¶ … Nursing Education
The objective of this work is to investigate an issue or trend that is going to impact nursing education significantly in the years to come. For the purpose of this work in writing the issue of distance education has been chosen.
The work of Affara (nd) entitled "Global Trends and Issues in Nursing Education" reports that the global shortage of nurses is different from the shortage experienced in the past in that "today's health care systems are suffering from pressures exerted on both supply and demand." (p.3) Affara and Styles (1992) state that the task of human resources planning development and management is to "ensure the presence of the right nurse with the right qualification at the right role at the right time in the right place with the proper authority and appropriate recognition." (cited in Affara, nd, p.4) Reiners (2005) reports that the critical nursing shortage is "compounded by a lack of nursing faculty and student access to nursing educational programs.
I. Distance Education Programs
Distance education programs may assist in alleviating the nursing shortage." (p.1) Baumann and Blythe (2008) report that the demand for higher education "has increased worldwide and the response has been an impressive expansion of educational offerings both within and across countries." (p.1) Additionally reported by Baumann and Blythe (2008) is that evolving technologies "…are transforming both the formal and informal acquisition of knowledge. Information is accessible electronically; and people with common interests, e.g., students, researchers, and innovators, exchange knowledge freely via the Internet. The development of a knowledge economy has made intellectual capital a valuable possession." (p.1)
II. Technology
Technology is reported to be "…revolutionizing the design, delivery, and evaluation of nursing education." (Jeffries, 2005, p.1) Technological incorporation in to programs of nursing education results in new challenges for nurse educators in regards to "development, implementation, and testing." Jeffries, 2005, p.1) The challenges of educating nursing students will include those associated with the use of technology, as technology is the enabler of distance education. Therefore, the combination of technological challenges and distance education challenges are such that go hand-in-hand in the endeavor to provide student nurses with the best possible learning experience which enables them to develop their knowledge and hone their nursing skills. Reiners (2005) reports that the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (1999) reported "…that financial investment in technology, infrastructure, and faculty development are essential factors for superior nursing distance education programs." (p.6)
Summary and Conclusion
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