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Nurse Education
Australian society is a vibrant mix of
people from a most varied range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The scale of the place; its beaches; the vast deserts; the
huge blue sky; the spectacular storms, are the physical embodiments
of a country that is open to the world and an exciting place
to be, to learn and to study.
Nurse education at graduate level is provided by the universities
in a variety of modes; to full time students; by part time
study; by distance education without requiring frequent attendance
on a campus; and to nurses in remote areas who have not other
opportunities of continuing their professional education.
Professor Madjar, from the University of Newcastle, Australia,
noted that building on a strong tradition of excellence in
nursing education and scholarship drawn initially from Great
Britain and in more recent decades from North America, Australian
nurses are rapidly developing a reputation for speaking with
a fresh voice. Many of the Australian nursing faculties and
departments, she said, can now boast internationally recognised
scholars, whose ideas are contributing to the development
of nursing knowledge and strong programs of postgraduate education.
Margaret McMillan, the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, has
led teams which have provided the various professional State
Boards and Councils with insight into the scope of contemporary
nursing practice and professional boundaries in practice.
Government bodies have funded research by the University of
Newcastle, Faculty of Nursing into competency standards for
advanced practice and an analysis of the experience of beginning
nurses during their transition to the workforce. Professors
Irene Stein and Helen Baker's research with a multidisciplinary
team on the quality use of medicines by nurses is another
example of research impacting on policy development and the
actual practices of nurses. Stein has a particular interest
in nursing initiatives in the care of the elderly in society.
Professor Megan-Jane Johnson's incisive work in ethics and
law related to nursing practice, Professor Jocalyn Lawler's
revealing writings on the body and its place in nursing, Professor
Rhonda Nay's challenging work on the care of the older members
of our society, and Irena Madjar's and Jo Ann Walton's recent
phenomenological work on nursing and the experience of illness
are just some examples of Australian nursing scholarship which
is being recognised internationally. Through their own work
and that of their postgraduate students, these and other nursing
academics are helping to define the agenda for nursing research
and practice for the new generation of nurses.
Madjar said that while research is clearly the cornerstone
of postgraduate nursing education, nursing programs in Australia
tend to offer a wide range of courses, from clinically focused
Graduate Certificates and Diplomas to Professional Doctorates
and PhDs. The coursework components emphasise development
and application of up-to-date clinical skills and knowledge,
with increasing attention being paid to evidence based practice.
Within research higher degree courses the emphasis is on development
of strong methodological expertise as well as scholarly writing.
The very strong interest in qualitative methods was featured
at the 5th International Qualitative Health Research Conference
hosted by the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Newcastle,
NSW, in April 1999. This was the first time that this large
international and interdisciplinary conference was held in
the Southern Hemisphere.
An important field of action for the schools and faculties
is provision of nurse education at university level to nursing
students overseas. In Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia
and the Pacific nations there are now hundreds of indigenous
nurses who have Australian qualifications.
The Australian Council of Deans of Nursing expects all these
activities to intensify. As nursing becomes more complex and
advanced, so will the initial professional preparation of
nurses. Specialisms will increase in sophistication and in
number; this will lead to greater demands for postgraduate
courses. As communication technology develops further, the
opportunities for provision of courses away from campuses
and into remote areas will increase and become more effective.
Research into nursing issues will grow in quantity and depth;
every expansion of knowledge enlarges the perimeter of the
known, the extent of the unknown and the need for further
insights.
The provision of nurse education beyond Australia's shores
will continue as long as other countries feel the need for
it and Australia retains and increases its reputation for
nursing of the highest quality - a reputation which depends
not only on professional knowledge and formal education but
also on the personal attributes of the nurses. An area which
needs to expand in Australia, and which the Council is committed
to expanding, is the education of nurses to work with the
variety of cultures in this country, not simply within the
majority culture.
Author:
Margaret McMillan
BA, M Curr St(Hons), Dip N Ed PhD, FCN, FCNA, RN
Dean, Faculty of Nursing
The University of Newcastle |
