Critical Care Department, Waikato Hospital, New Zealand.
Nurse Educ Today. 2012 Jan;32(1):57-64. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2011.02.001. Epub 2011 Mar 2.
This paper reports on a literature review conducted to explore whether there is evidence that postgraduate nursing education at master's level affects patient care.
Continued nursing education has been shown to benefit nurses' development, though little research has been conducted in relation to patient benefit. It is increasingly widespread that nurses pursue education to master's level.
Following a systematic review of the literature fifteen studies of mixed methodology and design were examined and data extracted using thematic analysis. Five common themes emerged relating to master's level nursing education that may ultimately affect patient care: increased confidence and self esteem; enhanced communication; personal and professional growth; knowledge and application of theory to practise; and analytical thinking and decision making.
It is apparent that there are positive gains for nurses who undertake postgraduate nursing study at master's level related to professional and personal qualities which may provide direct benefit to patients. The supportive evidence extracted from the literature was scant, however. Future research needs to focus on developing measurable and observable criteria against which the educational and skill based outcomes for master's level performance can be evaluated including constraints that may adversely affect a nurse's ability to apply knowledge and skills acquired.
本文报告了一项文献综述，旨在探讨研究生护理教育是否对患者护理有影响。
持续护理教育已被证明对护士的发展有益，尽管针对患者获益的研究很少。越来越多的护士追求硕士教育水平。
对文献进行系统综述后，对 15 项混合方法和设计的研究进行了检查，并使用主题分析提取数据。出现了五个与硕士水平护理教育相关的共同主题，这些主题可能最终影响患者护理：增加信心和自尊心；增强沟通；个人和专业成长；知识和理论在实践中的应用；以及分析思维和决策能力。
显然，对于从事研究生护理学习的护士来说，在硕士水平上有积极的收获，这些收获与专业和个人素质有关，这可能直接有益于患者。然而，从文献中提取的支持性证据很少。未来的研究需要集中在制定可衡量和可观察的标准上，以评估硕士水平表现的教育和技能成果，包括可能影响护士应用所获得的知识和技能的能力的限制。
