PROMOCON Transnational Project Meeting on 11th and 12th March in Athens (Greece)

On the 11^th and 12^th of March 2024, all members of the PROMOCON team have met in Athens to discuss the next phases of the project. PROMOCON (Promoting a morally competent nurse) is an Erasmus+ funded project, that started in 2022 in the framework of KA2 Cooperation Partnership in Higher Education. The aim is to promote a deeper understanding of the importance of moral values and ethical principles in nursing and to increase moral and ethical competences among nurses and nursing students.

Alvisa Palese and Stefania Chiappinotto (University of Udine, Italy), together with Michael Igoumenidis and Nikos Stefanopoulos (University of Patras, Greece), Evridiki Papastavrou andParaskevi Charitou (Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Association), Chris Gastmans (University of Leuven, Belgium), Catherine Mc Cabe (Trinity College Dublin School of Nursing & Midwifery, Ireland) and Riitta Suhonen, Johanna Wiisak and Minna Stolt (Univeristy of Turku, Finland) have resumed the outcomes already achieved and have started to finalize the Massive Online Open Course, which will be soon tested on a group of nursing students and nurse educators of Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Finland and Greece and then distributed extensively.

The MOOC will address topics that are relevant to increase patients' confidence through the development of moral competence and skills. The course will include case studies on ethical dilemmas, digital exercises on empathy development and on individualized care, as well as digital critical thinking exercises. It will be composed of 4 modules: basic ethical knowledge, basic ethical skills basic ethical attitudes, and methods and tools to develop ethical skills and attitudes. It will be tailored for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as practicing nurses involved in continuing education, and potential educators.

The meeting was the occasion to start organizing the Summer School and the Train the trainers event to be held in Ireland in April 2025. The event will bring together nurse educators across Europe to disseminate information about the MOOC, develop their knowledge about moral competences and facilitate critical discussion about how moral frameworks and the MOOC can be integrated and standardized across EU nursing programs.