Nursing Curriculum

Nursing Curriculum

Nursing education requires an integrated curriculum designed to equip students with innovative skills. An integrated curriculum is key to ensuring that nurses acquire professional training that caters to the diverse needs of the stakeholders and the community at large. Several measures can be used to improve the curriculum, such as involving stakeholders and instituting healthcare assessments. This paper provides a more in-depth discussion of the approaches to improving the nursing curriculum design.

Involving Stakeholders

Several stakeholders are involved in nursing education programs. The most common stakeholders include students, educators, nursing employers, patients, and the community at large (Kokemuller, 2017). These stakeholders are involved during the curriculum development process to provide changes to the educational approach. The stakeholders also bear the responsibility of ensuring the implementation of the new curricula. The nursing students are the main stakeholders in the education curriculum. The nursing program should be tailor-made to ensure that the students are equipped with the relevant clinical knowledge and skills. An innovative curriculum should offer students access to convenient and quality nursing courses that meet the necessary licensing requirements. The educators and nursing employers should collaborate to develop a quality educational program that prepares students for real-life clinical situations.

Increasingly, nursing institutions are focusing more on their societal role. The nursing practice constitutes a social contract whose aim is to serve the community through education, clinical practice, and healthcare research missions (Sullivan & Young, n.d). Developing a competent nursing curriculum requires dynamic engagement with community stakeholders and academic experts to realize greater impact. The involvement of internal and external stakeholders is critical in designing a nursing curriculum that prepares nurses for emerging healthcare challenges. However, limited voluntary participation and involvement of stakeholders continue to be the main challenge that hinders the development of an integrated nursing curriculum.

Nursing Assessment

Health assessment is an essential element of nursing practice. Assessment aids in the planning and provision of quality client-centered care. Nurses are required to conduct several patients’ examination procedures, such as admission, shift, and focused assessments. A comprehensive nursing assessment report should include physical examination, general appearance, vital signs, and patient history (Wallace, 2013). The assessments should be done at the commencement of each shift or in the event when the patients’ condition changes. Concise nursing assessments should be focused on a specific problem or current condition of the patient.  Comprehensive nursing assessment skills play a decisive role in evaluating patients’ health problems and consequently enhances the process of designing nursing care plans and developing appropriate nursing interventions.

The evaluation of assessment data is vital as it helps the clinicians to develop clinical judgment in handling patients. Nursing students need to be taught how to evaluate assessment data appropriately. Evaluation of assessment data is an essential constituent of the nursing curriculum design as it enables nurses to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills (Mercy, 2017). Nurses are equipped with the expertise to make appropriate clinical decisions as and when patient conditions change. Integrating evaluation of assessment data into the nursing curriculum will enable the nurse to develop the capacity to take appropriate action, thus improving the delivery of healthcare services.

In summary, the nursing curriculum can be improved by involving stakeholders and the community. These stakeholders are involved during the curriculum development process to provide changes to the educational approach. The involvement of stakeholders is essential in developing a holistic and integrated nursing education program that caters to the emerging healthcare needs of the population. Lastly, the incorporation of evaluation of assessment data is critical in improving the nursing curriculum.

References

Mercy, T. (2017). Nursing assessment. Retrieved from https://www.rch.org.au/rchcpg/hospital_clinical_guideline_index/Nursing_assessment/

Wallace, S. (2013). The importance of holistic assessment – A nursing student perspective. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275893594_The_importance_of_holistic_assessment_-_A_nursing_student_perspective

Sullivan, M. & Young, M. (n.d). Internal and External Stakeholder Engagement. Retrieved from https://connect.springerpub.com/content/book/978-0-8261-3484-4/section/sec02/chapter/ch12. DOI:10.1891/9780826134844.0012

Kokemuller, N. (2017). Who Are the Key Stakeholders Involved in Nursing Programs? Retrieved from https://careertrend.com/facts-7488416-key-stakeholders-involved-nursing-programs.html