PROMOCON project

Which are the moral competencies of nursing profession internationally? Is the knowledge offered in the bachelor degree sufficient to support nurses in facing the ethical and moral challenges they are exposed to in their daily practice? How can the continuous development of competences be promoted?

The challenge of developing the moral and ethical skills of the nurses, made even more evident by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been translated into a concrete project led by Prof. Alvisa Palese (University of Udine– Department of Medicine), together with her collaborators Dr. Jessica Longhini and Dr. Stefania Chiappinotto, with 5 other countries: University of Patras (Greece, Ass. Prof. Michael Igoumenidis), University of Leuven (Belgium, Prof. Chris Gastmans), University of Turku (Finland, Prof. Riitta Suhonen), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland, Prof. Catherine McCabe) and Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Association (CYNMA-Cyprus, Prof. Evridiki Papastavrou). PROMOCON Project (Promoting a morally competent nurse) is an Erasmus + funded project that have started in 2022 and will last two years. 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. Nurses, when providing care, are involved in complex decision-making processes that often imply and activate a moral and ethical dimension. Recent global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have put professionals to the test, enhancing pressure on their physical and emotional workload. The health crisis is exacerbating some pre-existing problems such as shortage of resources, the risk of having to ration them, all of which can increase nurses' moral unease and negatively affect their mental health.