RESUMEN
Master's level education can play important function in developing the knowledge and skills for nurses and allied professionals working in advanced roles in dementia care. However, little is known about the challenges experienced by professionals when making the transition to post-graduate study. This was a qualitative study comprising individual interviews with 15 graduates, nine of whom were nurses, who had experience of attending a part-time Master's in Dementia Care in the Northwest of England. Four sequential themes emerged from the data: 'Deciding what to do', 'Taking it on', 'Keeping going' and 'Endings and New beginnings'. Findings confirmed that Master's education for nurses and other professionals is significant in developing knowledge and instilling confidence in changing practice. Nevertheless, professionals experienced challenges in juggling the competing demands of education, family and work and were seen to navigate and negotiate their student journey by drawing on internal resources and external supports. The study adds to evidence that Master's level study is likely to benefit practice in dementia care; however, employers and Higher Education Institutions need to develop effective and flexible supports to enable nurses and allied professionals to engage effectively in part-time taught post graduate education.
Asunto(s)
Demencia/enfermería , Educación de Postgrado en Enfermería/normas , Adulto , Actitud del Personal de Salud , Demencia/fisiopatología , Educación de Postgrado en Enfermería/métodos , Educación de Postgrado en Enfermería/estadística & datos numéricos , Inglaterra , Femenino , Humanos , Entrevistas como Asunto/métodos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Investigación CualitativaRESUMEN
AIMS: This study aimed to compare the findings of the quality of nursing doctoral education survey across seven countries and discuss the strategic directions for improving quality. BACKGROUND: No comparative evaluation of global quality of nursing doctoral education has been reported to date despite the rapid increase in the number of nursing doctoral programmes. DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-country, comparative design was employed. METHODS: Data were collected from 2007-2010 from nursing schools in seven countries: Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate quality of nursing doctoral education except for Japan, where a paper version was used. Korea and South Africa used e-mails quality of nursing doctoral education was evaluated using four domains: Programme, Faculty (referring to academic staff), Resource and Evaluation. Descriptive statistics, correlational and ordinal logistic regression were employed. RESULTS: A total of 105 deans/schools, 414 faculty and 1149 students/graduates participated. The perceptions of faculty and students/graduates about the quality of nursing doctoral education across the seven countries were mostly favourable on all four domains. The faculty domain score had the largest estimated coefficient for relative importance. As the overall quality level of doctoral education rose from fair to good, the resource domain showed an increased effect. CONCLUSIONS: Both faculty and students/graduates groups rated the overall quality of nursing doctoral education favourably. The faculty domain had the greatest importance for quality, followed by the programme domain. However, the importance of the resource domain gained significance as the overall quality of nursing doctoral education increased, indicating the needs for more attention to resources if the quality of nursing doctoral education is to improve.
Asunto(s)
Educación de Postgrado en Enfermería/normas , Docentes de Enfermería , Internacionalidad , Estudiantes de Enfermería , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
AIM: To explore the attitudes that doctoral students share with each other in an online postgraduate discussion forum. BACKGROUND: The supervisory role is pivotal to the successful completion of a PhD. Student satisfaction surveys are implemented by some universities, but there is currently no research that has investigated PhD students' experiences of supervision in the less formal environment of an online postgraduate discussion forum. DATA SOURCES: Data were collected between September and December 2012 from the Postgraduate Forum, which receives posts from the global student community. The keywords used in the search were 'supervisor(s)' and 'supervision'. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. REVIEW METHODS: All relevant titles and posts from between January 2002 and the end of December 2012 were searched. DISCUSSION: The authors discovered five major themes: communication difficulties, control and engagement, academic bullying, lack of trust, and desertion. The relationship between students and supervisors is vital to successful PhD completion, and this study has provided some of the experiences students share with each other in an online postgraduate discussion forum. CONCLUSIONS: The online discussion forum provided an insight into students' perspectives of supervision but as it is asynchronous, there is limited analysis. Further research incorporating synchronous data collection methods would be helpful to examine students' experiences in greater detail. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE: This study shows how an online postgraduate forum can be used as a source of data to gain an insight into PhD students' perspectives of supervision.
Asunto(s)
Educación de Postgrado , Relaciones Interprofesionales , Estudiantes/psicología , Humanos , Recursos HumanosRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate Syrian pharmacy students' intentions and attitudes toward postgraduate study, and to determine and evaluate the factors that influence their preferences. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and used to collect data from final-year bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) students at Damascus University. RESULTS: Of the 265 students who responded to the survey, approximately 50% intended to work, 25% intended to pursue further study, and 25% were undecided. Personal fulfillment was the factor that most influenced students' intentions concerning future education. Men were more concerned over their financial future, while women's intentions were more influenced by scientific issues. The 3 most preferred pharmaceutical areas of further study were biochemistry and laboratory diagnosis, pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical industry, and clinical pharmacy. More students favored pursuing graduate school abroad rather than in Syria. The majority of those who intended to enroll in local graduate programs were interested in academic programs while less than a fifth favored residency programs. CONCLUSIONS: The graduate programs in Syria do not appear to satisfy pharmacy students' ambitions or have the capacity to accommodate the growing demand associated with the rapid increase in the number of pharmacy graduates in the country. Consequently, a majority of students prefer to pursue postgraduate study abroad.