Current Status and Future Direction of Nursing Education for Clinical Practice

Abstract

The quantitative expansion of nursing schools has necessitated the qualitative improvement of nursing education, which requires the development of nursing education for clinical practice. To identify strategies for strengthening the educational capacity of clinical fields and nursing schools, this study first examined the current status of nursing education for clinical practice, and then proposed several prospective directions for education. Nursing clinical practice-related studies from several Korean and international electronic databases were reviewed. Insufficient training hospitals and lack of qualified clinical training instructors were the main problems found within nursing educational resources for clinical practice, while the simple practice contents based on observation and inadequate evaluations were the main problems found in nursing educational management for clinical practice. This study suggests better standards and educational accountability for training hospitals and programs to nurture human resources for clinical practice, as well as a variety of training methods to integrate practical training courses and the expansion of formation evaluation. Based on these results, it is necessary to establish governance for nursing education for clinical practice and clarify the role and standards of each practitioner, strengthen the educational role of the hospital, and improve the system. In addition, introducing various types of education methods and strengthening evaluation standards are needed in order to enhance nursing education for clinical practice.