The role of Project 2000 educated nurses in health promotion within the hospital setting

This study is concerned with the role of Project 2000-educated nurses in health promotion within the hospital setting. Historically nurses have been viewed as having a role to play in promoting the health of the people for whom they care. More recently, with the advent of the Health For All Movement initiated by the World Health Organization in 1978, the attention has again been focused on what nurses can do towards attainment of this goal, although most of the research has been carried out in relation to community nurses and primary care. Changes in nurse education, specifically that of Project 2000 nurse education, have been hailed as the opportunity to equip nurses with knowledge and skills appropriate to the task, which have been seen as lacking from many nurse educational programmes. Early work on this issue has produced conflicting findings as to the success of these educational changes. This study used an exploratory, qualitative approach to investigate what aspects of health promotion in the hospital setting are being carried out by nurses who have undergone Project 2000 nurse education within a college of nursing and midwifery in Scotland, and whether these nurses feel that they have been adequately prepared for this role during their educational programme. Findings suggest that the nurses interviewed were working with very wide perceptions of health promotion which included the more radical aspects of health promotion such as negotiation, collaboration and empowerment. Health promotion was also seen to include psychosocial factors that influence the health of individuals. The nurses interviewed in general felt that their education had prepared them for a role in health promotion. The value of clinical placements in facilitating the developing the skills for health promotion was established.