Chinese and Irish Nursing Education Systems

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Nursing is a profession that affects patient care daily. It is a very important aspect about patient care but the establishment of nursing education in every country had been difficult to obtain. Nursing education has gone through tremendous transformations in many countries and it has impacted health care in a very significant way. China and Ireland are two very different nations but both have improved to bring about a very successful nursing education system in their own countries.

Political History and Development of Nursing Education: Comparison of China and Ireland

The Chinese nation has gone through a lot of difficulties including the Opium War in 1842 which ultimately affected the nursing education system in China. There was an influx in the western missionaries and many of their ideas brought about these changes. The first hospital-based nursing school was established back in 1888 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province and these western initiatives created the system and brought about changes in the Chinese nursing education system. Many missionary nurses would work together to train native nurses at many nursing schools and missionary hospitals (Y. Xu, Z. Xu, & Zhang, 2000).

Nursing education developed in China with the help of American nurse missionaries, educators and American foundations coming together to bring about a successful nursing education. For instance, in Changsha registered nurse Nina Gage established a nurse-training program at around the year 1910. Later, Gage became the president of the Nurses’ Association of China and Dean of Hunan-Yale School of Nursing. Then, in 1920, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) established the first collegiate nursing program. This program consisted of a 5 year curriculum and it...

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...y of health care in their system were only managed by physicians. The nurses in Ireland were excluded when it came to policy making and only the doctors were called upon to speak about the health care issues. Therefore, the profession of nursing was silenced in society (O'Dwyer, 2007). This would be frowned upon in the current time frame because nurses affect patient care directly and their voice should always be heard. Luckily, the times have changed and both China and Ireland both have successful nursing education systems that improve patient care.

References

O'Dwyer, P. (2007). The educational preparation of nurses in Ireland. Nursing Education Perspectives , 28(3), 136-139.

Xu, Y., Xu, Z., & Zhang, J. (2000). The nursing education system in the People’s Republic of China: Evolution, structure and reform. International Nursing Review, 47(4), 207-217.

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