Abstract
D.Cur.
During the last decade there has been a surge of interest in quality issues in education. This is largely due to spiralling costs of education and political demands for accountability in public institutions. In South Africa, higher education institutions are now required by law (Higher Education Act No. 101 of 1997 and the South African Qualifications Act No. 58 of 1995) to introduce quality management in an attempt to assure quality ofboth the programmes and the education providers.
The Nursing Colleges in Gauteng provide nursing education to nearly 2000 nurses and, as such, make the major contribution to providing for the quality of the health care services. The colleges therefore have a double reason for introducing quality improvement measures, which start with a system for monitoring the quality of the colleges. In this study a quality audit system has been developed to address this need.
There is no comprehensive internal audit system, which allows for quantitative measurement and acts as an empowerment strategy for institutional quality improvement in the nursing colleges in South Africa.
The following research questions are relevant:
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what should an auditing system for nursing colleges comprise?
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what are the indicators of quality in a nursing college?
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is the auditing system trustworthy?
The overall aim of the study was to develop an audit system for the nursing colleges in Gauteng. This aim was supported by the following objectives: Phase one: to conduct a value clarification of quality within the nursing colleges in Gauteng, as perceived by the internal and external customers. Phase two: to explore and describe a conceptual framework for a quality audit system for nursing colleges in Gauteng. Phase three: a. to develop a quality audit system for the nursing colleges in Gauteng
b. To pilot the audit system in one nursing college in Gauteng.
A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was conducted within the nursing colleges of Gauteng in order to develop a contextual framework and a quality audit system for the nursing colleges. The content validity was tested by means of quantitative methods. The audit system that was developed included a tool for auditing the quality of nursing colleges as a means to identifY conformance to standards, criteria and indicators and to improve the quality of the structure, processes and results ofthe organization. The standards were developed on the basis of a value clarification of internal and external customers. Clusters ofindicators were developed for each of the standards.
The value of this study is that a comprehensive audit system has been developed which empowers the staffand students ofthe college to improve the quality ofthe college. The same system can be used for purposes of accreditation, as an accountability mechanism and for institutional recognition.