Changes in Nursing Education in the European Union
By Bohinc, Marija
Regarding the article by Zabalegui et al., “Changes in Nursing Education in the European Union” (Second Quarter 2006), I had experience with EU issues when I helped develop a new nursing master’s degree program, based on the Bologna Declaration, at my University College for Health Studies and a joint healthcare management master’s degree program led by faculty of the University of Bremen (Germany), with the faculty of economics at Ljubljana University (Slovenia), the Metropolitan University (United Kingdom), and the University Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic).
I agree the key aim of the joint degree project is for Europe to be a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy to enable better jobs and improved social cohesion. In the process of developing the programs, however, we faced differences among EU members; for example, in their educational requirements for initial registration, stages of academic development of the profession, employability and requirements, roles of practitioners and scope of practice, national and professional licensure regulations, lack of nurses educated to be faculty, and no commonly agreed competencies across the EU, especially at higher education levels.
The Tuning Project in 16 EU countries for educational structure, as developed at the Universities of Groningen (Netherlands) and Deusto (Spain), is very valuable for us, but our University College was not involved. My suggestion is to repeat the Tuning Project for the master’s level and include more universities and faculty. Achieving broader outcomes in such programs, developing new educational initiatives, and nurturing research-based practice requires understanding of different EU cultures and working collaboratively on exchange programs in universities in the EU.
Marija Bohinc, RN, PhD, Delta Beta-at-Large
Ljubljana, Slovenia
marija.bohinc@guest.arnes.si
Copyright Blackwell Publishing First Quarter 2007
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