The history of nursing education in Serbia and development of a department of nursing

In addition to the introduction of new methods of nursing standards, one of the biggest advances made in the field of nursing in the second half of the 20th century was definitely the founding of nursing faculties in developed countries worldwide. In the time of former Yugoslavia there were several schools of higher professional education in Belgrade, Zagreb, Rijeka, Ljubljana and Sarajevo, and afterwards the others were also founded. Nevertheless, the number of senior nurses was disproportionate when compared with the number of nurses with secondary education, which certainly affected the quality of professional work and thus contributed to the development of the profession. The complexity of care in the nursing profession and the need to maintain competency and professional responsibility have forced many nurses to acquire the relevant knowledge at the related faculties (pedagogy, defectology, i.e. special education and rehabilitation or healthcare management) in an arduous and indirect way [1].