A case study on nursing education in Hormozgan University Iran

Abstract

The healthcare relies heavily on nursing care and the quality of nurses is a reflection of the nursing curriculum. The mismatch between nursing as taught and practised remains a problematic feature of nursing in Iran and the rest of world. Despite the importance of the curriculum in nursing education, little attention has been directed towards assessment of the curriculum. This study assessed the nursing curriculum of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences (HUMS) in Iran to improve the nursing education programme in order to make the educational courses for nurses more effective. A qualitative case study research approach was employed and purposive sampling was conducted to select thirty participants comprising six lecturers, twelve nursing students, and twelve newly graduated nurses. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and document reviews. This study assessed the nursing curriculum using two components of the Context, Inputs, Process, and Products (CIPP) model. Five research questions categorized in the reflection of the two components of the CIPP model included the contexts (objective, content and structure) of the nursing curriculum meeting the needs of the students, human resources (lecturer and staff) meeting the needs of the nursing curriculum, teaching and learning resources meeting the needs of the nursing curriculum, teaching methods meeting the needs of the nursing curriculum and suggestions to improve the nursing curriculum. Data analysis using constant comparative method revealed that the programme objectives are congruent with the needs of students, contents are in need of change, structure requires modification, shortage of lecturers and support staff, high workload, lack of interpersonal relationships between lecturers and students, lack of knowledge and skills in the use of teaching materials, inadequate and unavailability of teaching and learning material, and inappropriate teaching methods. The results of the study indicate that improvements are required in the programme content, structure, human resources, teaching and learning materials, and teaching methods. Based on the findings, the study developed a nursing curriculum to improve and make the nursing education be more effective.