Scholarship revisited: a Collaborative Nursing Education Program's journey

The Collaborative Nursing Program in British Columbia is a nursing education program composed of 10 partners, including five community colleges, four university colleges, and one university. The Board of Accreditation of the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing granted a 7-year accreditation to the Collaborative Nursing Program partners in November 2000. During the past several years, the partners have begun to view their collaborative curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation through the lens of scholarship. Using Boyer's model of scholarship, they have begun to evaluate their work of discovery, integration, application, and teaching against criteria in Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professorate. This article describes the journey the collaborative partners undertook in exploring the meaning of scholarship across the partnership and within each nursing school.     

The rural pipeline: building a strong nursing workforce through academic and service partnerships

Nurse recruitment and the retention of a high-quality workforce are challenging issues facing rural hospitals and health centers. The Bassett Healthcare Network has met these challenges by building a supportive framework to develop and support nurses at every level of their professional careers. The organization has partnered with local colleges to help staff nurses further their education. These and other partnership endeavors, such as the organization's clinical ladder and collaborative continuing nursing education opportunities, are helping Bassett sustain and grow the nursing workforce across 8 counties in rural upstate New York and develop stronger ties with academic partners.     

The relevance of associate degree nursing education: past,present, future

Associate degree nursing education remains a relevant choice for students entering the nursing profession. Since its introduction fifty years ago, associate degree nursing education has had a significant impact on the registered nursing population in the United States. The climate for a new type of nurse was created by a nursing shortage, the growth of community and junior colleges, and government and consumer interest. Evaluation of initial programs revealed that desired outcomes were met. A proliferation of associate degree nursing programs followed with there currently being more than 800 associate degree nursing programs in the nation. Controversy regarding associate degree nursing as an entry level for registered nurses has been evolving since its inception. Issues related to technical nursing versus professional nursing titles and roles, and differentiated roles have been divisive for the nursing profession. Current demographics reveal that associate degree nursing continues to make a positive impact on the registered nurse population, providing almost 60% of entry level graduates each year, and attracting a greater percentage of minority groups and males. Associate degree nursing representatives should be involved in defining the future of nursing. Societal needs for health care and individual rights for access to education should be considered. Collaborative efforts among the nursing organizations are essential to promoting recruitment and retention efforts.     

Interprovincial partnership in nursing education

The Canadian Nurses Association endorsed the position that baccalaureate education is essential to practise nursing. Provincial adoption of this position began efforts to increase seats in baccalaureate programs as early as the late 1980s. These efforts have generated many different models of collaborative baccalaureate nursing programs in Canada. One model, the UNB-Humber Collaborative Nursing Program, began to offer nursing courses in the fall of 2001. As UNB already offered its basic baccalaureate program in four New Brunswick sites and Humber College had well-established nursing diploma and continuing education programs, a partnership approach to nursing education seemed beneficial to both institutions. This article describes, from the perspective of one faculty member in Ontario and one in New Brunswick, how the development and implementation of this collaborative program and its curriculum were guided by a similar philosophy. The authors describe how the curriculum values of primary health care, social justice and caring influenced their relationships in the program development process. They also discuss strategies the partnership has used for developing the curriculum collaboratively, ensuring similarity of courses across sites, addressing academic freedom and sharing and learning together.     

Diversity in graduate nursing education: an experience in collaboration.

The recent shift in public policy away from the use of affirmative action programs in the admissions process of institutes of higher learning has motivated colleges and universities to explore alternative means for achieving their goal to increase the diversity of their student bodies. The imperative to promote diversity is particularly relevant in nursing education because there is an emphasis on preparing students to enter a profession that is committed to providing health care to all regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. In 1997, the nursing programs at 2 Florida schools-Bethune-Cookman College (B-CC), a historic African-American college, and the University of Florida (UF), a land-grant university-initiated a collaborative relationship with the goals of improving access to graduate education for B-CC graduates and increasing the diversity of the graduate student body at UF. A central component of the collaboration is the Gator-Cats Mentoring Program in which students are recruited through career counseling and financial planning, mentored through the application process and the program, and offered continuing support in the skills required in graduate studies. This collaboration can serve as a model for other institutions seeking effective ways of increasing the diversity of their student populations.     

