Nursing education is affected by several factors such as information technology, prevalent national and international social and political trends, violence and terrorism and shortage of nursing staff and faculty. Informatics has gained a crucial role in education due to its benefits of enabling students create, access and disseminate information (Cipriano & Murphy, 2011).
Major developments in the electronic information and communication technology have led to developments in nursing education and practice (Cipriano & Murphy, 2011). Nursing students have greater access than ever to e-mails and complex research documents due to rapid communication used in contemporary nursing education (Skiba, 2009). Social media has become an integral part of nursing education and necessitating nursing students to understand the policies and legal implications associated with its use (Cronquist & Spector, 2011).
Nursing education is impacted by the evolution of social, economic and political trends (Ketefian et al., 2005; Sullivan, 2009). The percentage of old people is increasing which means more people live with chronic diseases and disability (Sullivan, 2009). Political healthcare reforms necessitate greater focus on the quality of care and competent practice by the nursing community for all age groups (AACN, 2009).
Other significant factors which impact nursing are the occurrence of violence and terrorism (Sullivan, 2009). Nurses are required to work in situations resulting from family violence, community violence and terror attacks (Adelman & Legg, 2009). Special programs and courses have been designed in nursing education to increase preparedness of nurses so that they are better equipped to respond to such acts of violence and terror (Adelman & Legg, 2009).
An important factor affecting nursing education is the shortage of nurses and nurse faculty which has caused serious issues in the healthcare domain (Falk, 2007).
CCNE Guidelines for Development of an Undergraduate Nursing Program
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is a specialized, professional autonomous institution which ascertains the quality nursing education programs through a set of standards (CCNE, 2009). The standards of the CCNE are as follows:
Standard I – Program Quality: Mission and Governance
‘Standard I’ refers to the importance of congruency between the goals and outcome of the mission with the parent institution in a way that the goals reflect the needs and expectations of the community (CCNE, 2009). Faculty and students engaged in the program are responsible for constant efforts in improving it.
Standard II: Program Quality: Institutional Commitment and Resources
‘Standard II’ refers to the availability of several resources such as faculty, budgetary, support services and administrative support to accomplish the mission, goals and outcomes of the program (CCNE, 2009).
Standard III – Program Quality: Curriculum and Teaching-Learning Practices
‘Standard III’ of the CCNE refers to the development of the curriculum so that it effectively matches the program objectives and outcome. Nursing programs are required to be developed in a manner that they develop professionalism and enhance the understanding of participating students. The Standard outlines the importance of congruency between educational practices and student achievement at the individual and educational level (CCNE, 2009).
Standard IV – Program Effectiveness: Aggregate Student and Faculty Outcomes
‘Standard IV’ refers to successful and effective fulfilment of the mission and goals of the program demonstrated through the use of surveys and other data sources. The program lays emphasis on accomplishment and outcome of students participating in the program verifiable through satisfaction data to attest the effectiveness of the program (CCNE, 2009).
References
Adelman, D. S. & Legg, T. J. (2009). Disaster nursing: a handbook for practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2009). Government affairs, nursing policy beat: healthcare reform. Web.
Cipriano, P. F. & Murphy, J. (2011). Nursing informatics. The future of nursing and health IT: the quality elixir. Nursing Economics, 29(5), 286 – 289.
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). (2009). Standards for accreditation of baccalaureate and graduate degree nursing programs. Web.
Cronquist, R. & Spector, N. (2011). Nurses and social media: regulatory concerns and guidelines , J Nurs Reg, 2(3), 37–40.
Falk, N. L. (2007). Strategies to enhance retention and effective utilization of aging nurse faculty, J Nurs Educ 46(4), 165–169.
Ketefian, S., Davidson, P., Daly, J. & Srisuphan, W. (2005). Issues and challenges in international doctoral education in nursing. Nursing and Health Sciences, 7, 150–156.
Skiba, D. (2009). Emerging technologies center: teaching with and about technology: providing resources for nurse educators worldwide, Nurs Educ Perspect, 30(4), 129 – 131.
Sullivan, C. H. (2009). Partnering with community agencies to provide nursing students with cultural awareness experiences and refugee health promotion access, J Nurs Educ 48(9), 519-522.