Title: The impact of the curriculum on the employability of nursing and healthcare graduates

Authors: Esther van der Schoot, Jan N. Streumer

Addresses: Department of Human Resource Management, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. Department of Curriculum Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Abstract: Nowadays, graduates need to cope with an increasing diversity and complexity of care situations in healthcare organisations. In order to improve the school-to-work transition, it has been decided to broaden curricula. To date, research on the development and effects of broad curricula has been limited. Very little research has been conducted on the effects of curricula type on the employability of nursing and healthcare graduates. This is remarkable given the fact that, over the last twenty years, significant investment has been made in developing curricula to fulfil the requirements of the labour market as the care situations in healthcare organisations are becoming more diverse and complex. This article describes a mainly quantitative empirical study in which the focus has been on the influence of curricula on the employability of nursing and healthcare graduates. Results showed that the curriculum indeed has an influence on the employability of nursing and healthcare graduates. Thus, this explorative study has made a contribution to curriculum research, although much more needs to be known before definite conclusions can be drawn.

Keywords: employability; curriculum; on-the-job-training; educational policy; nursing and healthcare sector; quantitative empirical study.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2003.003406

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2003 Vol.3 No.4, pp.296 - 307

Published online: 06 Sep 2003 *

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