A Comprehensive Faculty Development Model for Nursing Education

Professional nursing education has undergone profound legislative changes requiring a university baccalaureate in nursing as entry to practice as a registered nurse (RN) in Ontario, Canada. Subsequent partnerships between colleges and universities were mandated by the ministry of post secondary education in order to maximize existing resources, such as faculty, and capitalize on the strenghts of both sectors. Faculty, in partnered collaborative undergraduate nursing programs, are challenged by the ever-evolving transition in conceptualization, development, and delivery of nursing education; consequently, the design, dissemination, and evaluation of effective faculty development programs is of paramount importance (Steinert, 2000). This paper focuses on the creation of the Comprehensive Faculty Development Model implemented by a collaborative BScN program partnership in south-western Ontario. It describes the model's contextual underpinnings, illustrates the component parts, explains their relationship, and provides an in-depth discussion of foundational concepts. The model was developed under the auspices of a collaborative faculty development committee with representation from all partners. Summaries of four research studies designed and implemented by members of the partnership provide a useful assessment of how faculty members experienced the inaugural BScN program; however, more study is needed in order to understand what approaches to faculty development are most effective and sustainable.     

Use of Q-methodology to identify nursing faculty viewpoints of a collaborative BScN program experience

The McMaster Mohawk Conestoga Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, established in 2000, brought together three nursing programs from one university and two colleges. The existing university curriculum, which used a problem-based, small-group and student-centred approach, was implemented at all three sites. Considerable adjustments were required by faculty as they adapted to a collaborative approach in implementing this nursing curriculum. Q-methodology was used to identify nursing faculty viewpoints about the collaborative program experience. Sixty-one participants from the three sites completed a 50-item Q-sort representing their statements about collaboration. Data were analyzed using PQMethod version 2.11. Six salient viewpoints were identified: Champions of Collaboration, Proponents of Scholarship and Clinical, Critics of Collaboration, Defenders of McMaster Curriculum, Acceptors of Collaboration and Detractors of the Partnership. On the whole, the collaboration has been a success and a spirit of cooperation prevails. However, a number of faculty issues were identified that should be addressed. The results will be of value to other collaborative nursing programs as they work together to foster faculty commitment and collegiality.     

Bringing the professional challenges for nursing in Jordan to light

The definition of a profession consists of contributing characteristics. Nursing must achieve these characteristics in order to confirm its professional status. These characteristics include: a standard of education; professional organizations; commitment; autonomy; continuing education; body of knowledge and competencies; social value; and a code of ethics. Nursing in Jordan faces a unique set of challenges to meet these criteria. The purpose of this discussion is to bring the professional challenges of nursing in Jordan to light, to motivate collaborative efforts to remediate them and to discuss the value of evidence-based practice in this process. The key to confirming Jordanian nurses' professional status is for nurses to seek every opportunity to prove themselves, earn respect, take control over their work, support their colleagues and to make informed decisions. In addition, a more active and effective role for the nursing organizations is necessary to change the public's view of nursing. Efforts to reform regulation also should be intensified.     

Confronting barriers to universal screening for domestic violence

Nationally, domestic violence has reached epidemic proportions. Universal screening is a vital means to identify those women who suffer in abusive relationships with intimate partners. Collaborative efforts between a community shelter for abused women and a local medical center's emergency department resulted in the development and implementation of a universal screening process. Barriers encountered by the emergency department nursing staff during the initial phase of screening included lack of information about domestic violence issues as well as about the tool, personal perceptions and feelings about domestic violence, and institutional barriers such as lack of time, space, and privacy in the emergency department. Of these, informational and affective barriers of nursing staff are viewed as the most significant. Discussion includes a call for emphasis on domestic violence in the curricula of nursing programs and those of other health care providers and use of universal screening to identify and assist abused women. Interdisciplinary methods of formal education, in-service training, and continuing education are encouraged to augment existing universal screening, as well as to assist those who have yet to implement such a process.     

Institutional goal analysis: an approach to program evaluation

Although nursing literature discusses the importance of goals in nursing, little if any research has been conducted on the subject. Many of the studies focusing on nursing education deal with faculty turnover, effectiveness of various types of nursing programs, and the role and functions of the nurse. To better understand these problems, an understanding of the current goals of various nursing programs is needed. This can establish a basis on which to explore other problems in nursing education and the nursing profession. Conducting an analysis of goals on a nursing program not only contributes to the profession of nursing but also benefits the individual schools by revealing areas of goal incongruency within each program. The use of the Institutional Goals Inventory is recommended for evaluation of all nursing programs. It can be useful not only to baccalaureate educators, but also to those involved in associate degree and diploma education as well as graduate nursing education. After identifying areas of goal consensus and differences, a delphi approach can be utilized to solve problems and establish relevant and realistic goals.     

