Nursing education planning: a Delphi study

The purpose of this study was to assess the Delphi technique as a viable method for forecasting future events in nursing education by determining the degree of accuracy of previously predicted events and identifying the circumstances that delayed or accelerated occurrence of the predicted events. Data were collected by three rounds of questionnaires distributed to 33 administrative heads of all nursing education programs in a southeastern state. The use of simple statistics concluded the Delphi technique was a valid instrument in nursing education planning: 22 of 26 events occurred as predicted, resulting in an 84.6% accuracy rate; 24 of 25 events which had not occurred remained viable, resulting in a 96% accuracy rate; 98.1% of the original events had either occurred or were still viable to occur.