Clinical Governance Improving the Continuing Education of Nurses
Clinical Governance Improving the Continuing Education of Nurses – Myth or Reality?
Nurse Management
MSc Practice Development
Nursing Practice Route
Faculty of Community Studies, Law and Education
The Manchester Metropolitan University
Jean Rogers
Tutor: Mary Shaw
Submission Date: 8th August 2005
Word Count:
Nursing has changed radically over the last two decades and is continuing to do so. Some would say for the better others for the worse (Rushford and Ireland 1997). The purpose of this assignment is to offer a critical analysis of clinical governance as it applies to nursing and the effect it has had on nurses’ on going continuing educational needs. By the term critical analysis I do not mean that I shall attempt to discredit clinical governance, or claim that it is harmful to patients or staff. Instead, I will attempt to discern its nature in a rigorous way and examine how it has led to a change in the way professionals and patients in health care are conceptualised and how this has had an effect on the on going continuing education of nurses.
The introduction of clinical governance has resulted in change not only in nursing practice but also in the subjectivity of nurses and their educational needs. Staff do appear to be embracing the notion of clinical governance, however there appears to be very few changes apparent at the level of patient care (Brown and Crawford 2001). The major changes appear to involve their attitudes, and how they conceptualise themselves and their work. In addition, the introduction of clinical governance appears to involve encouraging a new kind of consciousness on the part of patients, amongst whom a greater degree of responsibility is demanded.
In reviewing the literature on clinical governance in nursing it appears that there have not been many critics. Indeed, searching the main electronic databases which cover topics which relate to nursing the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL),
Nurse Management
MSc Practice Development
Nursing Practice Route
Faculty of Community Studies, Law and Education
The Manchester Metropolitan University
Jean Rogers
Tutor: Mary Shaw
Submission Date: 8th August 2005
Word Count:
Nursing has changed radically over the last two decades and is continuing to do so. Some would say for the better others for the worse (Rushford and Ireland 1997). The purpose of this assignment is to offer a critical analysis of clinical governance as it applies to nursing and the effect it has had on nurses’ on going continuing educational needs. By the term critical analysis I do not mean that I shall attempt to discredit clinical governance, or claim that it is harmful to patients or staff. Instead, I will attempt to discern its nature in a rigorous way and examine how it has led to a change in the way professionals and patients in health care are conceptualised and how this has had an effect on the on going continuing education of nurses.
The introduction of clinical governance has resulted in change not only in nursing practice but also in the subjectivity of nurses and their educational needs. Staff do appear to be embracing the notion of clinical governance, however there appears to be very few changes apparent at the level of patient care (Brown and Crawford 2001). The major changes appear to involve their attitudes, and how they conceptualise themselves and their work. In addition, the introduction of clinical governance appears to involve encouraging a new kind of consciousness on the part of patients, amongst whom a greater degree of responsibility is demanded.
In reviewing the literature on clinical governance in nursing it appears that there have not been many critics. Indeed, searching the main electronic databases which cover topics which relate to nursing the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL),