From apprenticeship to academia: an adult branch programme

This paper describes aspects of the introduction an adult branch programme of a Diploma of Higher Education in Nursing course in a Scottish college of nursing and midwifery. It is argued that the Diploma of Higher Education in Nursing course represents a move from a so-called apprenticeship approach, that is the Scottish 1982 Modular Scheme of General Training, to a so-called academic approach under the auspices of the Project 2000 proposals which have been described as the most major development in the preparation of nurses in the UK for many years (UKCC 1986). This paper will discuss the challenges and difficulties encountered when designing the theoretical aspects of the course with respect to the nursing component. The implications of some of the major changes within the scheme of preparation for the clinical areas where the students gain experience will also be discussed. It will be suggested that practice supervision, a development of apprenticeship, is the way ahead.