Our Lady of Candelaria School of Nursing
Quality Assurance System
Adapting to the European Higher Education Area is a short and medium-term process that requires considerable effort from university centers, as they must transform their current educational reality, initiating the necessary changes towards new pedagogical methods that involve the student as a co-author of their learning, and therefore more active, reflective and critical.
Achieving quality education involves the interaction of a set of factors and requires the creation of a system for the periodic evaluation and monitoring of the educational offering provided.
Internal Quality Assurance Systems (IQAS) are the foundation for the efficient operation of the new educational organization and for building the trust upon which the degree accreditation process rests. Royal Decree 1393/2007, of October 29, which establishes the organization of official education, in accordance with the provisions of Article 37 of Organic Law 4/2007 on Universities, sets out the guidelines, conditions, and verification and accreditation procedures that study programs must meet before being included in the Register of Universities, Centers, and Degrees.
The preamble to the aforementioned Royal Decree states that the Quality Assurance Systems (QAS) are part of the new Study Plans. Furthermore, section 9 of Annex I indicates that the QAS for the degree program must contain information on:
Likewise, in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Royal Decree, in its article 24. point 3, the task of establishing the necessary verification and accreditation protocols falls to the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA).
Royal Decree 861/2010, of July 2, amends Royal Decree 1393/2007, of October 29. Specifically, sections 2 and 3 of Article 24 are amended to read as follows. “2. Before the expiration of six years from the date of their initial verification or their last accreditation, official university Bachelor's and Doctoral degrees must have their accreditation renewed in accordance with the procedure and deadlines established by the Autonomous Communities in relation to the universities within their area of competence, within the framework of the provisions of Article 27. Likewise, Master's degrees must undergo the aforementioned procedure before the expiration of four years. For these purposes, the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) and the evaluation bodies determined by the Law of the Autonomous Communities, which meet the quality criteria and standards established by the European Commission by passing an external evaluation that allows them to be full members of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and to be registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR), will jointly establish the evaluation protocols necessary for verification and accreditation in accordance with international quality standards and in accordance with the provisions of this royal decree.”.
Regarding section 9 of Annex I, which specifies the information that the Quality Assurance System for the Degree must contain, there are no significant modifications. It is on the basis of these regulations that the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University School of Nursing, henceforth EUENSC, will implement and develop the internal quality system that allows for the establishment and monitoring of quality assurance for the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. The Bachelor's Degree in Nursing project incorporates Order CIN 2134/2008 of July 3 (Official State Gazette, July 19, 2008), which establishes the requirements for the verification of official university degrees that qualify graduates to practice as nurses.
Quality Coordinator
The Management Team (MT) of the EUENSC, and in particular its Director, assumes responsibility for establishing the Centre's quality policy and objectives proposal, and will appoint a Quality Coordinator, to represent it in all matters relating to the monitoring of the Quality Assurance System (QAS), will propose to the School Board the review of the composition and functions of the Center's Quality Commission (CCC).
Quality Commission
The Quality Committee of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria School of Nursing is the School's permanent body that participates in the planning and monitoring of the Center's Internal Quality Assurance System (QAS), also acting as one of the internal communication channels for the policies, objectives, plans, programs, responsibilities, and achievements of this system. The Quality Committee is composed of:
Depending on the needs of the moment, other Coordinators of the knowledge areas of the training program and Experts in certain subjects may be incorporated who will work on a case-by-case basis with the core group.
The design of SGIC forms an essential element in the policy and training activities of the EUENSC, therefore, it sets in advance the objectives that it intends to achieve as a result of its implementation.
The primary objective of the Quality Assurance System (QAS) is to guarantee the quality of the training offered by reviewing and improving its training program. This program is based on the needs and expectations of its stakeholders, who will be kept properly informed. The QAS will be kept permanently updated in order to:
The Quality Manual (QM) is the basic document that serves as a reference and from which all the necessary actions emanate to ensure that the teachings provided by the center are in accordance with the guidelines that define them and satisfy the needs and expectations of the stakeholders, especially the students.
The MC is the document that expresses in an orderly manner the scope of the EUENSC's SGIC, and therefore constitutes its documentary basis.
The procedures manual (PM) of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University School of Nursing is an element of the Quality Assurance System (QAS) that contains a description of the school's processes. It is created to provide detailed, organized, and systematic information on all instructions, responsibilities, and information regarding policies, functions, systems, and processes necessary for the daily operation of the school.
The procedures that comprise it are a chronological and sequential succession of a set of interconnected tasks that constitute the way of carrying out the work.
In the EUENSC, the MP has different functions: