Collaboration: a critical viewpoint.

Abstract

Post-graduate nursing education in Victoria, until recently, has been conducted as certificate level courses within hospital-based programs. These programs have traditionally drawn on the clinical experience, the supervision and the teaching provided by the resources within the hospital. This article describes the nature of a collaborative venture, involving regional hospitals and the university, and the challenges that emerged during the introduction of a post-graduate critical care course. Issues arising out of the course evaluation, which was conducted after the first year of the program elaborate aspects of the beginning nature of a collaborative venture. These issues include the different emphases and expectations of skills and knowledge, perceived as relevant to critical care practice. Some of the difficulties encountered by the students are raised. We employ the concepts of liberal and vocational/professional education to explore the ways in which present tensions signify what we have discovered to be an old pedagogical debate. The particular meanings we have as a profession when we speak about education are explored in the context of critical care education and collaborative practice.