Master's level education in Jordan: A qualitative study of key motivational factors and perceived impact on practice

Aim: To explore key motivational factors of Jordanian nurses to undertake a Master's degree and explore perceived impact on practice. Background: In Jordan, there are postgraduate educational programmes offering a Master's degree in clinical nursing for registered nurses. These programmes are intended to prepare nurses to practise at an advanced level as potential clinical nurse specialists. Little is known about the motivation of nurses to undertake such Master's degree preparation programmes and their perceived impact on practice. Methods: Using an ethnographic design, narratives from semi-structured interviews with participants (n=37) from five Jordanian hospitals and two public universities were collected and thematically analysed. Findings: Four main themes emerged from the data: self development; broadening career opportunities; developing practice; and the perceived impact of Master's level nurses on practice. Conclusion: The majority of Jordanian nurses chose to undertake a Master's degree because Of a desire for self and practice development. The majority of participants referred to M-level nurses in terms of knowledge transfer, highlighting their clinical teaching and in-service education activities. M-level nurses Were also associated with managerial and supervisory roles in clinical practice. Controversy over the impact of M-level nurses in enhancing patient care is not limited to the Jordanian setting. Future research needs to focus on comparative studies between nurses with M-level qualifications and experienced nurses without either M-level qualifications or specialist courses to establish if there is any significant relationship between practice performance and educational preparation and experience. Evaluation research could be undertaken for the purpose of developing measurable and observable criteria related to educational and skill based outcomes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.