Overview

Edited by:

Debra Jackson
Professor and Research Coordinator, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney, Sydney

Michael Clinton
Professor, Faculty of Nursing and Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada

Nurse education is being rethought as the global shortage of nurses continues and as efforts are made to prepare a sustainable nursing workforce in developed countries. Australian and New Zealand tertiary institutions are leading purposeful change aimed at improving the prestige of nursing and at preparing a world-class nursing workforce for the future. Conceptual models for nurse education informed by post-modern thinking; Evidence Based Nursing; preparation of advanced practitioners, including nurse practitioners; high fidelity simulation; innovation in education in clinical settings; interprofessional education are receiving increasing attention as faculties of nursing strive to improve standards and to facilitate change.

Whereas there is progress, there are many challenges: the status of nursing as a discipline within the academy; lack of financial and other resources; priorities that take precedence over teaching; faculty shortages; the poor image of nursing among potential students; and lack of sophistication in workforce planning are constraints on innovation and change.

Hence the need for a forum in which nurse academics, service managers, clinical nurses, students, and others can write about the advances that are taking place, the challenges that impede progress, and the strategies that are being used to create a better and brighter future for nurse education.

This collection contains a selection of papers that reflect contemporary issues and concerns facing nurse educators and academics internationally. Most importantly, these papers reveal the commitment, resourcefulness and resilience of nursing and those who teach it. What can be learned from many of these papers is that teaching and learning can be enhanced, not necessarily through the provision of more resources and expensive equipment, but through changes in attitudes, and openness to reflective practice and innovation in curriculum design, pedagogy, and development of nursing competencies.

This Special Issue may well be a catalyst for academics and educators to reflect on, debate and discuss the challenges facing nurse education.

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