Trends in nursing education in China.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the current trends and development of nursing education in China. Nursing education in China has developed rapidly in alignment with economic growth of this vast country.


METHODS
Descriptive, using 345 manuscript abstracts from various regions of China, submitted for the 1996 Sino-Hong Kong Educational Conference.


METHODS
Content analysis of manuscript abstracts was done to describe the trends. Codes were determined after several rounds of independent analysis.


RESULTS
Development of nursing education in China appears in line with global trends. The preparation of a pragmatic nurse was emphasized by nurse educators who also advocate total patient care and the integration of traditional Chinese medicine in nursing education. Areas seldom mentioned, however, were student-centered approaches to learning, advanced practice, and the evaluation of educational processes and outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurse educators in mainland China appear aware of the dynamics and challenges in health care, and the need for preparing a new generation of nurses to face these challenges. Educators in China need to adopt new approaches in teaching and learning to prepare nurses to function in a wide range of health care settings, and to monitor and evaluate educational outcomes.
Wong
F K
FK
Department of Nursing & Health Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China. hsfwong@polyu.edu.hk
Chan
S
S
Yeung
S
S
D002681:China; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans