Learning as doing –common goals and interests across management and education.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate approaches to learning of healthcare professionals in a postgraduate management programme.

Background: The study was carried out in a higher education institution.

Methods: An evaluation research study of an interprofessional healthcare group was carried out with students (insider stakeholders), and their lecturers and external examiner (external stakeholders). All three perspectives are presented here. Data was collected by interview, document analysis and reflection.

Results: This paper focused on the domain of learning as doing, as a major theme of the study, drawing variances between nurses and other healthcare professionals. The study highlights the importance of exploring approaches to learning from a pluralistic stance.

Conclusions: There is a risk of adopting a narrow approach to education if management programmes are overly influenced by the immediate needs of application of knowledge to practice. Education is influenced by the needs of the students themselves in coming to the programme to acquire knowledge and skills for application to practice.

Implications for Nursing Management: Nurses undertaking management programmes need to be facilitated to cope with the conflicting demands of completing tasks on the job, engaging deeply with learning from these demands and becoming empowered to develop professionally and personally.