NURSING EDUCATION

Nursing

Nursing

Introduction

This paper will include information regarding the profession of nurses. It aims to provide information about how nurses entered higher education around the globe in the regions of Australia, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and United States of America. It will specifically be identifying how nurses around the globe enter to academics in order to make a career in the field of nursing.

Nursing is one of the most respectful professions around the globe. The development of this profession started due to the increased need of patients to receive health related facilities. It is a clear fact that Florence Nightingale is regarded as one of the pioneers in nursing care and with her colleagues; she transformed the way people thought about the profession of nursing at that time. Currently, there are many institutes around the world offering diploma, bachelors and masters level education, and if those who are bold enough, there is doctorate level too which raises the bar for the nursing itself. Nursing is an important part of healthcare department along with other healthcare professionals such as doctors, pharmacists, medical technologists etc. Not only nurses are helping out in hospitals, they are also in the field of public health administration and also play an important role in the collection of epidemiological data as well as home care and nursing homes for the elderly where they look after those who can not look after themselves. With the help of technology, the scope of nursing increased to the level of additional patient safety in medication and other aspects. In short, the potential of nursing is very vast and diverse with a variety of options. Here, a brief discussion regarding the nursing programmes throughout history and in current times is described.

Nursing in Australia

Since 1994, the level of education for nurses has been set as Bachelors in universities. The bachelor studies involve 3 years to complete while some universities offer short 18 month course to get things started (Jacob et. al., 2012). The nursing profession in Australia began when 6 nurses were sent from England in 1800's as a punishment for their crimes. Since they had been working as primitive nurse back there, they were appointed to do their duties and thus started the evolution of nursing (Pitkin, 1996). After the formation of NHS in 1948, a nursing college was setup in Australia in 1949, and The University of Edinburgh begins the degree program in 1960 (Crisp and Taylor, 2009).ANMAC is the body that accredits all nursing and midwifery programs.

The AQF (Australian Qualification Framework) since 2002, is responsible for qualifications from school and VET (Vocational Education and Training), to university and other higher education institutions for pursuing PhD, and comes under the Australian Government. While the issuing of some qualifications is the duty of a different sector, other qualifications are issued in three sectors: schools, VET or higher education. Certificate II and III are available on completing the VET level. Enrolled students usually complete Certificate IV or a diploma in the VET and ...