Upload
cer-maddox
View
217
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
COMMENT
A personal comment on the Rcn Commission Report on Nursing Education
Christopher E R Maddox
This document and its supporting statistics
hrittg together in a most excellent manner the
details relating to the provision of nursing
education in the United Kingdom. However,
early irt the reading of the document one
begins to feel at odds with the inevitable
direction of some of the conclusions.
,\s an educationalist who is not a registered
nurse l)ut has been associated with pre- and
post-registration nursing education for a num-
her- of years, I was able to identify, in the
C:ommission’s thinking, the problems and
dilemmas which have been facing the nursing
profession for many years. So then, the reader
a\lis, whet-c will society’s priorities lie? To
\z,llich the answer must be: to obtain as good as
possible a nursing service as cheaply as pos-
siljle. ,\nalysis of this hypothesis leads to some
cclnclusions which the nursing professionals
must clarify:
1. the role and numbers of registered nurses
essential for the operation of an efftcient
service in a particular nursing environ-
ment over an extended period of time;
2. the numhers and types of support staff
required to supplement the nurse provi-
sion who will not be designated by the
connotation ‘nurse’ in any form; and
3. the educational provision required to pro-
duce the numbers and various types of
registered nurses according to ( 1) above.
Unfortunately, the report avoids deep dis-
cussion of what the nursing profession believes
C E R Maddox BSc PhD MlBiol DipManEd, Vice Principal, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh
is necessary to carry out the nursing require-
ments of our present societv adequately.
Rather ineffectively, the report seems to accept
that the present numbers of registered nurses
plus a modest enhancement will be sufficient in
the future. (Perhaps the Policy Committee of’
the UKCC will do better!).
Once the profession has advised on its pos-
ition, it would then he well placed to indicate
the type of education and status that learner
nurses should en,jo);. My own prejudices are in
favour of educational units which ha\rt, strong
affiliations with institutions of higher edrtcation
but which are firmly embedded in the Sational
Health Service. The advantages 01‘ this type of
arrangement are that the virtues !)f both sys-
terns can he used to cancel out each other’s
detriments, and the learner nurse has the
opportunity to develop the necessary practical
skills lvithin the Health Service lthilc dcvclop-
ing the necessary’ academic skill.<. \vhich to-
gether are then integrated 111 :I total eti~~-
cational programme.
The report is lit-m in its conclusions that all
nurse tutors should he graduates. I’his is ttot a
position that all of us in educ,ation could
concur with, as it mav be essential that stu-
dents should come into contat’t. e\en in thr
classroom situation, with as mirc~tl a population
of tutors as possible. Some non-graduates rtill
have abilities and skills which slrould not ht,
denied to students.
With regard to the proposals that CX:\.\
should hecome a single validating body- for <L
three-year diploma course, it is interesting to
speculate why an all-graduate profession is ig-
nored, and whether the Commission was aware
141
142 NURSE EDUCATION TODAY
that for CNAA an ethos as a validating body is
to consider all forms of academic and pro-
fessional initiatives on their merits. It might
therefore be surprised to receive a prescribed
structure for a three-year diploma course more
or less cast in tablets of stone.
In conclusion, the report must be seen as an
important step in establishing a modern pat-
tern of education and training for nurses.
Although open to criticism on a number of
counts, the Report should stimulate debate
that will be of immense value to the UKCC
and the respective National Boards as the final
arbiters in making recommendations for the
future development of nurse education and
presenting them to the Secretary of State.
Reference RCN Commission on Nursing Education 1985 The
education of nurses: a new dispensation. Royal College of Nursing, London