Le pouvoir aux infirmières: Réflexions sur une nouvelle dynamique de l'enseignement en nursing

Abstract

Dr. Flaherty states that nurses as a group are in an excellent position to influence the administration of hospital care. She also suggests that we re-think the role of the university nurse in terms of her being more than just a provider of care. I would like to add an-another dimension: nursing education. As I see it, it is not the number of members that determines the strength of a profession, but their preparation. For nurses to be effective in a health care team, greater emphasis should be placed on baccalaureate preparation so students can learn all the skills involved in team-work, decision-making, group leadership and creativity. Everyone is creative, but creativity, and intelligence are not necessarily synonymous. As matters stand in nursing today, convergent thinking is encouraged at the expense of divergent thinking which is so vital to creativity. To stimulate divergent thinking, usually found in the student who is more independent and more introverted that his peers, we should accept unorthodox opinions and, if they are original, reinforce them. In this way, students will develop self-confidence and be able to exert a real and continuing influence upon hospital administration.