Nurse education in higher education: understanding cultural barriers to progress

Nurse education is established in higher education but nurse academics remain concerned about nursingʹs lack of equal status within the academy. This paper reports findings of a small study of nurse lecturersʹ views which support other published studies. It argues that cultural factors which contribute to nursingʹs problems gaining equal status include anti-intellectualism within nursing and academic denigration of practice. These cultural factors are linked to the history of women in higher education, the separation between intellectual education and practical, skill-based training, the low status of caring courses and the resulting mutual denigration of culturally opposed groups. Anti-intellectualism in nursing can be seen as a defensive reaction against an academic culture that defines practical activity as inferior to abstract thinking skills. This can lead to limited educational opportunities to examine the structural and cultural context of nursing. In Freireʹs view, this is a necessary part of education for freedom. Current cultural change, in nursing and higher education, including an emphasis on learning outcomes and transferable skills, provides new opportunities for nursing to contribute to educational change. Removing cultural barriers to the educated nurse is a responsibility shared by universities and by the nursing profession.