Certificate-trained staff nurses' perceptions of the changes in nursing education in Ireland from certificate to diploma level

Over the past decade, nursing education in Ireland has experienced revolutionary changes, during which the hospital-based apprenticeship certificate model of nurse training was replaced with a college (diploma level) education model. This article reports on a qualitative study that explored traditionally trained staff nurses' perceptions of their role in the facilitation of learning for diploma students in clinical contexts and their attitudes toward such students. A central issue that emerged was participants' perceptions of the diploma program vis-a-vis the traditional apprenticeship training to which they themselves had been exposed. Guided by the strategy of grounded theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 participants, and interview transcripts were analyzed. Three subthemes emerged: feeling the old way was best, confusion and uncertainty, and acceptance of change. These subthemes reflect the finding that although certificate-trained staff nurses thought the traditional apprenticeship model of educating nurses was superior and expressed confusion and uncertainty about the concept of supernumerary status, a sense of acceptance of change also mediated their accounts.