Developing the quality of the Palestinian healthcare system requires the development of its members. This quality should be based on standards of care and has to be originated within the nursing graduate programs and Bachelor programs in particular. Good education implies providing a number of conditions related to external systematic and administrative aspects, as well as internal ones that are concerned with the educational system through curriculum, teaching methods, and teacher’s competences. The aim of this study was to identify the perception of the West Bank Palestinian universities’ nursing faculties towards applying nursing education standards in the bachelor degree programs. In addition, the study sought to identify the methods and measurement tools used for the application of nursing standards.
To these two ends, the researcher used the quantitative, descriptive exploratory approach and qualitative, in addition to a few subjective questions that helped to identify the phenomenon under study. Subjects of the study were 48 nursing faculty members from Al-Quds University (27.1%), An-Najah National University (18.7%), Bethlehem University (8.3%), Hebron University (6.3%), and Ibn Sina College for health sciences (39.6%).
After data collection and analysis, a variation was found among the study localities in relation to number of subjects and compared with the differences among them concerning the implementation of standards. The majority of the subjects, aged 40 and more, were congruent with the total number of years of experience as the majority had 12 and more years of experience. The majority of subjects were holders of M.SC. (85.4%) compared to 6.3% Ph.D. holders. The majority were females (71%) and 68.8% were titled as lecturers.
The subjects’ perception towards the philosophy and goals of nursing education programs standards at bachelor level was positive. About of 83% agreed on utilization of NES. The highest response was from the subjects at An-Najah University. This means that there were a significant differences at the level of α = 0.05 between the means of philosophy and goals of nursing education programs standards which might be attributed to the experience variable. An-Najah University was the most significant in applying standards in comparison with the others. This shows that the more years of experience the participants had, the more oriented and the more they understood of the philosophy and goals of nursing education standards implemented by their faculties.
In the light of analysis of the results, the researcher suggested some recommendations for the administrative bodies of nursing programs to improve their quality. One recommendation is the development of additional evaluation systems to measure theimplementation of nursing education standards and its outcomes. Another recommendation is to review and make innovations and improvements in the nursing programs and education system capacity to emphasize high quality patient centered care, and evidence based-care. The researcher also suggests faculty members' development by offering them scholarships to pursue their education. Finally, the researcher suggests a revision of the available programs and establishment of a new innovative nursing program.