What we aimed to achieve ...
Labour market mobility and the related recognition of foreign qualifications is especially important when it comes to professionals in the healthcare sector being a sector especially suffering from a severe shortage of certified professionals. Formal recognition of migrant experts qualification is a fundamental requirement for an employment on the level of their qualification and an adequate remuneration.
In order to streamline and make recognition processes within healthcare comparable in and among EU member states and therefore foster cross-border mobility of healthcare professionals, the HCEU project developed tools and instruments applicable in different national contexts within cross-border recognition processes and based on work praxis as basis for comparison. The projects major focus has been here on the professional profiles “nursing” and “elderly care”. The HCEU outcomes equip recognition authorities, employers, supporting organisations and migrating health care professionals with valid and helpful tools for recognition processes.
The HCEU products are based on the learning outcomes approach and existing European instruments such as ECVET and ESCO and use the well explored and highly awarded VQTS approach as common basis for comparison and recognition across borders. The HCEU project utilises the VQTS matrix approach in the context of comparing and recognising health care qualifications obtained within other learning contexts than the national formal qualifications system. The whole set of matrices, tools, instruments, module outlines and guidelines necessary in order to practically apply the VQTS approach within cross-border mobility of health care professionals is applied on the key positions nurse and carer for the elderly and exemplary specialisations. In this way an objective and transferable set of instruments valid all across Europe has been prepared independently from a specific (national) formal qualification context.
