Privacy and confidentiality is imperative in the medical world. One issue in nursing education is establishing a culture of respect for privacy and confidentiality during training. This reduces the likelihood of privacy breaches when nurses are working in the field as student representatives. A privacy or confidentiality breach by a student risks the reputation of the institution, the student and the administration. Legal costs are another concern with any breach.
Obtaining experience in the nursing profession is part of a high-quality nursing education. Learning about bedside manner, hospital protocol and procedure administration is all part of a high-quality nursing education. Ensuring that students have sufficient practice in an appropriately controlled environment involves a number of considerations. Supervisors must have clinical and teaching skills, and must have the time to teach students. The hospital environment must also provide varied experiences, ensuring that nurses are prepared for work in emergency, public health and oncology nursing.
Nursing programs go through an accreditation program every five years. Accreditation is a complex review process; leaders in the nursing profession review the curriculum, teaching methodologies and physical setup of the school and speak with students and faculty. They grade the school and comment on what it's doing right and where it needs improvement. If the school has many areas that need improvement or receives a failing grade, it could lose its accreditation status. Losing accredited status means a loss of funding for many institutions. The school may even have to close.
New technologies, medical equipment and health care pharmaceuticals are released into the market all the time. Many nursing schools are public entities, relying on funding from tuition, donors and, to a large extent, government. Raising enough funds to keep up to date with advances in health care can be challenging. Nursing employers want students who have learned about the latest advances in health care management.