Without specialist nurses, healthcare comes to a standstill
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“Maintaining the status quo is not an option for getting the finances of the Specialist Nursing Programme in order,” says Johan Wikström, Vice-Dean for First and Second Cycle Education at the Faculty of Medicine. Photo: Michael Wallerstedt.
The professionally oriented programmes at the Faculty of Medicine are of central importance to the healthcare system. One of these programmes is the Specialist Nursing Programme. The programme has recently been the subject of an external review in response to financial challenges.
The Specialist Nursing Programme
The Faculty of Medicine offers several professional programmes leading to professional qualifications that are critical to the functioning of healthcare. The Specialist Nursing Programme is one of these. It is a programme at second-cycle level, leading to a master’s degree combined with a professional qualification as a specialist nurse. The degree can be obtained in one of eleven established specialisations or within an individually designed specialisation.
Specialist nursing programmes are currently offered at 25 higher education institutions in Sweden, covering a total of 24 different specialisations. Uppsala University presently offers nine established specialisations as well as two individually designed ones.
Challenges
Specialist nursing education across the country faces similar challenges. Student numbers within each specialisation are often very small. There is a shortage of qualified (doctoral‑level) teachers, and funding for education has been eroded over time. There is also a shortage of clinical placement opportunities within many specialisations.
The Specialist Nursing Programme in Uppsala has received positive evaluations in recent external quality reviews, but its finances have been out of balance for a prolonged period, and the deficit has increased in recent years.
External review
In light of these challenges, the Disciplinary Domain Board (ON) decided to commission a review to develop proposals for measures to restore financial balance. An external reviewer, Johan Dabrosin Söderholm, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Linköping University, carried out this work during the autumn.
The review is based on a large number of interviews with representatives from the various specialisations, heads of department, representatives of domain management and the Faculty Office, as well as representatives of Region Uppsala. The review was presented on 17 December and contains a wide range of proposed measures to strengthen the programme’s financial sustainability. To a large extent, these focus on increased collaboration between departments, between the university and the region, and between the university and other higher education institutions.
During the spring, a working group led by the Vice‑Rector will develop a proposed action plan for the Disciplinary Domain Board (ON) based on the findings of the review. No decisions have therefore been taken at this stage, but maintaining the status quo is not an option. To reverse the financial trend, every possible option must be explored.
The highest priority must be given to safeguarding those specialisations that are of greatest strategic importance to healthcare, potentially in collaboration with nearby higher education institutions. These challenges are not unique to Uppsala, and the work being undertaken is being followed with great interest across the rest of the country. The choices we make may therefore have implications not only for us, but also for specialist nursing programmes across Sweden.
Johan Wikström, Vice-Dean for First and Second Cycle Education at the Faculty of Medicine
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