PASOS GENERALES OBJETIVOS

The previous subcategory theme illustrated the GCC Nursing Technical Committee’s views regarding nursing leadership skills and effectiveness in the Gulf countries. This subcategory theme reveals explains the fragmentation found in nursing education and practice within the Gulf countries.

Analysis of the documents suggested that there is some variation in the levels of initial nursing education and the minimum entry level for professional nurses within the Gulf countries. For example, some Gulf countries such as Kuwait considered initial nurse education programmes at secondary school level to be sufficient (D7.3), while other countries such as SA recently specified university-level education as the minimum point of entry to the health professions for nurses (D7.3).

In addition, nursing education takes place in a number of governmental and private college/universities (Section 2.3). These settings create considerable fragmentation within content of nursing education and the resulting practice abilities of nurses. For example, the governmental nursing colleges provide free education to a limited number of national

143 students through a 5-year degree programme, which includes a one-year internship in the governmental hospitals (Section 2.3).

However, the GCC Nursing Technical Committee proposed national general curriculum guidelines for nursing education in recognition of the fragmentation across Bachelor Degree, Diploma, and bridging programmes in order to standardise the curriculum outlines for nursing education in the Gulf countries. These curriculum guidelines were written in Arabic in D1, D2, and D3.

The curriculum outlines the three educational pathways to becoming a registered nurse in the Gulf Countries as follows:

The first pathway is Diploma-nursing education, and the duration of the programme is,

“not less than two and half years and aims to provide direct patient care in hospitals and primary healthcare centres” (D2, p.3-4)

فشتسملا يف ضيرملل ةرشابملا ةياعرلا ريفوت اهفادهأو فصنو نيتنس نع لقت لا ةياعرلا زكارمو ى

ةيحصلا

ةيلولأا

The second pathway is Bachelor’s degree nursing education,

“offered in five years, which includes all the content in the Diploma but an in- depth study of the pathophysiology, nursing research, pharmacology, leadership and management, community and public health, ethical and educational principles,

and nursing informatics” (D2, p2).

ايجولويزيفلا نم ةقمعتم ةسارد نكلو مولبدلا يف ىوتحملا ةفاك نمضتي يذلاو تاونس سمخ يف تضرع لاو عمتجملاو ،ةرادلإاو ةدايقلاو ،ةلديصلاو ،ضيرمتلاو ثوحبلاو ،ةيضرملا ةيقلاخلأا ئدابملاو ،ةماعلا ةحص

ضيرمتلا ةيتامولعملاو ،ةيوبرتلاو The third pathway is a bridging programme, which

“provides additional education for Diploma holders who want to expand their knowledge and advance their skills to get the bachelor’s degree” (D2, p.5,6). " ةجرد ىلع لوصحلل مهتاراهم ريوطتو مهفراعم عيسوت يف نوبغري نيذلا مولبدلا لماحل يفاضلإا ميلعتلا رفوت

144 سويرولاكبلا

The three levels of nursing education outlined in the GCC Nursing Technical Committee documents (D1, D2, D3) are summarised in Table 6-1 to identify the similarities and differences.

Table 6-1: Nursing education pathways in the GCC countries

Nursing programme BSN Diploma Bridging

The aim of the programme

Prepare nursing students that are able to provide holistic nursing care to individuals, communities and society at all three levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) in accordance with the approved standards in order to promote health and improve quality of life.

Provide the basic level of nursing care to individuals & society, and work within healthcare team in order to promote health and improve quality of life.

Prepare qualified staff who are able to provide a holistic nursing care to individuals, communities and society at all three levels (primary, secondary, tertiary) in accordance with the approved standards in order to promote health and improve quality of life.

The duration 4 years, the programme starts instruction after completion of high school. 2 ½ years, the programme starts instruction after completion of high school.

The duration of the programme depends on the total number of hours of the previous

programme. The internship

period 12 months of clinical practice. 6 months of consolidated practice. 6 months of consolidated practice.

The theory part 50% 50% ____________

The practical 50% 50% ____________

Total credit hours needed for graduation

125 credit hours 1 credit hour theory= 1 hour/week

1 credit hour lab= 2-3 hours/week

1 credit hour clinical= 4-5 hours/week.

70 credit hours 1 credit hour theory= 1 hour/week

1 credit hour lab= 2-3 hours/week

1 credit hour clinical= 4-5 hours/week.

____________

The nursing licensure

Licence provided after passing the national exam.

Licence provided after passing the national exam.

---

Classification Specialist. Technician (generalist).

Specialist. Continuing

education and renewal license

20 hours/year. 10 hours/year. 20 hours/year.

It appears that there are both similarities and differences across the nursing programmes as noted in Table 6-1. For example, the aims of the BSN and bridging programmes are

145 typically the same, whilst the duration of the internship in the bridging programme is different from the BSN and similar to Diploma nursing education. However, Table 6-1 demonstrates that the GCC still provides the outline curriculum for the three levels of nursing education, which means there are some Gulf countries that have still not implemented the degree education policy. Also, the results indicate some fragmentation in nursing education and practice in the GCC countries and this may relate to demographic and socio-economic factors (Section 1.2). For example, Kuwait does not implement the policy of degree nurse education as a minimum requirement for nurses to enter practice, whereas it is well established in other countries.

Together these results provide important insights into fragmentation of initial education as a minimum requirement for nursing practice and the value of the professional nurse in the Gulf countries. The following section, ‘Making the Changes’, will discuss the last theme of documentary analysis that includes the purpose of the GCC itself and all the outcomes of introducing degree nurse education in SA.