Teaching nursing’s history: A national survey of Australian Schools of Nursing, 2007–2008

The Views of Heads of Schools of Nursing about Mental Health Nursing Content in Undergraduate Programs

“…The overcrowded curriculum was a prominent reason. Difficulties in covering all content considered essential has been discussed in the literature (Diekelmann & Smythe, 2004;McAllister, Madsen, Godden, Greenhill, & Reed, 2010;McAllister, Williams, Gamble, Malko-Nyhan, & Jones, 2011). It seems that educators do not know how to resolve this situation and, in fact, may have unwittingly been adding to the problem by assuming that if one wished to add something new to a curriculum, then it was necessary to remove something else.…”

An integrative review of the literature on the teaching of the history of nursing in pre-registration adult nursing education in the UK

“…Having experienced staff to teach nursing history was identified as a critical issue, in terms of providing expertise, vision and leadership in course development (Madsen, 2008). A survey conducted in Australia by McAllister and colleagues revealed that out of 36 universities only three staff had expertise in teaching history of nursing (McAllister et al, 2010). The lack of expertise was also recognised by Kirby (1998) and Lait (2000) who recommended a course handbook.…”

History as reflective practice: A model for integrating historical studies into nurse education

“…Two of the main barriers to the development of nursing history in university based nurse education programs have been identified as a lack of expertise, and a lack of space in competency based curriculum (Lewenson, 2004;McAllister, et al, 2010). In order to overcome these barriers, we have developed an interdisciplinary team comprising the relevant subject co-ordinators, a lecturer in Reflective Practice (a doctorally prepared historian) and a learning designer, in order to ensure pedagogical integrity and to provide students with an interactive and flexible learning experience.…”

“…The significance of this research is that it demonstrates the role of nurses and nursing in the development of modern approaches to health and health care, situating nursing practice in its broader historical and social context. However, this research does not often find its way into Western, university based nurse education programs, despite attempts to develop strategies for its use (Madsen, 2008;McAllister et al, 2010). These scholars have identified that there are a number of factors which contribute to the overt sidelining of history in nurse education, namely lack of space in the curriculum, lack of expertise in historical teaching and research, and a perceived lack of relevance to the requirements of clinical practice (Lewenson, 2004;McAllister, et al, 2010).…”

“…However, this research does not often find its way into Western, university based nurse education programs, despite attempts to develop strategies for its use (Madsen, 2008;McAllister et al, 2010). These scholars have identified that there are a number of factors which contribute to the overt sidelining of history in nurse education, namely lack of space in the curriculum, lack of expertise in historical teaching and research, and a perceived lack of relevance to the requirements of clinical practice (Lewenson, 2004;McAllister, et al, 2010). Yet there are many aspects of historical knowledge and method that resonate with nursing practice (D'Antonio, 2006b) and are essential to the development of 'clinical reasoning' (Levett-Jones, 2013).…”