Nursing Education System - Assignment Example

According to Chen (1996, pp. 129-149), the first collegiate nursing program was started by Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). This was a five-year program established in 1920. The first secondary level nursing school was established in 1930. The PUMC program remained the only tertiary program in Chinese education until 1952 when the communist government restructured the education system to accommodate the higher education system. However, the political upheavals delayed the implementation of the higher education program until 1980s (Xu et al., 2000, p. 208).

Nursing education in Poland was established later than in China, i.e. 1911 (Sztembis, 2006, p. 102). However, the development rate of nursing education in Poland was faster compared to that of China. Polish nursing education ceased in 1914 with the rise of the First World War (Sztembis, 2006, p. 102). According to Wolska-Lipiec (1987, p. 42), most of the teachers and graduates of the school joined the military to train the society on the modalities of caring for the wounded and participating in the civil sanitation.

Secondary education in nursing was introduced in 1960s, while the university-based programs were introduced in 1980s (Sztembis, 2006, p. 104). Government and Nursing Organizations Influencing Nursing Education: Comparison of Poland and China. Nursing education in China was predominantly influenced by the missionaries (Xu et al, 2000, p. 207). The horizon for the Chinese health care has been expanded by programs such as the WHO collaborating center in Nursing and Midwifery, Heart to Heart and the Project Hope which have been sponsored by the government and other non-governmental organizations (Xu et al, 2000, p. 208). The prominent source of financial support is China’s Medical Board (CMB), which is an offshoot of Rockefeller Foundation (Xu et al., 2000, p. 212).

CMB provides resources for faculty training, purchasing the reading materials and capacity building. In Poland, the programs aimed at preparing women for care of patients were funded by the collaboration of the American Red Cross and Rockefeller Foundation (Sztembis, 2006, p. 103). The Polish Nursing Association undertook the process of redesigning nursing through seeking support from the politicians and leaders. The 1990s witnessed the establishment of the Independent Nursing Section in the Ministry of Health which later culminated into the Department of Nursing.

The self-governing body of Polish nurses, i.e. Nursing Chambers, acts as the formal representation of the nurses at the national level. Current System of Nursing Education: Comparison of Poland and China The Chinese system requires a candidate to go through the secondary nursing programs; Zhuake programs, which are equivalent to the associate degree programs in the U.S., and Baccalaureate programs for them to be registered nurses (Xu et al., 2000, p. 209). The secondary nursing program acts as a basic academic unit of a nursing school.

The secondary nursing programs occur in two forms; the first, which enrolls high school graduates and a second that admits the middle and junior high school graduates. Post secondary nursing program in China has three levels: Baccalaureate, Zhuanke and Graduate (Xu et al., 2000,