Introduction
Nursing like any other career involves the pursuit of knowledge that is not only valuable in the field of nursing, but also for the enhancement of one’s well-being in society. It is important to note here that, nurses serve the entire community in totality primarily because they help in enhancing the quality of life and achievements; something that can only happen in a healthy society.
Nursing as one crucial field to a society’s well-being has its own set of beliefs and concepts that practitioners in this field must adhere to for their practice to achieve its desired goals. The primary role of any practitioner in this field is to ensure they enhance the quality of health in society, something they can achieve only through dedication and sacrifice. To acquire essential skills necessary for achieving this, practitioners in the nursing field must go through a system of education that will impart in them the necessary knowledge that pertains to this field. Although this is the case, all individuals need to note here that, acquisition of knowledge only cannot guarantee that, an individual will succeed in this field, but rather practice is the main element behind success in this field.
Student’s Philosophy of Nursing Education
The success of the nursing career entails primarily discovering and attending to the needs of a multi-cultural society, whereby no boundaries should limit one’s practice. Therefore, for achievement of this the nursing education curriculum should emphasize the importance of competence and application of technical skills; the only two main pre-requisites for success in this field. On the other hand, considering the cultural diversity of societies and because the nursing practice affects the entire society, it is necessary for nursing education to instill in one good moral that emphasize the necessity of nursing care.
The majority of nursing students believe that, because of the dynamic nature of the health conditions of a society, nursing education should be an all-time responsive discipline. The fact that every day there is an emergence of new infections concretes this fact hence, the need for a responsive nursing educational scheme. Rene’s research findings support this notion whereby, most interviewed nursing students stated that, because of the many constraints, which nurses face in their everyday duties, it is important for nursing education to build realistic professional values and knowledge (Rene, 1995, pp. 357-367).
Because nursing is a universal practice and noting the cultural variation of students who have dreams of becoming nurses, nursing education should ensure it provides students with a firm background when it comes to knowledge assimilation. That is, knowledge of cultural variations will acquaint students with interaction principles important for assimilation and provision of good judgmental feedbacks to one another. This is only achievable if the nursing education can impart in students appropriate or required communication, presentation, organization, and ethical skills. To ensure this, the educational system should avoid chances of rote learning; nursing is an appliedion field that requires the acquisition of competence and new skills in dealing with emerging societal health problems. Hence, nursing education must help students to be actively involved in active learning (Mashaba, 1994, pp. 10-13).
Nursing without patients; who are the main clients or recipients of the services, has no meaning. Hence, the patients that nurses serve largely have both direct and indirect impacts on what nursing education should entail. Hence, the majority of nursing students believe that nursing education should take note of the nature of beliefs held by the entire society as concerns the practice. This is a crucial element in ensuring nursing contributes to a peaceful co-existence of a society. In addition, this is achievable only through commitment to the primary ethical value that bounds the nursing practice; care.
To many students, the majority of clients have special characteristics that result due to biological or social-cultural differences that exist among the human species. This is so because, there exist a variety of patients whose backgrounds vary whereby, depending on the ethics, expectations, and reinforcing values held by one, individuals have different ways of expressing their health status. Therefore, this makes it necessary for nursing education to equip students with adequate and required standards, which will ensure their role of patient support succeeds (Lewis, Rogers & Naef, 2006, pp. 1-2).
Change in any field of knowledge is inevitable. Hence, nursing being one of the fields of knowledge, it should be an evolving process, whose changes should follow societal needs and needs of the general nursing practice. Watson’s research findings on the changing nature of nursing practices support this notion, whereby he argues that, the entire nursing practice as most students suggest should address all societal ever-changing needs, when it comes to well-being health-wise (2005, pp. 7-23).
As Bevis and Watson (2000, pp. 23-47) argue behaviorism is another main concept emphasized in most nursing education programs. This is because; it is the fundamental foundation of any nursing career in the world. The idea of integrated behaviorism concept in the nursing curricular receives a lot of applause from most nursing students, due to the fact that good individuals’ behavioral characteristics determine one’s quality of work and the nature of results that one will achieve (Philosophy of Nursing Education, 2010, p. 1).
