Merger and development: A collaborative approach to emergency nursing education within the context of an extended career pathway

摘要

Background: Responding to an imposed health area merger, all those involved in nurse educationwere required to amalgamate their activities across the newly created larger and diverse healtharea.Methods: This reflective paper outlines issues arising as a result of the merger, puts forwardresponses of ED nurse education staff based on a simple questionnaire, and reviews changesimplemented as a result of the merger.Results: Whilst there was some initial resistance, strategies were developed from within theeducator staff involved in order to facilitate the merger process. The questionnaire indicatedthat initial concerns were gradually overcome during the transition process. Ultimately, asuccessful merger occurred, leading to a range of educational benefits.Conclusions: Although difficult, a successful merger transitional process led to the developmentof a broad, systemised career pathway for ED nurses. Further benefits were ultimately apparentas a result of the merger, including issues of resource allocation, cost-savings, and potentialstaff retention.