| Nursing education currently presents many complications and a great deal of controversy to those in the field. Disagreements exist as to the most appropriate educational preparation for nursing practice. A similar lack of consensus appears in deciding what purposes, processes, and objectives should be inherent in the field.;Theoretically, the leaders of a given group or field establish the standards and/or norms governing the group's functions. Nursing education and practice administrators are recognized as accountable leaders in the field. The purpose of this study was to investigate nursing education directions in the areas of entry into practice, desired levels of knowledge, and types of knowledge preferred through an inquiry into the opinions held by nursing administrators.;A descriptive survey conducted by means of an author-designed questionnaire mailed to a nationwide sample of nursing administrators of general hospitals and nursing administrators of ADN, BSN, and diploma programs provided the methodology utilized in this study. After two mailings, the return rate was 78%. Analysis of results was accomplished through percentage comparisons and multivariate analysis of variance, followed by analysis of variance to determine specific significant variables.;The results indicated significant differences of opinion between practice and education administrators on 32 of 103 total dependent variables. Seven of the significant variables concerned opinions on necessary nursing courses, 12 dealt with clinical areas, and 13 were views on nursing education issues. The significant statistical results led to the rejection of the hypothesis that there are no differences between the views of education and practice administrators. |
