Proposed Policy and Model of Community-Engaged Nursing Education to Strengthen Health System

Abstract

Community-engaged nursing education to produce a nursing workforce in the health system's needs is very crucial. However, no sustainable model has been found for nursing education with community engagement in the nursing education system in Thailand. This mixed-method research was designed to develop a proposed policy and model of community-engaged nursing education to strengthen the health system. The research was divided into 3 phases, including 1) studying the real situations, 2) developing proposed policy and models of community-engaged nursing education, and 3) assessing the feasibility and appropriateness for implementation of the proposed policy and model developed. Eighty participants included administrators, students, faculty, alumni, and community delegates. The research instrument included questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Data were collected by using questionnaires and focus groups. The descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, and analytic induction was used to analyze qualitative data. The findings of this study revealed learning models of community-engaged nursing education frequently used included 1) community-based learning, 2) project-based learning, 3) service learning, and 4) interprofessional education. The proposed policy of community-engaged nursing education from this research comprised 5 topics, including 1) developing a plan to produce nurse graduates responding to the needs of the current and future health system, 2) developing/revising the nursing curriculum to be consistent with the local contexts and dynamics of the health system, 3) establishing joint policies and action plans at the organization/local level, 4) building capacity, systems, and mechanisms to drive work at the local level, and 5) developing tools to monitor and evaluate changes, outcomes, and impact. The recommendation from this research is to develop a community lab model for community-engaged nursing education where communities are truly engaged in the nursing education system.