English, Greek, Romanian, Croatian, Polish and Spanish.
The blended training content has increased potential to be exploited by a wide range of organisations and individuals across Europe. This is why project results will be disseminated by project partners among training professionals involved in the (continuous) professional development of CCU nurses in different professional organisations (i.e. universities, healthcare organisations and other professional bodies), policy makers, CCU nurses staff and the local, regional, national and European media.
Project results will be disseminated to at least 250 professionals involved in providing education and training in the healthcare field, 1.000 CCU nurses, 50 policy-makers and 50 media across Europe, through the project dissemination networks, as well as a minimum of 200 professionals in nurse training, CCU nurses and policy-makers through the Multiplier Events.

Project Website

http://sites.google.com/view/hwe4ccn/home.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 110843 Eur

Project Coordinator

Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Association & Country: CY

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITAT INTERNACIONAL DE CATALUNYA
• Polskie Towarzystwo Pielegniarek Anastezjologicznych i intensywnej opieki
• Croatian Nurses Society of Anesthesia, Reanimation, Intensive Care and Transfusion
• Media Partners SRL