Advantages of Re-Establishing Hospital Based Schools of Nursing

This study examined perceptions of hospital-based nursing schools among nursing professionals to determine whether this type of nursing education model is viable in the modern nursing context. Nursing education is faced with the twin problems of insufficient nurses, which creates a demand for rapid education of nurses, and ensuring adequate clinical quality of nurses, which creates a demand for more extensive undergraduate clinical training. Hospital-based nursing schools are three-year programs that provide more intensive clinical training than the two-year university-based programs. The study developed and disseminated a questionnaire to assess the perception of nursing professionals and nursing students on the issues related to hospital-based nursing schools including clinical quality and the shortage of nurses. Secondary research was conducted based on the available literature regarding nursing education and the historical development of the current nursing educational system. The study found that there was a generally favorable opinion of hospital-based nursing schools among the surveyed population, particularly in the area of the level of clinical training received at these types of schools. The study also found that there were significant attitudinal and financial barriers to increasing the number of hospital based nursing schools. The findings of this study are exploratory in nature and serve to define the problems and alternatives associated with nursing education and hospital-based nursing schools.