IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2019i1p240-d303003.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality Assurance in Nursing Education: A Qualitative Study Involving Students and Newly Graduated Nurses

Author

Listed:
  • Olga María López-Entrambasaguas

    (Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain)

  • María José Calero-García

    (Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain)

  • Ana María Díaz-Meco-Niño

    (Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain)

  • José Manuel Martínez-Linares

    (Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, 23071 Jaén, Spain)

Abstract

Background: Assuring quality training for future nursing professionals is essential to preserving population health and socio-economic development. Quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area places students in a leading role to transform and improve higher education programs. Therefore, an innovative way of reviewing strengths and weaknesses of the nursing education program of a Spanish university has been developed. Objectives: The aim of this paper was to explore the perceptions and opinions of nursing students and newly-qualified nurses regarding the contents of the nursing curriculum in order to improve its quality. Methods: Descriptive and exploratory qualitative research was carried out involving 12 newly-qualified nurses and 12 student nurses. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were performed. Results: Based on the thematic analysis, two themes emerged: improving clinical practices and reviewing the theoretical curriculum. Conclusions: Among the improvements suggested by the participants, the most relevant ones were establishing a clear structure of learning contents in the practicum, and redistributing the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System ECTS credits in various courses of the study program. However, additional evidence is needed prior to proceeding with any changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Olga María López-Entrambasaguas & María José Calero-García & Ana María Díaz-Meco-Niño & José Manuel Martínez-Linares, 2019. "Quality Assurance in Nursing Education: A Qualitative Study Involving Students and Newly Graduated Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2019:i:1:p:240-:d:303003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/240/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/240/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olga María López-Entrambasaguas & Rocío Martínez-Yebenes & María José Calero-García & José Granero-Molina & José Manuel Martínez-Linares, 2019. "Newly Qualified Nurses’ Perception of Their Competency Achievement on Leaving University: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-13, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2019:i:1:p:240-:d:303003. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.