Off-Campus Nurse Education Supported by On-Site Mentoring in Lapland
Keywords:
nursing education, mentorship, distance education, blended learning, Scandinavia, Circumpolar NorthAbstract
Long distances, the expertise required for particular circumstances, and the aging of nursing staff currently pose serious challenges to the provision of health and social services in Lapland. The School of Social Services, Health, and Sports at Lapland University of Applied Sciences in Finland has launched a project in which twelve practical nurses or similar from four municipalities in Lapland will undergo nursing education largely off-campus. The project is financially supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), and it aims to create a training model that can be used to improve the availability and adequacy of skilled workers in the region. This article assesses the development of this model. We found strong commitment to the new nurse education model, demonstrated by trust and strong networks built between the various parties. Furthermore, this off-campus education model was demonstrated to provide good opportunities for comprehensive knowledge building. Finally, when developing an education model, the involvement of various parties and individuals in the early stages of the process appears to be of paramount importance. This report is part of a special collection from members of the University of the Arctic Thematic Network on Northern Nursing Education. The collection explores models of decentralized and distributed university-level nursing education across the Circumpolar North.
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