Abstract
A discussion article on the proposal of S. Nemecek, the Minister of Health, of how to change the education of nurses.
According to the new model, a four-year study at a secondary medical school finished by school- leaving examination plus one year at a higher medical school (model of 4+1) should be sufficient for a complete nurse qualification. The article brings 12 objections: 1) The decision on the future profession will be done by 15-years-old pupils; 2) Secondary medical schools are no longer selective schools as they used to be in the past; 3) The form of training at various secondary medical schools may differ; 4) The form of one-year post-secondary education is not clear; 5) The school-leavers of the new way of studies will have lower salaries; 6) The system of all other healthl professions will not change, the competence definitions remain unclear; 7) Nurses' reasons for quitting their jobs are not only their salaries; 8) The system will be changed only in nurse education and not in other medical professions; 9) The change will endanger the scientific field of nursing at universities and the research therein; 10) It is not true that there is a tendency in other European countries to come back to merely secondary form of studies of nursing; 11) The field of study General Nursing belongs to regulated professions, where a directive of the European Parliament requires that only those students are admitted for medical training who have completed general education of at least 10 years.
In the Czech Republic, however, the basic general school education has only 9 years of attendance; 12) The model 4+1 does not comply with the EU directive on the recognition of health care qualifications, where university education is in the first place, education at higher education schools takes the second place, and the third place is represented by programs of medical specialized training.