Academic-professional mobility and internationalization of nursing: contributions of the Bologna process

Abstract

Objective: to understand the contributions of the Bologna Process to academic-professional mobility of Nursing. Method: a descriptive exploratory qualitative research. Open interviews were conducted with six PhD nurses, nursing professors, with more than 20 years of experience and who experienced the changes that occurred in higher education in post-Bologna nursing. The interviews took place in the Health or Nursing Schools of the north, center and south regions of Portugal, between January and March 2019, until saturation occurred by repetition. Content analysis was performed. Results: three perspectives are presented: 1) Mobility and internationalization as presuppositions to the strengthening of the economic bloc; 2) Mobility and internationalization contribute to the consolidation of a European identity; and 3) Diploma Supplement: fundamental aspect of academic-professional mobility. Conclusion: education proved to be a valid instrument for the construction of a common professional identity, considered indispensable for the strengthening of the block, with regard to the production of knowledge. The guidelines for the harmonization of university systems and the Diploma Supplement promoted scientific and cultural exchange through academic-professional mobility and intensified the dialogue between nations, which reverberate in social practices.