Rating Scale
Curriculum Critique
The BSN curriculum of the College of Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS) presents a well-developed plan of student instruction with the levels of study. The program is structured logically, with all courses divided into groups to represent study levels associated with different priority learning outcomes. Despite the factors that reduce the effectiveness of the presentation, the curriculum is strong due to its organization, course selection, and practice-orientedness.
In the introductory section of the document, the contributors pay focused attention to the projected outcomes of the program and specific skills that the courses aim to develop. Among these skills, there is the ability to think critically and evaluate the quality of information, as well as a range of reasoning competencies related to making accurate judgments. More than that, the authors stress the importance of building strong interprofessional competencies helping future nurses to complete tasks that require dissimilar skills and collaborate with others.
In the educational plan, all courses focusing on the practical aspects of nursing science are preceded by activities aimed at the development of basic competencies facilitating nurse-patient collaboration such as linguistic skills and the fundamentals of computer science.
Judging from the discussion of the key goals, one of the main theoretical assumptions informing curriculum development was the need to strike the right balance between introductory courses related to skills needed in any profession, the theory of nursing, and the activities involving clinical practice. Concerning the balance between theory and practice, using the discussed curriculum, future nurses are supposed to get clinical practice experiences in certain aspects of care right after starting theoretical courses devoted to similar dimensions of nursing. As an example, in the plan, the theory of pediatric nursing is followed by clinical activities focused on work with children.
This principle is respected in the majority of cases starting from the fourth level of study, and it is among the most important benefits of the curriculum being discussed. According to recent research, by prioritizing clinical skills in nursing education, it is possible to prepare future nurses to work in dissimilar clinical contexts (Felton & Royal, 2015). As a result, specialists get an opportunity to develop their unique approaches to coping with problems in communication or medical procedures.
The strong points of the curriculum include its content and the organization of courses, whereas the technical aspects of presentation raise certain concerns. First, the key competencies and educational outcomes align with modern researchers’ vision of the basic skills that nurses should demonstrate such as the ability to communicate, technical literacy, and ethical and intercultural competencies (McCoy & Anema, 2018).
Additionally, the way that different courses are divided into groups representing various study levels follows a clear logic – from basic to specific and from theory to practice. More than that, as is clear from the selection of courses, the curriculum is constructed concerning age-specific health needs, the concept that is central to successful nursing care (Mower, 2015). For instance, the principles of work with adult, underage, and newborn patients are taught separately, which enables students to compartmentalize and organize new knowledge. At the same time, the aspects to be improved are inextricably connected to the quality of presentation; some misprints and issues with image placement can hinder understanding of the document and its logic.
In conclusion, the curriculum developed by the CAMS can be regarded as an effective educational plan constructed with attention to the key skills defining the quality of nursing care. The study plan is organized properly and strikes the right balance between student activities related to the theory of nursing and clinical practice. Despite minor limitations linked to visual presentation, the curriculum seems to align with the global standards of care.
References
Felton, A., & Royal, J. (2015). Skills for nursing practice: Development of clinical skills in pre-registration nurse education. Nurse Education in Practice, 15(1), 38-43.
McCoy, J. L., & Anema, M. G. (2018). Fast facts for curriculum development in nursing: How to develop & evaluate educational programs (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Mower, J. (2015). Incorporating age-specific plans of care to achieve optimal perioperative outcomes. AORN Journal, 102(4), 369-388.