Preparing an educated nurse: past and future trends in England and mainland China

Abstract

This cross-national comparative study aims to explore previous changes and future trends in nursing in England and mainland China, and the impact that reform has had on the way in which nurses are currently and prospectively educated in the two countries. Nursing education in both countries has experienced considerable development related to societal, health care, and technological advances, alongside economic growth. In England, there is a policy imperative to shift nursing to an all-graduate discipline and a need to look at the balance of the health care workforce. In mainland China, there is a goal to educate nurses who are fit for the changing healthcare system, during a period of health care reform which attempts to improve primary health care delivery in rural and urban areas.
A case study design has been adopted in two settings, one nursing school in England and one in mainland China. Participants are those involved in the provision of nursing education – the nurse teachers. In-depth data were collected by interviews from 11 people in the English site and 10 in the Chinese site. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. These data are set within the historical and contemporary contexts, through an analysis of the literature. Findings indicated that the trajectories of the development of nurse education in the two countries are varied, but with interesting similarities and differences. For example, the professionalisation of nursing in the two countries has followed a pathway that is comparable in some senses but not others. This is related to such issues at the inter-relationship of medicine and nursing and views about the status of nurses. Main conclusions of this study include the increasing emphasis on community care and the linked need for further curriculum development to prepare nurses in both countries for such changes.

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