The integration of nursing and midwifery education within higher education: implications for teachers — a qualitative research study

Abstract

This study was a qualitative narrative that reviewed the historical developments that led to the integration of nursing and midwifery education with higher education in the United Kingdom (UK). A sample of teachers was investigated with particular reference to role conflicts they may have experienced as a result of integration. In addition to this the views of established academic university staff were assessed. The methodology adopted for the research was an eclectic qualitative one, drawing on several approaches, and sought to inquire into individuals personal perception of these events. In this paper the progression of events, nationally and locally, that led to the educational reforms in nursing and midwifery in the 1990s are examined. This narration includes a brief history of the creation of a new university department. Following this there is detail of how data were collected and analysed from a teacher population within this new department. The findings, whilst difficult to generalize to the wider population of nurse and midwife teachers, demonstrate that the sample of teachers examined, all of whom have been involved in the process of integration, have been exposed to stress that has resulted in role conflict. Established university staff, however, were more objective, expressing some broad anxieties regarding the resource demands and research capability of the new department.

The tension between marketisation and academisation in higher education

“…Teachers on the programme experience that the practical knowledge they impart is less valued and stands in contrast to the more theoretical knowledge which characterises traditional university disciplines. Also, teaching skills do not have the same high rank as conference presentations or the publication of articles (Barton 1998).…”

Nurse teachers' working lives: a questionnaire survey of nursing schools in Mainland China

“…2005). The role of nurse teachers has changed significantly (Barton 1998), and they are expected to have expertise in clinical practice and different teaching methods in addition to the capacity for research and for continuous professional development.…”

Facilitating learning of spirituality in midwifery

“…Individuals' motivations behind choosing to join a 'caring' profession are not well understood, but something may have been shifted through expectation that nursing and midwifery are now degreebased professions on the whole in many countries. In the UK the move into Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the 1990's provided an extreme period of change for nursing and midwifery educators that led to role conflict around their working practices (Barton 1998). Extensive self-development of educators was required to achieve degree status for themselves in order to match the levels of the students they were to teach.…”