Nursing education in Spain – past, present and future

The delivery of health care services is changing dramatically. Increasing longevity, shortening of hospital stays, scientific and technological advances and population mobility contribute to the growing complexity of nursing. Nursing education must keep pace with these changes, which require new knowledge, skills and attitudes. Nursing education in Spain is developing rapidly in accordance with the European Union growth and within the trend towards globalization. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of nursing education in Spain. A brief history of modern nursing education is presented, together with its recent reforms and a view of future developments. The Nursing Diploma program, as the only academic nursing qualification, is inappropriate to respond to the present social needs. In Spain, as in other European countries, nursing education requires increasing professionalism, which could be achieved by implementing baccalaureate, master and doctoral programs within the framework of the Bologna Declaration signed in 1999 by the European Union Ministers of Education.