Collaboration between service and education: perils or pleasures for the clinical nurse specialist?

A critical challenge to nursing today is the development of effective models of service and education collaboration. Collaborative roles that include formal responsibilities for both education and service offer many opportunities and challenges for the clinical nurse specialist; they also require a juggling act. This paper describes the author's collaborative role in a university medical center with an emphasis on the perils and pleasures of the role. Also included is a brief history of the development of collaborative roles, the strengths and benefits of collaborative roles, and a presentation of selected collaborative models using a framework from the literature.     

Issues and challenges in international doctoral education in nursing

Education is a driving force in improving the health and welfare of communities globally. Doctoral education of nurses has been identified as a critical factor for provision of leadership in practice, scholarship, research, policy and education. Since the genesis of doctoral education in nursing in the USA in the 1930s, this movement has burgeoned to over 273 doctoral programs in over 30 countries globally. The present article seeks to identify the issues and challenges in nursing doctoral education globally, and those encountered by doctoral program graduates in meeting the challenges of contemporary health care systems. Information was derived from a comprehensive literature review. Electronic databases and the Internet, using the Google search engine, were searched using the key words "doctoral education"; "nursing"; "International Network for Doctoral Education in Nursing"; "global health"; "international research collaboration". Doctoral education has been a critical force in developing nurse leaders in education, management, policy and research domains. An absence of consensus in terminology and of accurate minimum data sets precludes comparison and debate across programs. The complexity and dynamism of contemporary globalized communities render significant challenges in the conduct of doctoral programs. Addressing funding issues and faculty shortages are key issues for doctoral programs, especially those in developing countries, to achieve an identity uniquely their own. These challenges can also afford considerable opportunities for discussion, debate and the formulation of innovative and collaborative solutions to advance nursing knowledge and scholarship. In spite of discrete differences between countries and regions, the similarities in the issues facing the development of doctoral programs internationally are more striking than the differences. The harnessing of a global collective to address these issues will likely serve to not only forge the future viability of doctoral education of nurses but to improve the health and well-being of communities. This paper proposes international collaborative strategies to address a number of the challenges identified.     

Applying andragogy in nursing continuing education

Andragogy, a philosophical orientation for adult education, receives little attention in the nursing continuing education literature. Yet, the tenets of andragogy form the organizing framework for programming. This article defines andragogy and provides selected results of a research study designed to test andragogical concepts in long-term oncology nursing continuing education programs. The results of the study suggest a new way of viewing the goals of nursing continuing education activities.     

Development of the New Zealand nursing workforce: historical themes and current challenges

Development of the New Zealand nursing workforce has been shaped by social, political, scientific and interprofessional forces. The unregulated, independent and often untrained nurses of the early colonial period were succeeded in the early 1900s by registered nurses, with hospital-based training, working in a subordinate role to medical practitioners. In the mid/late 1900s, greater specialisation within an expanding workforce, restructuring of nursing education, health sector reform, and changing social and political expectations again reshaped nursing practice. Nursing now has areas of increasing autonomy, expanding opportunities for postgraduate education and leadership roles, and a relationship with medicine, which is more collaborative than in the past. Three current challenges are identified for nursing in New Zealand's rapidly evolving health sector; development of a nursing-focused knowledge culture, strengthening of research capacity, and dissemination of new nursing knowledge.     

Problems in the outcomes of nursing education create challenges for continuing education

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges for continuing education by evaluating nurses' perceptions of quality of learning outcomes among graduates of nursing programs in Finland. The evaluation occurred 5 years after graduation from a bachelor's program, which means that learning outcomes can be weighed against the practice of nursing. METHOD: The data were collected in 1996 by postal questionnaires, which were divided into four main domains--basic nursing skills, interactive skills, counseling skills, and collaborative skills. The sample consisted of 522 graduating nursing students. The response rate was 68% (n = 354). RESULTS: The respondents felt most confident with their basic nursing, collaborative, and counseling skills. They felt least confident with their interactive skills, particularly with patients with alcohol or drug addiction problems. CONCLUSION: The results highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of the nurse education system and provide insights for continuing education.     

