As a practicing nurse, you have been asked to present an evaluation of a nursing curriculum to a nursing leadership team at your place of employment. They are seeking input on coursework recommendations for CEU fulfillment. The curriculum you select should be of interest to you either personally or professionally.
In this assessment, you will select a nursing curriculum either from an academic setting, such as a school of nursing, or a clinical setting, such as a hospital staff development program. If you are currently teaching, you may wish to use the curriculum from your school or workplace. If you are not currently teaching, you may want to consider using the curriculum from your undergraduate program. If neither is an option, you are encouraged to look for a nursing curriculum you can use as a model for your assessments. One choice might be an orientation curriculum for a clinical facility.
You will evaluate the selected nursing curriculum in detail and describe the organizing design or theoretical framework on which your selected curriculum is based. You will also examine how this design or framework is demonstrated in the curriculum. Possible organizing designs or frameworks include simple-to-complex, stages of illness, nursing conceptual framework, concept-based, outcomes based, competency-based, interdisciplinary, and others.
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other relatedissues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
How do the mission, values, philosophy, and goals of an institution inform the development of a nursing curriculum?
In your experience, what types of curriculum designs commonly used to develop nursing curricula?
What characteristics of the intended audience for a nursing curriculum should inform development of the curriculum?
What is the difference between curriculum design and a theoretical framework for a nursing program? Should both be identified?
Your overview and analysis of the curriculum should fulfill the following:
Identify an appropriate nursing curriculum, the intended learner population, and why it is needed.
Provide the mission statement and course descriptions for all courses in a selected curriculum.
Describe the established professional standards, guidelines, and competencies incorporated in the program.
Describe the student learning outcomes of a selected nursing program.
Recommend a process to update health care knowledge in a selected nursing curriculum.
Explain how an organizing design and theoretical framework or model is demonstrated within a selected nursing curriculum.
Provide an overview of the history of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
Describe the major concepts of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
