Nursing Education Content in Master's in Nursing Programs

Abstract

Baccalaureate entry into practice presumes that there is a cadre of nurses with adequate preparation to teach students at the baccalaureate level. The purpose of this study was to describe the nursing education component of Canadian master's in nursing programs. This study was a partial replication of Oermann and Jamison's (1989) study of master's in nursing programs in the United States. A questionnaire and cover letter were mailed to the Deans/Directors of the 10 Canadian master's programs where English is the language of instruction. The return rate was 100%. Seven of the 10 programs offered nursing education coursework, while two of the remaining three required education coursework outside of nursing. The findings indicate that the nursing education courses covered a variety of topics, but had no fixed requirements for preparation for the role of nurse teacher. We question whether current master's in nursing programs constitute adequate preparation for the role of nurse teacher in English Canada.