TRENDS AND ISSUES IN

CONTEMPORARY NURSING
EDUCATION

TRENDS AND ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY

NURSING EDUCATION
Nursing education is always concerned with

preparing nurses with enough knowledge

and skills to meet the health care needs of
the community with compassion.
How it does this is shaped by a number of

trends and issues in society, which change

continually and with increasing complexity.

Knowledge Expansion and Use of

Technology and the Internet
With the ever-expanding developments in

computer technology, the volume of

knowledge is expanding exponentially.
From e-mails to complex research documents
and video images, nurses and students are
communicating more frequently, with more
contacts and with the speed of light.

Knowledge Expansion and Use of

Technology and the Internet
This ability to access and disseminate

unlimited information almost instantly has

enormous benefits but also presents major
issues.
Computer-accessible knowledge has become
the potential content for nursing and other
courses and the standards for practice.
Websites generally are more interactive than
texts and link to multitudes of other helpful
resources (Nicoll, 2000; Skiba, 1997)

 Knowledge Expansion and Use of

Technology and the Internet

Issues relate to time management, the

integration of all the information available,

keeping up with changes in technology, and
meeting the expectations for immediate
responses to an ever widening web of
contacts.
Faculty and students have similar issues
related to knowledge and technology
expansion, the scope of information, and the
time to use it.

Practice-Based Competency

Outcomes

Trends in business and commerce often find their

way into higher education and nursing education.

In business the outcome of spending time and
resources based on actual needs is what counts in
determining financial success.
The same is true for nursing practice and nursing
education.
Students (nurses) achieve the competency
outcomes that specify the skills actually needed in
practice.

Practice-Based Competency
Outcomes
For students it means a change from memorizing

class notes and readings to learning to integrate

knowledge, make decisions, and be competent and
confident in the abilities contained in course
outcomes.
Practice-based competency outcomes specify the
destination students need to reach, the interactive
learning strategies are the directions and guidelines
for getting there, and performance-based
assessment confirms they have arrived at the right
place.
These changes in the entire education process pose
threats and concerns to all the stakeholders that
need to be resolved (Bargagliotti, Luttrell, and
Lenburg, 1999).

Practice-Based Competency
Outcomes
Lenburg's Eight Core Practice Competencies

Assessment and Interventions

Critical Thinking

Communication

Teaching

Human Caring Relationships

Management

Leadership

Knowledge Integration

Practice-Based Competency
Outcomes
Competency outcomes incorporate these practice-

based skills, as well as the course content.

Learning strategies and performance examination
are based on outcomes and content.
Several articles describe the model, process, and
related issues as used by others (Luttrell et al.,
1999; Redman, Lenburg, and Walker, 1999).
Critical thinking is perhaps the most pivotal
competence, as seen in many resources (Critical
thinking, 2000; Rubenfeld and Scheffer, 1995).