CLASS PRESENTATION
ON
TRENDS & ISSUES IN
NURSING EDUCATION
Submitted to – Submitted by –
Madam, Sipra Modak Dipika Singha Roy
Reader 1st YR MSc. Nursing Student
W.B.G.C.O.N W.B.G.C.O.N
SSKM HOSPITAL SSKM HOSPITAL
INTRODUCTION : The changes that are occurring in the social & cultural life of the society as a results
of impact of advancement in the science based technology are broadly describe as modernization .
since education is a multi polar process , it is influenced by the modernization in different ways . Due
to globalization & liberalization , changes occurring in other parts of the world will also influence the
education pattern of a country .
“ Trends “ means movement in a particular direction . When we speak of a trend in
nursing , we mean a change currently taking place in nursing education & influencing the profession
as a whole . For example the present trend in nursing education is towards a higher level of education
in the basic preparation of a professional nurse .
DEFINITION OF EDUCATION :
Education is development of all those capacities in the individual , which will enables him to
control his environment & fulfill possibilities .
( John
Dewry , 2000 )
According to Mahatma Gandhi , education is the all round drawing out of the best in child & man –
body , mind & spirit .
NURSING EDUCATION : Nursing education is a professional education which is consciously &
systematically planned and implemented through instruction & discipline & aims the harmonious
development of the physical , intellectual , social , emotional , spiritual & aesthetic power or abilities
of the student in order to render professional nursing care to people of all ages in all phages of health
& illness , in a variety of setting in the best or highest possible manner .
Aim of Nursing Education :
1. Harmonious development
2. Inculcating the right attitude
3. Knowledge & skill aim
4. Emphasis on high – tech – high tough approach
5. Prepare students to take up a proactive role in nursing
6. Professional development
7. Assist to build a promising career
8. Social aim
9. To prepare global nurses
TRENDS IN NURSING EDUCATION
A profession is a dynamic integration of the various faculties of knowledge . Since nursing
education is a professional education , it is dynamic by its own nature & thereby giving rise to
trends .
Let us see some of the current trends in nursing education –
• The emergence of digital platform : Digital / online education allows flexibility &
personalized learning at the speed of the learner & one can continuously expand content
through digital means .
Online teaching platforms such as SWAYAM. DIKSHA are structured, user-friendly learning
tools which facilitate learning at their fingertips.
• Blended models of learning:
Blended learning is a school or classroom structure in which students learn partially from
direct teacher instruction and partially in more self-directed activities. Various research findings have
emphasized blending models of learning (including both online and offline teaching models) for better
teaching No longer will learning rely on traditional forms of teaching alone. Online tools, multimedia,
and virtual classrooms and presentations will gain importance and widespread use as teachers employ
them to better personalize and enhance the learning experience.
• Integration between education and practice: INC has recently stressed on
importance integration of theory and practice in nursing. Nursing is a profession, which
emphasizes the knowledge and skills related to patient care. Nurse educators have dual
responsibility both in the classroom as well as clinical areas.
• Interprofessional education: Interprofessional education Involves purposeful
activities designed so that students can learn from, with, and about each other and work
toward the ultimate goal of providing collaborative, team-based care focused on quality of
care. It improves. interprofessional coordination, which further improves quality & safety in
care .
• Periodic revision of curriculum: Flexible curriculum designs are evolving to
facilitate a diversity of educational opportunity and overcome barriers of distance and time
These curricula are often competency based, focused on outcome and emphasize on student
participation and responsibility for learning, eg Curriculum duration of diploma GNM has
been changed from 3.5 years (internship) to 3 years in 2015.
• Competency based education : Revision of BSc (Nursing) syllabus: Recently INC
has proposed revision of BSc (N) syllabus based on competency based curriculum with 10
competencies:
- Foundational courses (Applied Basic and Behavioral Sciences)
- Core courses (Nursing Foundations, Medical Surgical Nursing, Community Health
Nursing. Child health Nursing, Mental health Nursing and Obstetric Nursing)
- Elective courses
• Innovation in teaching and learning: In nursing education, lots of innovations
are taking place in the areas of teaching and learning. Invariably, these N innovations lead to
intellectual development, personal development and career development, e.g. Use of concept
mapping, gaming. For making the clinical evaluation more objective, OSCE (Objective,
Structured Clinical Evaluation) has been used as an evaluation tool for nursing teachers.
