Under Graduate Program In Nursing Education and Curriculum Model

Possible Curriculum
Models for Undergraduate Programs In Nursing Education

    In
this era of unprecedented health care change, opportunities abound for nursing
faculty to develop undergraduate curriculum models that respond to emerging
challenges and foster innovative thinking. When faculty teaching in an
undergraduate nursing program discuss curriculum, they usually are referring to
the plan or course of study for a group of students leading to licensure. 

    However, the idea of curriculum considered more broadly should include what is
taught, how it is organized, how it is taught (such as delivery method and
pedagogy), and what student and program outcomes are intended. Dezure (2010)
argues that the concept of curriculum should be broad and dynamic, accounting
for innovations in methods, sequencing, goals, and content.

    A
well conceived curriculum is critical to the preparation of entry level nurses.
Undergraduate curricula in all disciplines have been under increasing scrutiny
for the last two decades. There have been a number of reports since the 1980s
that have been critical of higher education, suggesting that reform is needed
if graduates are to meet the expectations of business and industry (Dezure,
2010). 

    These calls for reform led to a number of initiatives that continue to
influence undergraduate curricula today, such as the introduction of learning
outcomes in the language of competencies, emphasis on integration of learning
experiences, focus on enhancing and streamlining learning, and growth in
learning from a more global perspective (Dezure, 2010). 

    Today the priority for
learning is not so much on what is learned, as much as it is on what graduates
can do with their learning. For nursing, the curriculum must prepare graduates
to function in a dynamic and increasingly complex health care environment.

    The
challenge facing nurse educators is how to re-envision curriculum to prepare
nurses to practice in a changing health care system and proactively create
learning that prepares graduates to flourish. Tanner (2010) suggests that the
critical questions that curricula designs need to address are what must be
taught, how to teach it effectively and efficiently, and where teaching and
learning should occur to achieve the best outcomes.

     Dezure (2010) indicates
that the curriculum shifts that shape curricula today are the move to broad
learning competencies from a narrower focus on mastery of learning specific
content, a shift to more integrative learning experiences from those that
emphasize specific skill sets, and an exploration of innovative teaching
practices beyond the traditional pedagogical approaches designed to deliver
subject matter.

    Within
the nursing profession, undergraduate curricular design must be flexible.
Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, and Day (2010) have called for radical curriculum
transformation to best prepare nurses to practice and lead. This transformative
process needs to focus on how to design or revise curricula without simply
adding onto curricula that are already overloaded with content. 

    Faculty have
historically viewed curriculum revisions that meet student learning needs from
a content perspective rather than a contextual perspective. As new technologies
emerge, new evidence is discovered, and new best practices are identified, they
are too often packed into a curriculum structure that is already saturated with
content. 

    Instead of simply continuing to add content to the curriculum, the
most critical challenge for faculty planning undergraduate curricula is to
determine what students need to learn to practice competently and how to design
learning experiences that will facilitate acquisition of needed competencies. 

    Mackey, Hatcher, Happell, and Cleary (2013) call for preparation of nurses to
practice in new and varied environments, such as the home, community, and
through the use of technology. They assert that nurses must be prepared to
effectively respond to the social determinants of health, in addition to the
physical needs of their patients. 

    This shift will require faculty to redefine
what has been identified as traditional competencies critical to nursing
practice to more deeply encompass competencies associated with practicing in
communities, with populations, and considering the nurse’s key role in
facilitating transitions in care. 

    Furthermore, as the care environment changes
to include new treatment modalities, such as telehealth, consumer devices, and
programs that facilitate health, competencies should be modified to reflect
these changes. 

    This chapter discusses undergraduate program and curriculum
designs. It is important to reflect on the issues that continue to shape
nursing curricula as faculty make decisions about the design of curriculum in
their programs.