Molly Sutphen - Böcker

The authors outline a clear vision of what nursing education can and should be and provide practical exemplars of how we can achieve this vision. This is a call for us to work together as guardians of the discipline to assure that future nurses enter the health care system ready and able to meet the challenges ahead.— PAMELA M. IRONSIDE, director, Center for Research in Nursing Education, Indiana University The profession of nursing in the United States is at a significant moment. Since the last national nursing education study almost forty years ago, profound changes in science, technology, and the nature and settings of nursing practice have reshaped the field. Yet schools have lagged behind in adapting to these changes. Added to this, the profession faces a shortage of nurses and nursing faculty. To meet these challenges, the authors assert that schools, service providers, and the profession must change. They recommend four controversial yet essential changes that are needed to transform nursing education. A volume in The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s ­Preparation for the Professions series, the book discusses key topics for the future of the field and offers revolutionary recommendations for change.

One of the most important routes to employment within the social welfare sector worldwide is higher education, which equips students not only with the knowledge for employment, but with the tools to use and build on this knowledge. During the last few decades there has been an academic drift in professional education, especially for many shorter professional programmes. Many of these shorter programmes have left the realm of vocational education to enter higher education. On the one hand, graduates are confronted by an increased demand for research and evidence-based knowledge, and on the other, they are criticised for lacking the knowledge and skills relevant for professional work.From Vocational to Professional Education presents new research into programmes suggesting how best to prepare students for professional work and addresses the challenges facing the education of professionals for social welfare. The book identifies and clarifies key problems, as well as outlining the political and historical context in which they are embedded. Chapters discuss theoretical and analytical ways to address these challenges and suggest recommendations for the further development of education for professional practice. Based on comprehensive longitudinal research data, the book will appeal to policy makers, leaders of higher education, and teachers and researchers involved in programmes qualifying students for professional work.