Hospital nursing education. Dispelling the doomsday prophesies.

Productivity is uppermost in the minds of most nurse executives. To protect patient caregivers, nurse educator and clinical specialist positions are being cut. Thus, for hospital nursing educational departments to survive, it is essential that the educational process be defined and include the expectations of the organization and employee as well as the means by which these outcomes can be measured. This article briefly analyzes the factors that have helped to create the current crisis, and then reviews the methods by which nurse administrators can provide some solutions without decimating their educational support services.