Using successful graduates to improve the quality of undergraduate nursing programs

Geoff Scott; Esther Chang; Leonid Grebennikov

doi:10.21153/jtlge2010vol1no1art547

Authors

Geoff Scott UWS, Australia
Esther Chang UWS, Australia
Leonid Grebennikov UWS, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2010vol1no1art547

Keywords:

competencies, capabilities, surveying, successful graduates, learning design

Abstract

This paper outlines the context and focus of the late 2008 survey of 45 early career nursing graduates working in public hospitals in an outer-urban area of Sydney who were identified by their supervisors as performing successfully. It gives an overview of the key quantitative and qualitative results for 2008 compared with the results of earlier studies of successfully performing nurses and other professionals in the first 3-5 years of their career. Based on this analysis it makes a range of recommendations on how to optimise the quality and relevance of the learning design, support and assessment systems experienced by undergraduate nursing students.

The study confirms that, in addition to possessing a high level of technical competence, it is a particular combination of personal, interpersonal and cognitive capabilities which characterises the most effective performers. The most productive approaches to developing these capabilities focus on: consistent two-way links between theory and practice; the availability of responsive, committed academic staff with current clinical experience; provision of clear direction and integration between different units of study; the systematic use of case-based learning, simulations, clinical placements and associated assessment tasks which are “real-world” focused, integrated and problem-based, and which concentrate on the key capabilities identified as counting most for successful early career practice in this and parallel studies.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Geoff Scott, UWS, Australia

Professor, Pro Vice-Chancellor Quality, Provost Penrith, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Quality), University of Western Sydney (UWS).
Esther Chang, UWS, Australia

Professor of Nursing, Director of Research, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney (UWS).
Leonid Grebennikov, UWS, Australia

Doctor, Institutional Research and Quality Evaluation Analyst, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Quality), University of Western Sydney (UWS).

References

Business Council of Australia (2009). Fit for the job: Adapting to Australia’s new healthcare challenges (Report). BCA, Melbourne. Accessed on 22 August 2010 at: http://www.bca.com.au/Content/101545.aspx

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2008). Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report. DEEWR: Canberra.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Lexington, Massachusetts: Heath & Co. Elmore, R. F. (1979). Backward mapping: Implementation research and policy decisions. Political Science Quarterly, 94(4), 601-616.

Foley, G. (2000). Understanding adult education and training (2nd Edition). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Fullan, M., & Scott, G. (2009). Turnaround leadership for higher education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Gillard, J. (2009). Speech at the Universities Australia Conference. Canberra: ACT. Accessed on 22 August 2010 at: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Speeches/Pages/Article_090304_1557 21.aspx

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury. Gonczi, A., Hager, P. & Oliver, L. & Australia. Dept. of Employment, Education and Training. & Australia. National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition. (1990). Establishing competency based standards for the professions. (Research Paper No. 1, NOOSR). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

Rochester, S., Kilstoff, K., & Scott, G. (2005). Learning from success: Improving undergraduate education by understanding the capabilities of successful nurse graduates. Nurse Education Today, 25(3), 181-188.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books. Scott, G. (1999). Change matters: Making a difference in education and training. London: Unwin.

Scott, G. (2006). Accessing the student voice (Report). DEEWR, Canberra. Accessed at: http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/publications_resources/profiles/access_student_voice.htm on 22 August 2010.

Scott, G (2008): Student Engagement and Satisfaction with Learning, (Commissioned research and analysis report to the Australian Review of Higher Education). DEEWR, Canberra. Accessed on 22 August 2010 at: http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Review/Documents/Scott.pdf

Scott, G., Coates, H. & Anderson, M. (2008). Learning Leaders in Times of Change. Sydney: Australians Learning and Teaching Council.

Scott, G., Grebennikov, L. & Gozzard, T. (2009). ICT-enabled learning: the student perspective. Journal of Institutional Research, 14(2), 1-16.

Scott, G. & Saunders, S. (1995). The continuous learning improvement program for Australia’s skill Olympians. Sydney: Work Skill Australia Foundation Incorporated.

Scott, G. & Yates, W. (2002). Using successful graduates to improve the quality of undergraduate engineering programs. European Journal of Engineering Education, 27(4), 363-378.

Tough, A. (1979). The Adult’s Learning Projects: A Fresh Approach to Theory and Practice in Adult Learning (2nd ed.). Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Vescio, J. (2005). An investigation of successful graduates in the early stages of their career across a wide range of professions (Final Report). University of Technology, Sydney.