• Emphasis on high-tech-high-touch approach:
High- tech-high-touch approach in nursing care was devised to preserve the human
component of nursing care without undermining the advantages of technological
advancements in the field of patient care. Present day nursing education is preparing the
students to maintain the human elements of nursing while caring the patients with the help of
sophisticated gadgets.
Increased opportunities for higher education/studies: Nowadays, many institutions are
offering various programs such as post certificate BSc nursing, MSc (Nursing), M Phil, and
PhD. An eligible candidate can easily pursue higher education without much time lag.
• Preparation of global nurses:
Nursing education is all set to reap benefits created by globalization and liberalization by
way of preparing global nurses. Many institutions are preparing students with a global
perspective through providing a learning experience to each student's knowledge in English
along with the attainment of other objectives.
• Emergence of new specialties : As par with the development in the medical and
new specialties new specialties, education is also offering new specialties to meet the needs of
the community, e.g. Medical-Surgical Nursing further has various sub-specialties such as
cardio- nursing, orthopedic nursing and many more.
• Nurse practitioner: Recently INC has started various nurse practitioner courses.
• Preference of short-term clinical programs: Many graduate nurses prefer short-
term clinical programs of six months like trauma nursing, critical care nursing to upgrade
their basic qualification for better career opportunities prevailing in the service sector .
• Uniformity and standardization: Various universities and nursing boards are
conducting nursing programs in a different manner. Even though efforts are on the way
bringing about the much needed uniformity and standardization, nothing significant has been
achieved so far.
• Distance education in nursing : Different universities all over the world have
started offering nursing courses through distance education. For example, in India IGNOU
has started the BSc Nursing post basic nursing course
• Collaboration with foreign universities: Collaboration with different foreign
universities has been established. The students who have successfully completed the basic
course in nursing and fulfill the requirements are sponsored to foreign universities for further
education.
• Privatization of nursing education: A large number of nursing institutes are being
established in the private sector. This has resulted in flourishing of nursing education, thus
strengthening the nursing profession.
• Nursing theories in nursing education: Nursing theories should be applied for,
providing effective nursing care to patients. So, the nurses should be equipped with
knowledge of these nursing theories. Nursing theories have become an important component
in curriculum of four nurses.
• Advanced educational technology: Advanced educational technology, media like
LCDs, slide projectors, computer models, etc. Are now used by nursing teachers to provide
effective learning experiences to students.
• Emphasis on legal aspects in nursing: Consumers in today's world have become
more aware due to the Consumer Protection Act. Therefore, the nurses should be provided in
depth information about legal aspects in nursing. Legal aspects in nursing are also included in
the curriculum for nurses.
• E-Assessment: Online assessment tools are transforming the possibilities and flexibility
of student assessment. No online assessments can help in speeding up the overall time taken
for the evaluation process.
• Online examination: An online examination is computerized program based
evaluation system which helps colleges to simplify the examination and overall assessment
process for students.
• Choice based credit system (CBCS): Recently, INC has proposed choice based
credit system for evaluation. The credit system allows the college to specified programs and
individual courses in terms of their required credit load. This in turn gives a clear picture of
the learning effort that a student will have to put into each course as well as the overall
program.
• Project-based learning: Project-based learning is growing in popularity as the need
and importance of acquiring real-life skills.
• Post basic diploma in neonatal specialty nursing-residency program
2019: The National Health Policy document (NHP, 2017) emphasizes the need to expand
tertiary care services, prepare specialist nurses and standardization of clinical training for
nurses. Responding to this, the council planned to redesign the existing specialty nursing
programs, making it as a one-year post basic diploma residency program utilizing
competency-based training approach.
