Author: Simone Campos Silva, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Nurse educator education is an area, which is not yet in the public eye but should get more attention and interest because nurse educators are the ones qualifying and educating our nurses. The current corona pandemic has painfully shown us how important well-trained nurses are for society. This Erasmus+ project offers the possibility to further explore the important field of nurse educators. While raising awareness for an ‘under-researched’ area is of great value, this Erasmus+ project also provides a tremendous opportunity to work with colleagues from different European countries.
This international project is my first experience working in a research project, as I finished my Master of Education in teaching at vocational schools last year. Consequently, I am delighted and excited about having the opportunity to work in such a project as a junior researcher. Through a very open climate in project meetings and the possibility for discussions, I profit and learn from highly experienced colleagues in the field of nursing education. The project meetings take place once a month via Zoom and partners are updated about the progress in different parts of the project. Being able to communicate only online without having met any of the project partners in person bears at times its challenges. However, the project meetings are the basis for reaching consensus about terms and processes. This is very important as we quickly realized how different nurse educator education is organized in different European countries.
It is particularly exciting for me to work closely with colleagues from the field of nurse educator education, as collaborating with six different countries is highly motivating. The project partners from Finland, Malta, Slovakia, Spain and the UK are all experts in this field and bring forward their country specific knowledge. In Germany, the field of nursing science is still relatively young in the academic community and a lot is still being explored and developed. Countries such as Finland or the UK have more experience in this area, so looking beyond one’s own country is very promising and can point the way to the future. Learning from other countries, cultures, and concepts as well as listening to others’ experiences is something I will always appreciate.
Finally, I am really looking forward to the moment when it will be possible to have a personal meeting with all of the partners.
