Lessons Learned About Community-Engaged Nursing Education At The Border Area In Western Part Of Thailand

Abstract

The aim of this study was 1) to analyze the community-engaged nursing education situation; 2) to present facts and considerations that are major issues with effects on community-engaged nursing education development and; 3) to learn lessons and analyze factors of success in community-engaged nursing education. Structural interviews with twenty-five persons who involved with community-engaged nursing education to produce professional nurses, and collected data were subjected to content analysis, which yielded results organized around three themes: Whereas the theme of demand for access to the public healthcare system among the local population describes the demand for healthcare manpower, health care accessing to every ethnic group and related to nursing education opportunities. The theme of community nurse production models and processes describes the administrators’ progressive vision, community engagement, sacrifice from people engaged in local nurse production, absorption and learning of good professional nurse models in their community. The theme of retention of local community nurses describes the reasons from community nurse scholarship why they continue to work. Success of nurse retention in border area was connected to three gratitude, feelings of ownership in the area and professional pride. Suggestion, according to the findings, this project helped to create a love for home and return to good service from understanding in service recipients and access to community members’ needs. Therefore, nurse production policies should review significant content on the aforementioned issue by reviewing from the admissions process to effects after graduation in order to create answers in producing nurses for communities.