成人教育是指社會中取得成人地位的個體所進行的學習曆程，是一門帶助成人學習的藝術與科學。在全球化、終身教育、和回流教育的成人教育思潮下，護理教育亦應隨著終身學習社會的發展，培養學生使其在生活或工作中，具有學會與人相處、學會追求知識、學會做事和學會發展的能力；也因爲全球化及網際網路等資訊科技的發展，護理知識被大量生産及快速地傅遞，有限的學校教育已經不足以滿足日益不斷地更新的護理照護知識，因此回流教育也爲高等護理教育主要的功能。本文藉由成人教育相關理論評析台灣護理教育的困境，並以成人教育觀點對護理教育未來推動的方向提出具體的建議，包括：回流教育課程實施上應以成人教育的觀點發展終身學會四大關鍵能力；在以學術主題的課堂中建構提問的學習氣候，以展開與學生的批判思考的對話；在資訊化時代，數位學習的成人教育環境已然成熟，應用資訊科技能力應成爲護理專業核心能力；護理教育應能自全球的觀點思索如何發展本土護理照護知識，使學習能以在地化的觀點，發展全球的視野。護理教育的重點應放在終身學習的概念上以培養具批判性思考能力的護理人才，因此，培育護理教師的成人教育素養是刻不容緩的。

Globalization, lifelong learning concepts and increasing numbers of adults in recurrent education programs all underscore the need for nursing education to train students in interpersonal, knowledge acquisition, task accomplishment and personal development skills applicable to both their work and everyday life. Today, our technology-driven world produces and rapidly disseminates vast amounts of information. So-called “academic knowledge” is no longer adequate to teach nurses how to perform routine nursing care duties. Therefore, recurrent education has taken a central role in nursing education. Grounded in adult education theory, this article discusses the current state of nursing education in Taiwan and proposes practical suggestions for the future. Such suggestions include: 1) a recurrent education curriculum should instill in students a commitment to lifelong learning; 2) learning through problem posing, instead of lectures, should be promoted in order to foster an interactive relationship between teacher and student that is characterized by critical thinking and active dialogue; 3) modern technology now permits information technology skills to become a core competency in nursing; and 4) nursing education should foster a global view in order to consider how to use the experience and knowledge of other countries' to enhance domestic nursing knowledge and practices.