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Summary
Quality and accountability are key in higher education, especially for nursing and midwifery. Validation processes impact course quality and long-term patient care, necessitating new quality concepts beyond traditional knowledge attributes.
Area of Science:
- Higher Education Studies
- Nursing and Midwifery Education
- Healthcare Quality Assurance
Background:
- The 1990s higher education debate centers on 'quality' and 'accountability'.
- These issues are critical for nursing and midwifery colleges to demonstrate value to stakeholders.
- Validation is a formal quality assurance mechanism, but its impact on course and care quality lacks empirical data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the definitions of 'quality' and 'accountability' in a market-driven higher education system.
- To examine the interpretation of 'peer review' within a purchaser-led framework.
- To investigate the prioritization of practice outcomes in educationally led, practice-based nursing and midwifery courses.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of 'quality' and 'accountability' in higher education.
- Exploration of 'peer review' mechanisms in a market-oriented context.
- Discussion on the role of external regulation and the impact of validation processes.
Main Results:
- Validation processes may be undermined by structural conformity, hindering innovation in nursing and midwifery education.
- Existing quality conceptions, often tied to disciplinary knowledge, do not adequately address innovative courses.
- A gap exists in empirical data linking validation to long-term quality of care.
Conclusions:
- New conceptions of quality are needed to support innovative nursing and midwifery courses.
- The traditional model of quality, focused on disciplinary knowledge, is insufficient.
- The personal standards and professionalism of individual educators are crucial determinants of professional skill.