Pre-registration children's and young people's nurse preparation. A SWOT analysis

An investigation was undertaken into the views of nurse educators on current approaches to preparing children's and young people's nurses in the UK. A convenience sample of lead academics in 17 child health nursing departments of British universities was contacted by email and invited to liaise with colleagues to generate lists of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the educational system. Thirteen departments provided data that were analysed and themed. Major themes included the common foundation programme, clinical skills learning, clinical placements and employment. More detailed evaluative work should be undertaken before wholesale changes are made to a relatively new curriculum.