International Nurses Day: EU4Health projects empowering nurses through education and training

Nurses around the world play a crucial role in ensuring patients’ recovery and wellbeing, accompanying and selflessly taking care of patients in some of the most vulnerable moments of their life. In recognition of their work, and in honour of the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, who is considered the pioneer of modern nursing, 12 May is annually observed as International Nurses Day. 

This year’s theme - “Our Nurses. Our Future. Caring for nurses strengthens economies.” - highlights the need to ensure health and wellbeing for nurses themselves, underscoring the importance of a healthy nursing workforce to strengthen economies, improve health systems and ensure better outcomes for communities worldwide. 

HaDEA manages a number of projects that contribute to empowering nurses and other healthcare professionals through education and training. 

The TRANSiTION project provides continuous professional development and training for the cancer healthcare workforce, including oncology nurses, establishing a foundation for enhancing digital health literacy. The assessment of current needs and knowledge of healthcare professionals in cancer care has paved the way for the creation of a comprehensive training curriculum that includes modules specific to oncology nurses.  

The project aims to reach around 8 250 health professionals and health managers in 12 partner countries, of which an estimated 40% will include oncology nurses.   

The GESEA4EU project develops standardised training on gynaecological endoscopy that is applicable and recognised across Europe as part of the GESEA Educational Programme. 

The GESEA Educational Programme provides certification for gynaecological surgeons as well as for other healthcare professionals – notably nurses – and supporting non-clinical staff, with more than 3200 certificates issued to date. 

The AMR-EDUCare project aims to prevent and reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by filling educational gaps on AMR for both clinical and non-clinical health workforce. The project has created training modules, now available as a test version on the Lecturio website, on topics such as antibiotics prescription and patients’ communication and engagement. One module is specifically dedicated to nurses, focusing on their role in infection prevention and control and antimicrobial. 

The e-Hospital4Future project is creating training programmes and modules for staff in the medical sector in three areas: soft, digital and hard skills. Some modules are specifically focused on nurses, such as “Leadership and teamwork in nursing”, “Patient triage based on digital tools”, “Digital skills in everyday in-patient care” and “Evidence based nursing by using AI”. 

Background 

EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes. The EU4Health programme goes beyond an ambitious response to the COVID-19 crisis to address the resilience of European healthcare systems. The programme provides funding to national authorities, health organisations and other bodies through grants and public procurement, contributing to a healthier Europe. HaDEA manages the vast majority of the total EU4Health budget and implements the programme by managing calls for proposals and calls for tenders.