In Australia, the education of nurses in the academic arena now has a decade of history which arguably represents advancement of the nursing discipline. Until the conduct of the study which is the subject of this report, however, expectations for the next decade were unknown. In order to provide information concerning the future of nursing education and related professional and social factors, and entire population of nurse academics in Australia was surveyed. Findings indicate that although advances have been made, there are a number of concerns regarding the rate of disciplinary development. These include parity of status with other academic areas, resource issues, the workload of nurse academics and the perception that there is lack of cohesiveness amongst nurses as a professional group.
The Ballarat Health Education Forum has the express purpose of identifying and responding to the educational needs of registered nurses (RNs) in western Victoria. Since the senior nurse members of the forum believed that there was a strong need for management education amongst the nurses involved in middle management in the target region, the total nursing population was surveyed to determine if that perception was shared by RNs themselves. Results of the study confirm that educative programs in management are viewed as a high priority for the professional development of nurses but that family and work commitments are dominant factors which hinder participation. It is argued that education for the managerial role into which many nurses are thrust is sporadic and bereft of appropriate content. Background to the issue of management skills and training among RNs is provided and survey methodology and outcomes are described. The paper discusses the implications of survey outcomes and makes recommendations based on findings.
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