A major project milestone has been the release of the final version of the ENhANCE Family and Community Nurse (FCN) European Curriculum. A summary version, with the main structure and content of the ENhANCE European Curriculum (final release) can be downloaded here.
Background and structure
A first version of the FCN European Curriculum, released in February 2019, was used as a basis to develop three localized FCN curricula, which were piloted in the second and third year of the ENhANCE project at UEF, UNIGE and UTH.
The European FCN Curriculum’s innovative modular and flexible design will enable for new editions of FCN curricula to be developed, adapted to the needs and requirements in any European country and educational setting.
The European Reference Curriculum for FCN developed by the ENhANCE Project targets graduate nurses (entry level: EQF6) and is aimed at EQF7 level. Thus, taken as a whole, the Curriculum can be used to design FCN specialization courses awarding 60 ECTS, and due to its flexible and modular design, it can also be used to design localized curricula awarding more or fewer ECTS. This means it can award an FCN certificate at either EQF7 or EQF6 level.
The final version of the European FCN Curriculum includes 52 Learning Outcomes, (instead of the 53 envisaged in the former version), and these are described in terms of Knowledge, Skills and Personal and Transversal Competencies.
It is based on the FCN Professional Profile (PP): the 28 Core Competencies of the PP were grouped and are mirrored in 7 Units of Learning Outcomes forming the basis for the European FCN Curriculum.
Key features improving impact and sustainability
Key features of the European FCN Curriculum that aim to increase its potential impact and improve its sustainability, also beyond the project funding period, are that it is:
- “learning outcome-oriented” and compliant with the main EU standard and tools for VET, such as ECVET, EQAVET, ESCO, EQF, etc.
- general and “across-the-board”, since it is supposed to play a reference role for any VET designer targeting FCN profile in any EU country;
- modular and flexible, since it is supposed to be adaptable to different contexts and rules in different EU countries.
It includes an important work-based learning component and fosters the development of Practice Sharing through both formal and non-formal/informal learning.
Further information
Aside to the FCN EU Reference Curriculum, which is the main outcome of ENHANCE project, a number of DESIGN TOOLS and GUIDES have been delivered by the project in order to support the proper instantiation of the curriculum in actual courses. All of these tools have been collected in this ONLINE DESIGNERS’ KIT, which will support any VET DESIGNER in the proper use of the FCN Curriculum.
The KIT is organized in 4 main SECTIONS:
- The FCN EU Curriculum: this section introduces the main outcome of the project linking to the digital version of its final release.
- Tools for Curriculum instantiation: this section includes guides and tools for the proper localization of the general Curriculum in your own context.
- Supplementary readings for an effective Curriculum instantiation: this section outlines further guides about Work based Learning, Practice Sharing and Personalized Learning.
- Tools for courses implementation: this section provides important tools for the design and the description of your own courses.
The final version of these Guidelines are available in a web-based format and can be viewed here: https://oot.enhance-fcn.eu/course/view.php?id=26