• Simulations/advanced practice lab
• Increased need for doctoral degree
• Advances in nursing research
• Self-directed learning
CURRENT ISSUES IN NURSING EDUCATION
a. Alignment of nursing practice with theory
Though the nursing theory is in congruence with the practice, the integration of both should
occur at a rapid pace, and educators should be able to adapt to this rapidity to set out the best
outcomes from the learners as well. Still, inadequacies are shown up in this specific area as a
considerable challenge. Report of Institute of medicine in 2011 goals to double the number of
nurses with a doctorate program by 2020. The report also calls for higher levels of nursing
education and preparation and is pushing for enhanced access to innovative programs.
Choosing the right student for the nursing profession ensures greater job compatibility and
thus improves further performance and outcomes in the future.
b. Abrupt change in curriculum
Landmark change happened in modifying into the competency-based curriculum with new
elements added in it. Time for self-directed learning is considered an environment that has to
be provided for the same. Implementation of Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) for
marking academic excellence and semester system has gained much attention of professional
workforce.
c. Technological advancements and digital health
Technology plays a significant role in our daily professional life, including education, patient
care, research and administrative levels. In nursing education, skill-based techniques using the
operation of simulation pads and mannequins need expertise to handle them carefully; in
research, updated databases and search strategy and even online submission of research
papers and deliberate use of statistical packages is an essential skill to be developed by a
nurse researcher. Using smart boards in classrooms with multifaceted benefits still needs
repeated demo sessions to those who handle it.
Pandemic has made everything digital, including health care by telemedicine and telenursing
services focusing on competencies in nursing informatics.
d. Research with a broader scope
Nursing research decades ago was mainly concentrating on assessing the effectiveness of a
teaching module on participants. Now, research has found its way much broader than
imagination. It involves narrative reviews, clinical trials, systematic and scoping reviews and
even meta- analyses. The results are evidence-based and implemented immediately in the
patient care modules.
e. Enhancement of faculty development
Increasing demands from institutes, universities and UGC requirements have created tougher
competition among faculty to reach higher levels. This challenge is highly demanding new
learning on daily basis, and only those can acquire the place that keeps an eye on such
requirements and works to meet the criteria need. Also, institutes should continuously
incorporate structured programs for the regular enhancement of faculty development.
f. Cultural diversity
Nursing care around the world to various groups of patients needs a good sense of
understanding about their cultural practices and perceptions. Hence, there is a need of
understanding this cultural diversity due to increased immigration and globalization to make
sure evolving society will be satisfied with care. Diversity can also act as an opportunity for
nurses, where working with different cultural backgrounds people and looking for their
perspectives can be an educational venture for nursing students and nurses .
g. Economic concerns
Nurses with fewer pay scales, even at the state and central level, promised fake incentives on
work extracted from them, and extremely slow growth in funds they receive for official works
are the biggest challenges now. This is the reason that is encouraging nurses to immigrate to
foreign countries for better economic survival. India still has discrepancies in paying nurses
compared to other employees of different disciplines with equal qualifications .
Conclusion
The historical viewpoint of nursing education has advanced over the past 100 years. During
the 19th and 20th centuries, the main goal of nursing education was to enable the nurses to
assist the physicians. Now, the nurses are shouldering up a new sense of responsibility in
multiple areas. Nursing education is seeing multiple facets of reformation around the world,
expecting nurses with expanded roles to be performed. This needs adequate preparation of
faculty and students by proper development opportunities. And nurse educators should learn
to take advantage of the latest technology and provide more effective and efficient teaching
and skills to students. Assessment of periodical anticipated obstacles and recognizing the
ways to approach them safeguards patient care and brings satisfaction in student nurses.
Bibliography :
1. KP Neeraja ,Text book of Communication & Education Technology for Nurses; JAYPEE Publishers ,
p – 16 ,
2. Jaspreet Kaur Sodhi. Comprehensive Text book of Nursing Education. 2nd Edition. JAYPEE
Publishers .New Delhi.2017. p-31-34
3. Shebeer P. Basheer , The text book of Nursing Education, EMMESS Publishers
