Professional News 2008

May 2008

University education imperative for nursing and midwifery

Debate continues around the topic of whether or not an undergraduate nursing degree should be offered by a non-self accrediting provider of higher education, namely a TAFE college. In Victoria, Holmesglen TAFE has applied for accreditation to offer a Bachelor Degree in Nursing. The ANF is opposed to any attempts to take registered nursing education out of the university sector, as it would be a negative move for the profession.

An ANF Victorian Branch Professional Day in March addressed this topic with presentations from former ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe and Holmesglen TAFE’s Associate Director of Health, Human and Community Services, Leonie English. Jill outlined the evolution of professional nursing education over the last 40 years and detailed the many inquiries, reviews and reports recommending nursing education be delivered by the university sector.

The Holmesglen TAFE presentation focused on the physical facilities TAFE can offer and the business case for the proposal. The question that must be asked is not whether the Bachelor of Nursing could be conducted by a non-university provider but whether it should be conducted by a non-university provider.

Nurses are now recognised as professionals in their own right largely due to their undergraduate and postgraduate education at universities. Registered nurses provide high level critical thinking, problem solving and evidence based reflective practice leading to improved health outcomes for Australians.

In order to address existing and projected health workforce shortages due to an ageing workforce there is an increasing focus on healthcare delivery by multidisciplinary teams. It is essential that there is a national integrated approach to interprofessional education curriculum development. This is where our attention and efforts should be focused, not on further segregation of nursing education from all other health professionals education conducted in the university sector.

Nursing is a complex and demanding profession that requires the same rigorous scholarly preparation, based on research and evidence, as other recognised health professions. Universities have quality assurance mechanisms and cross disciplinary infrastructure to support all the health professional courses they offer. The opportunity to share courses, research and information increases the exposure of health professionals to one another during their education thereby providing an understanding of one another’s roles and the foundation for effective multidisciplinary health teams.

The ANF works hard to ensure that nurses are consulted on all issues affecting nursing practice. Allowing nursing education to be further segmented and isolated from other health professionals will diminish the standard of education and ultimately be detrimental to the professional status of nursing in Australia. Nurses have worked hard to achieve the recognition and respect they now have, but still have some way to go. Would this debate be happening in medicine for example? Let’s not lose the forward momentum by falling back behind barriers to the development of our profession.

Julianne Bryce
Federal Professional Officer