Nurses retrospective view on nursing education: A repeated cross-sectional study over three decades

Background: As the healthcare landscape undergoes transformative shifts due to factors like ageing demographics, technological innovations, rapid global dissemination of infectious diseases, and imperatives for accessible, cost-effective care, a pressing need emerges for the contemporisation of nursing education. Notably, there is a paucity of research delving into nurses' introspective evaluations of their educational experiences after their immersion in professional settings. Objective: This study aimed to examine nurses' evaluations of their educational background over 30 years and identify relationships between their assessments and their demographic. Design: The study embraced a recurrent cross-sectional survey methodology, encompassing three distinct quantitative cross-sectional evaluations conducted in the years 1999, 2009, and 2021. Context/participants: The cohort for this inquiry consisted of nurses stationed in Estonian general hospitals and inpatient departments of developmental plan institutions, each with at least one year of professional experience. Cumulatively, 832 nurses were engaged across three sequential evaluations: Study I (n = 463), Study II (n = 198), and Study III (n = 171). Methods: Data procurement was executed via a structured survey, with subsequent analytical procedures encompassing descriptive and correlational methodologies. Results: A discernible augmentation in the educational calibre of nurses was observed with each successive evaluation. This escalation concomitated enhanced positive assessments in areas like evidence-informed education, skill development, and autonomous operational capabilities. Yet, a critical appraisal persisted concerning their competencies in navigating complex patient interactions and addressing socio-religious dilemmas. Conclusions: The merit of this investigation lies in its illumination of nursing education's evolution, as perceived retrospectively by nurses who have operationalized their academic learnings in real-world scenarios. Their vantage point, inherently informed by practice, uniquely positions them to earmark avenues of refinement. This exploration paves the way for enrichments in nursing education, spotlighting the imperative of equipping nurses to adeptly manage intricate situations.