Authors: XIE Ying and LUO Yu, Guangzhou Health Science College
A 30-ECTS module adapted for the training of gerontological nursing professionals in China was developed through the GeNEdu project after the joint development of the competence framework. The module consists of six courses in total.
The innovative concept behind the development of the "Project in Gerontological Nursing" as one of the courses in the module is to integrate international and advanced project management concepts and methods into the gerontological nursing curriculum. The course is student-centered, and teachers guide students to work as a team to discover problems (as the “projects”) in elderly care and to formulate, implement, evaluate, and improve project plans based on evidence-based practice. Through the project-based teaching, students' competence in Communication and Collaboration, Organization of Gerontological Nursing Care, and Evidence-based Nursing and Life-long Learning are cultivated, and they can better meet the needs of gerontological nursing positions.
By participating in the training program on project-based learning provided by Senior Lecturer, Head of Degree Programme in Nursing Marjo Palovaara from JAMK, teachers in China have experienced the whole process of planning, implementing, and evaluating elderly care -related projects. This training program successfully achieved the set target: firstly, our participating teachers learned to guide and help their students better to complete their own project; secondly, through development and future implementation of the course “project in Gerontological Nursing”, project-based learning and the gerontological nursing curriculum are organically integrated.
The course "Project in Gerontological Nursing" has been unanimously recognized by the experts during the Accreditation Seminar recently held at our institution, especially by experts coming from hospitals and other elderly care facilities. They believe that this course is very cutting-edge and reflective of the competence-based philosophy. It is a bold attempt and worth promoting and disseminating.
The development of this course is an important step towards achieving the objective of GeNEdu to renew the nursing curriculum by building the capacity of Chinese institutions and to enhance the skills and quality assurance of elderly nursing in nursing education in China to meet the needs of China's aging society.
