European Union directives and clinical practice in nursing education in the Nordic countries.

Nursing education in countries belonging to the European Union (EU) must follow EU directive requirements. The aim of this opinion paper is to explore and discuss the challenges presented by EU requirements to clinical practice in nursing education. These requirements prescribe that clinical practice must be carried out in a variety of different and specialized areas that provide care in hospital units. This may offer students only a limited range of experience; thus, they may not be fully prepared to care for patients with common diseases, and only have a restricted knowledge about the ongoing development of caring for patients at home. EU directives require that half of a nursing education course be allocated to clinical practice. This is challenging, since the number of hours is laid down without considering such aspects as the need for pedagogical qualifications for preceptors, which in turn may affect the quality of the clinical practice.