Nurse education and training: report of the Committee of Inquiry into Nurse Education and Training to the Tertiary Education Commission

The Committee of Inquiry into Nurse Education and Training, established in September 1997 and chaired by Sidney Sax, was commissioned to review arrangements for the education and training of nurses and to advise the Tertiary Education Commission on possible developments and changes, including whether the education of nurses should take place in hospitals or educational institutions or both. The Committee was to give particular attention to current policies, trends, and research in nurse education and training, and to examine the implications of alternative forms of nurse education and...  [+] Show more

The Committee of Inquiry into Nurse Education and Training, established in September 1997 and chaired by Sidney Sax, was commissioned to review arrangements for the education and training of nurses and to advise the Tertiary Education Commission on possible developments and changes, including whether the education of nurses should take place in hospitals or educational institutions or both. The Committee was to give particular attention to current policies, trends, and research in nurse education and training, and to examine the implications of alternative forms of nurse education and training with particular reference to: the organisation, operation, costs and quality of health services and care; the staffing implications for educational institutions of any transfer of nurse education training from hospitals to educational institutions; the sources, supply and distribution of nurses; the size and structure of the nursing workforce; and the costs of nurse education and training and the respective financial responsibilities of the health and education sectors. The Committee believed that an improvement in the education and training of nurses was required. It was expected that, at least until 1985, most nurses would continue to be trained in hospital schools of nursing, so it was recommended that action should be taken to improve training provided in these schools, probably through cooperative arrangements between hospitals and educational institutions. It was also proposed that existing courses for nurses in colleges of advanced education be expanded. The report contains the following chapters: Introduction; Previous inquiries; Current arrangements for nurse education and training; Current supply of nurses and the financing and cost of their education and training; Problems related to hospital-based nurse education and training; Trends and expectations; Nursing roles and functions; Basis for future nurse preparation; Issues influencing future nurse preparation; Options for improving nurse education and training; Expansion of nurse education in colleges of advanced education; Costs and structural effects of proposals for nurse education in colleges of advanced education; Psychiatric nursing and mental deficiency nursing; Post-basic nurse education and continuing education; Conclusions and recommendations.