On the other hand, the whole idea of nursing education should emphasize the need for independence when it comes to decision-making and the necessity of innovation in new emerging health issues. Such should be the case primarily because; the achievement or realization of individual full potentials depends on the innovative nature of that individual. In this regard, to achieve this, nursing education should emphasize the development of individuals’ full potentials both mentally and socially. This is to say, the nature of education offered to students should not provide students with solutions to existing health problems but rather, should emphasize the provision of only insights or pathways, which will act as main mental stimulators; primarily critical thinking elements (Bevis & Watson, 2000, p.217).
Nursing education as a field that determines the well-being of the human species; because of the knowledge it imparts in individuals, should lay great emphasis on the achievement of global consciousness through incorporating issues that relate to the well-being of specific societies and issues that affect the entire human species globally. Majority of students agree to this primarily because; not only do nursing curriculums teach on sickness concepts, but also they teach other issues that affect health for example, pollution or environmental degradation. This is very crucial to every nursing student due to the fact that apart from roles nursing students play as concerns their careers; they all have a stake in the societal decision-making process.
As agreed by many students, learning environments also have a crucial role to play when it comes to the acquisition and concretization of concepts. This is so because; nursing is a practical field that requires the use of learned knowledge in real scenarios. Hence, depending on the prevailing condition, impacts of learned knowledge vary, something that the majority of individuals reflect in their practice fields. On the other hand, learning environments have a role to play when it comes to individuals’ goal attainment. In this regard, considering the nature of impacts that the nursing practice has on the livelihoods of the global communities, it, therefore, becomes necessary for nursing curriculums to emphasize the importance of both conducive learning and practice environments. To ensure education achieves this, nursing as a practical field should emphasize the need for students to act for themselves. That is, nursing education’s objectives should stress the importance of practicality in the nursing practice. This is because; achievement of practicality is one of the main prerequisites when it comes to the achievement of work proficiency, experience, and professional accountability (Lewis, Rogers & Naef, 2006, pp. 35-36).
Apart from the importance of education as concerns competence and achievement of desired outcomes, feminism is another important aspect that determines the nature of outcomes that a nursing education curriculum can achieve in individuals. The idea of feminism seeks to liberate women from societal tyrannical practices. The same to some extent as proved by Giarratano (2003, p.1) is the case in most nursing curriculums. In her research on students on the role that feminism plays when it comes to the nursing practice, he ascertained that, majority of clinical and nursing education experiences follow feminism principles because of the care concept encompassed in most practices. Her findings further proved that the use of a female-centered philosophy has many impacts as concerns the nursing practice, because of the understanding concept embraced by many women.
Conclusion
In conclusion, considering the role nurses play in the society, as concerns alleviation of human suffering caused by ailments, it is important for nursing education to emphasize the practical aspects of the career, rather than rote learning. This is because not only does whatever students learn to affect their general practice in the real health fields, but also it affects other aspects of human development that include social, political, and economic development.
References
Bevis, E.O., & Watson, J. (2000). Toward a caring curriculum: A new pedagogy for nursing. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers
Giarratano, G. (2003). Woman-centered maternity nursing education and practice. The Journal of Perinatal Education, 12(1), pp18-28. Web.
Lewis, S., Rogers, M., & Naef, R. (2006). Caring-human science philosophy in Nursing education: beyond the curriculum revolution. International Journal For Human Caring, 10(4), 31-37. Web.
Mashaba, T. G. (1994). Nursing Education: an international perspective. Kenwyn: Juta Publications. Web.
Philosophy of nursing education. CampusRN Mississippi Edition. 2010. Web.
Rene, B. A. (1995). Students Evolving Beliefs about Nursing: from entry to graduation In a four-year baccalaureate program. Nurse Education Today, 15(5), 357-364.
Watson, J. (2005). Caring science as sacred science. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.