Onderwijspremie: first prize and 1.2 million euros for NHL Stenden health care project

Onderwijspremie 2023

NHL Stenden's 'Future proof nurses' project has finished in first place at the Nederlandse Onderwijspremie 2023. Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science presented the highest premium of 1.2 million euros to the project group, as part of the academy Health Care, on Thursday in Nieuwegein. "This is a great crowning achievement as well as an incentive."

In early May, the organisation of the Nederlandse Onderwijspremie announced that the 'Future proof nurses' project was one of the nominees. Projects from The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Windesheim were the other two contenders. All three would win prizes: the only question was who would come out on top with the main prize of 1.2 million euros and who with 800,000 (second place) and 500,000 euros (third).

Reinskje Suierveld, director of the academy Health Care: “I am extremely proud of everyone involved in this project in any way. This is a great reward and encouragement. This award shows that our colleagues and students are working very innovatively with partners from the field. And that is also necessary to meet the challenges in healthcare. With this award, we will continue to do so in full. It gives us the opportunity to share even more knowledge with each other, with colleagues - both in higher and intermediate vocational education - and with the field of work.”

Simulating towards the nurse of the future

The project's full name is 'Future proof nurses: simulating the nurse of the future'. It is one of the projects within the Health Care academy. Health care faces major challenges due to social and medical developments. Retaining health care professionals is of great importance. To train future-proof nurses, (digital) simulations prove to be of added value. These tools are central to 'Future proof nurses'.

Students, lecturers and practitioners experience great added value for professional development through simulation education. Students practise scenarios in a safe environment so that they are better prepared for their internship and future work. They also improve their clinical reasoning, attend empathy training to experience how a caregiver experiences their illness and train their communication skills.

Nederlandse Onderwijspremie

The Nederlandse Onderwijspremie is the highest award in secondary vocational and higher education. The premium is awarded to education teams in appreciation of, and as an incentive for, educational innovation and improvement in secondary vocational, higher vocational and university education. The premium is awarded annually to education teams that have developed an educational initiative in the past four years.

Winnaars Nederlandse Onderwijspremie 2023 en minister Dijkgraaf

Party again

Last year, NHL Stenden's Inclusive Community Lab Fryslân won the second prize at the - then called - Nederlandse Hogeronderwijspremie, good for 800,000 euros. In the lab, set up within the Social Studies academy, students and lecturers from eight different programmes in secondary and higher vocational education work together with experts by experience and people from the field on creative solutions to the problem of poverty.