European structural funds as a support for nursing and midwifery students and graduates as exemplified by the “Rozwijaj się i PracUJ” project

The “Rozwijaj się i pracUJ” project, which is conducted in the Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, is co-financed by structural funds within the operational programme Knowledge Education Development for the implementation of the European Social Fund 2014-2020 under the priority axis V: Support for healthcare, Action 5.5 Development of nursing services. The project started in October 2018 and is planned to last until February 2023. The University has received the amount of PLN 3,832,919.39 for the implementa-tion of the project.
The aim of the project is to increase the number of nursing and midwifery graduates as well as to stimulate their development so that their competences and skills could suit changing epidemiological and demographic needs in Poland. The project is also aimed at making nursing and midwifery studies more attractive, which could lead to educa-ting an additional number of graduates in these subjects and allow these graduates to enter the job market with appro-priate financial and educational support.
In October 2018 as many as 60 first-degree students of nursing and midwifery joined the project. These parti-cipants were chosen following the ranking based on their results obtained after the first year of studies in the academic year 2017/2018. This procedure allowed for qualifying 45 nursing students and 15 midwifery students as project bene-ficiaries. The proportion between the students chosen from these two courses reflected the proportion between the total number of students studying these two subjects. The project lasted 4 years and consisted of two stages – the period of undergraduate studies until obtaining the bachelor’s degree (2 years) and the period of graduates’ development (2 ye-ars). The students who decided to participate signed a binding contract with the University for the whole period of the project, and this contract ensured them:
• support through the implementation of a scholarship programme,
• additional educational activities developing their skills connected with communication with patients,
• an opportunity to take part in one study visit in a foreign healthcare facility,
• help with finding a job within their profession and receiving a training scholarship,
• a tutor in a healthcare facility where the graduates start work within the programme of their professional deve-lopment,
• development of...


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