Affiliation-Based Benefits and Problems: Case Study of Trinity University of Asia-St. Luke’s College of Nursing (TUA-SLCN)

Abstract

The unprecedented increase in the demand for nurses both locally and abroad has prompted nursing schools to proliferate. These academic organizations number about 350 today and may yet increase some more as the need for nurses abroad have remarkably risen. This development, compounded by the leakage on the nursing board exam which drew popular interest on nursing schools, point to the need to scrutinize the quality of education of nurses and of the nursing schools. To provide the best training and education, these nursing schools network with hospitals to gain affiliation and address their lack of modern facilities and qualified faculty members. There have been studies on affiliation in the corporate setting, but only a few studies been done about affiliation among academic organizations, specifically among nursing schools. This study sought to address that gap in knowledge by focusing on this question: “What affiliation-based benefits and problems have been perceived by Trinity Universitv of Asia-St. Luke’s College of Nursing (TUA-SLCN)?” This case study of the Trinity University of Asia-St. Luke’s College of Nursing was approached from the communication and academic disciplines. In order to employ a descriptive type of research, selection of key informants from the faculty was conducted while convenience sampling of the key informants from the student populace was utilized. An interview schedule was the tool used to gather qualitative data. The interview schedules for the dean and the clinical coordinators were intended to explore the affiliation of the schools and hospitals that is built through networking, the roles of the clinical coordinators, and the benefits and problems of affiliation, while the interview schedule for the students was intended to determine the benefits and problems alone. The researcher analyzed the qualitative data thematically and was integrated into thick description. The findings showed that TUA-SLCN networks with hospitals to gain affiliation, and provide their students necessary related learning experience (RLE) include St Luke’s Medical Center, Amang Rodriguez Medical Center, Valenzuela General Hospital, National Children’s Hospital, Philippines Children’s Medical Center, National Center for Mental Health, San Lazaro Hospital, Philippine Orthopedic Center, and Quirino Memorial Medical Center. The provision of the affiliation, as stated in the prescribed curriculum for Philippine Schools of Nursing, are developed and implemented by the school through the clinical coordinators. The researcher concluded that TUA-SLCN achieved its aims through the benefits it has experienced from private and public hospitals such as the opportunity to compare ideal setting from non-ideal setting, enhanced critical thinking and psychomotor skills through application of theoretical knowledge to real-life situations, availability of slots in clinical areas and expansion of possible areas of training provided by hospitals, dispersal of students, and an opportunity to experience non-routine work through exposure to various medical cases. Inevitably, these benefits are accompanied by problems, which served as difficulties for the TUA-SLCN to meet its objectives in relation to affiliation which include miscommunication, conflict of schedules both in private and public hospitals, conflict with hospital staff and limited exposure in private hospitals, and incompetence of instructors in public hospitals.