Teaching interprofessional teamwork in medical and nursing education in Norway: A content analysis

The notions of interprofessional education and interprofessional teamwork have attained widespread acceptance, partly because lack of teamwork has been tentatively linked to adverse incidents in healthcare. By analyzing data from 32 educational institutions, this study identifies the status of interprofessional teamwork in all nursing and medical education in Norway. The study programs issued by the 32 educational institutions were subject to content analysis, distilling the ambitions and goals for teaching interprofessional teamwork. Study program coordinators were approached and asked to what degree interprofessional teamwork was actually introduced in lecturing and clinical training. Results indicate that the medical and nursing schools clearly aspire to teach interprofessional teamwork and that this has largely been achieved when it comes to theoretical teaching. Although three of the four medical programs have integrated interprofessional teamwork into their clinical training, there is a gap in the nursing programs where introduction of interprofessional teamwork in clinical training has been limited. Current challenges are related to organizational issues (e.g. lack of institutional collaboration), practical difficulties (e.g. finding time to bring students of various professions together) and possibly managerial issues (e.g. lack of strategic perspective and change management).     

Meeting tomorrow's health care needs through local and global involvement

Strengthened efforts to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by 2015 are urgently needed. A fundamental step toward achieving these goals is strengthening global partnerships for development. This article describes critical challenges and opportunities in global health and the social responsibility of the nursing profession in this area. Examples and suggestions for nursing action are provided for consideration by those interested in influencing global health. Engaging in global health activities such as study abroad programs, interprofessional exchanges, continuing education workshops, and seminars with a global health focus can have significant implications for nursing education, research, policy, and practice. Equipping nurses with the leadership skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to advance global health is integral in the delivery of effective, culturally relevant health care.     

Leveraging a funding collaborative to develop more PhD prepared nurse scientists and leaders

BackgroundOver its almost 50 year history, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has provided about $500M to nursing initiatives focused on education, practice, policy and leadership development. While RWJF was most often the sole funder of many of these initiatives, it has also joined with others to create a larger and more sustained impact on particularly challenging nursing, health, and health care issues.PurposeThe purpose of this article was to describe the challenges and opportunities of a unique funding collaborative developed to engage new partners, increase the visibility of doctoral nursing education and increase funding of the RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars program to develop more PhD prepared nurses and nurse faculty.MethodsInterviews were conducted with several members of the FNS Funders Collaborative as well as the scholars they supported. The perspectives of three funders, a regional philanthropy (IBC Foundation) and two health systems (Cedars Sinai and Sharp HealthCare) are presented here. Together they supported 13 nurses to complete their PhD through the RWJF Future of Nursing Scholars program.FindingsRWJF contributed $20 M and 13 other funders contributed an additional $3Mto the initiative. The additional funds supported 42 nurses to earn their PhD degree through the program. Six of the 13 funders are health systems, four are regional or health related philanthropies, and others include United Health Care, Johnson & Johnson, and the Care Institute.DiscussionThere were many lessons learned for RWJF and the other funders. Given the size of RWJF, some other philanthropies were concerned about how contributions would be represented, others wanted their funding to go directly to care improvement. Some health systems were not prepared for their nurses to decrease work time while pursuing further education. The nurse faculty and nurse PhD shortages have persisted now for over a decade. Although FNS made a significant contribution by developing over 200 new nurse PhDs (faculty and leaders), more funding collaborations that engage new and different partners must be developed so that nursing education does not have to focus on the same problems in the next decade.     

‘More effort and more time.’ Considerations in the establishment of interprofessional education programs in the workplace

The argument for integrating interprofessional education (IPE) activities into the workplace has been made concurrently with the call for collaborative clinical practice. An exploratory case study investigation of existing activities in a large metropolitan health care network was undertaken to inform the development of future IPE initiatives. Purposive sampling invited clinicians involved in the design or delivery of workplace IPE activities to participate in a semi-structured interview to discuss their existing programs and the opportunities and challenges facing future work. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and thematically analysed. In total, 15 clinicians were interviewed representing medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and speech pathology. The IPE programs identified included one medical and midwifery student workshop, several dedicated new graduate or intern programs combining the professions and multiple continuing professional development programs. Three dominant themes were identified to inform the development of future work: clinician factors, organisational factors and IPE considerations. In addition to the cultural, physical and logistical challenges associated with education that integrates professions in the workplace, the time required for the design and delivery of integrated team training should be accounted for when establishing such programs. Considerations for sustainability include ongoing investment in education skills for clinicians, establishment of dedicated education roles and expansion of existing education activities.