Models of Nursing Education
There are different models that can be used in educating and imparting skills in aspiring nurses. For a long time, a debate has existed on the best model for nursing education with both sides strongly pitted against each other. The higher education model and hospital-based model are the two main models. Both models have individual merits and demerits, however, hospital-based graduands have enjoyed immense benefits from that model. This is an assertion of the immense benefits of following a hospital-based system of learning.
The current model of nursing schooling is a higher institution one. The students enroll in tertiary institutions such as Universities to pursue Nursing as a course with years differing from diploma to degree courses. A Bachelor’s degree course in nursing takes about four years (Johnston, Baik & Chester 2020). This model has several advantages. Firstly, it has made learning easily accessible as some studies can even be conducted online. It does not demand the physical presence of a hospital-oriented system. This model has also made Nursing education to be more formal and complex with viable parameters for evaluation. It has also made it possible to offer specialized degrees to students since it is easier to customize the information in this model. This model has further made it easier to accommodate an increased number of nursing students to boost the workforce needed to satisfy the existing demand (Poorchangizi et al. 2019).
However, the higher education system has introduced a theory-practice deficiency amongst the students. This makes the transition from school to practice difficult delaying the expected standards of service delivery. Poverty has been cited as a major concern amongst the students forcing the students to engage in paid activities to facilitate their university education and livelihood (Usher et al. 2021). The financial burden adversely affects the health and general well-being of these students. Some students opt to seek employment in health-related fields while others seek employment in non-related fields. This introduces an inequality in terms of experience amongst the students. Further, students spend more than one thousand hours in hospitals in a supernumerary capacity without earning anything. This has further strained their well-being and added to the financial burden (Johnston, Baik & Chester 2020).
I strongly think that the hospital-based model is the most suitable model amassing many advantages to the nursing students. Students through this model would be far more experienced with knowledge and skills relevant to the nursing profession. This is a hands-on experience that would boost confidence, teamwork, decision-making, aptitude, and success in a hospital environment (Subke, Downing & Kearns 2020). Unlike the higher education model, it would close the theory-practice gap instead of creating it easing the transition of the nursing students from school to practice.
This model would significantly promote equality as all the nursing students would be exposed to a similar environment. I believe that, unlike the current model where some students can be employed in non-related fields creating an imbalance in knowledge and skills imparted, this model would standardize the knowledge and skills imparted on students creating a uniform batch of experienced graduates (Stoffels et al. 2019). Also, the model would have students being paid for hours spent in the hospital. This would aid in greatly alleviating the financial burden experienced by some of the students studying the nursing profession. Consequentially, this would improve the health and general well-being of the students. It would also enhance the focus of the students on the attainment of relevant skills. Emotional resilience is a fundamental aspect of nurses that would be significantly fostered by the utilization of the hospital-oriented model (The Importance of Clinical Experience | Duquesne School of Nursing 2020).
However, this model would accommodate a smaller number of students, reduce its accessibility, and to a certain degree hinder the teaching of specialized degrees (Fawaz, Hamdan-Mansour, and Tassi 2018). However, I think that research is needed to seek solutions to the challenges of the hospital-based model to create an efficient system of nursing education without the apparent challenges.
Reference list
Duquesne University School of Nursing 2020. The Importance of Clinical Experience | Duquesne School of Nursing. [online] Available at: <https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/importance-clinical-experience-nursing-internship/#:~:text=Nurses%20are%20essential%20for%20understanding,serve%20as%20important%20learning%20opportunities.> [Accessed 20 February 2022].
Fawaz, M., Hamdan-Mansour, A. and Tassi, A 2018. ‘Challenges facing nursing education in the advanced healthcare environment. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences’, vol. 9, pp.105-110.
Johnston, A., Baik, C., and Chester, A 2020. Peer review of teaching in Australian higher education: a systematic review. Higher Education Research & Development, pp.1-15.
Poorchangizi, B., Borhani, F., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M. and Farokhzadian, J 2019. ‘The importance of professional values from nursing students’ perspective’. BMC Nursing, vol.18 no. 1.
Stoffels, M., Peerdeman, S., Daelmans, H., Ket, J. and Kusurkar, R 2019. ‘How do undergraduate nursing students learn in the hospital setting? A scoping review of conceptualizations, operationalizations, and learning activities’ BMJ Open, vol.9, no.5, p.e029397.
Subke, J., Downing, C. and Kearns, I 2020. ‘Practices of caring for nursing students: A clinical learning environment’ International Journal of Nursing Sciences, vol.7, no.2, pp.214-219.
Usher, K., Fagan, A., Brown, J., Mather, C., Marlow, A., Power, T., van de Mortel, T., West, C., Hutchinson, M., Zhao, L., Terry, V., Woods, C., and Lea, J 2021. ‘The financial challenges for Australian nursing students attending placement-based work-integrated learning’ Collegian,
Www1.health.gov.au. 2022. ‘Department of Health | 7.1 Nursing and midwifery education’ [online] Available at: <https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/work-review-australian-government-health-workforce-programs-toc~chapter-7-nursing-midwifery-workforce%E2%80%93education-retention-sustainability~chapter-7-nursing-midwifery-education> [Accessed 20 February 2022].