Abstract
Effective higher educational management in undergraduate nursing programs is an important issue from the viewpoint of stakeholders. This qualitative research aimed to examine the characteristics of nursing students and curriculum development of undergraduate nursing education from the opinions of Boromarajonani College of Nursing Saraburi, Thailand stakeholders. The population included 4 groups: 1) the alumni who have graduated within the past 5 years and currently work in primary, secondary, and tertiary care units, 2) the supervisors and colleagues of the alumni, 3) nursing lecturers, and 4) the current nursing students. The respondents who are the alumni, nursing lecturers, and current nursing student were selected using a purposive sampling, for the supervisors and colleagues were selected using snowball techniques. Semi-structured interview questions were used for data collection. Group discussions were conducted until saturation on 55 key informants. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Results showed the viewpoints of stakeholders on the characteristics of future nurse graduates were comprised of four elements: knowledge that meets standards; essential skills for self-development and lifelong learning process; good morals and professional ethics in providing nursing care; and nurse competencies in teamwork, communication, language, research, management, IT, life skills, and global literacy. The viewpoints on the development of the nursing curriculum focus on four elements: the learner, teaching and learning, course content, and instructor tasks. For learners, the admission criteria should include a minimum not only of knowledge, but also positive attitude, science, and art skills, since the nursing profession is both a science and the art of caring. Teaching and learning elements should be authentic, including exposure to real situations, an integrated network, and activities that improve nursing care. Course content was comprised of an updated curriculum, humanized nursing care, student center, theory and practice with moral integration, case-based study, critical thinking, multidisciplinary work, and love for the nursing profession. Instructor tasks are to elicit student ideas, provide opportunities to learn, support infrastructure, support technology use, and extra-curricular activities to develop the competencies of nursing students. Recommendations were that the curriculum administration should review the selection process of student candidates and instructional management to achieve expected outcomes of nursing characteristics in the future. The nurse lecturer should provide authentic and integrated instruction, decrease lecturing, cultivate a lifelong learning process, and sustain the nursing characteristics.