Comparing Nursing Curriculum Models Essay

Introduction

A curriculum is broadly defined as the experiences that a student is supposed to undergo during a learning process. The term curriculum primarily refers to a sequence of planned instructions that educators use to attain institutional goals. In higher education, different institutions have different curriculums, which they utilize to coach different skills. Nursing programs entail integrating coursework and clinical experience to incorporate diversity and provide solutions to varied global health problems. Institutions offering nursing programs tend to tailor their programs to ensure that their students acquire the best knowledge and skills that would make them able to adjust to the ever-changing global health issues. While some institutions utilize a concept-based curriculum, others use a blocking course, which is different in design and aims at attaining varied goals. An example of a concept-based nursing curriculum is maintained at Albany State University, where I undertook my BSN course. This model benefits nursing as the faculty becomes less concerned about covering all the topics (Harrison, 2020). It provides in-depth guidance while developing clinical reasoning skills that meet the learners’ diverse needs.

The block course curriculum in other institutions covers all relevant nursing topics to enhance learning experiences. An example of such a program is maintained at Roseman University of Health Sciences, where the curriculum design ensures that students undertake one topic at a time. Such a model ensures no competing priorities in the learning process (Lipsky et al., 2019). This model promotes corporative learning as teachers can take advantage of frequent and small group lessons and quality time where the instructors can interact with fewer students within the day. The instructors can focus on the students, where they can explore various concepts simultaneously, making it easy to develop a team (Lipsky et al., 2019). The professional staff, the students, and all other staff become a design team for curriculum development. The main challenge of the block course curriculum is that the pace of teaching is high as time is rushed, which may be challenging to the students. Aspects of quality teaching due to the structure, content, and assessment raise concerns about the effectiveness of the block course curriculum model.

The nursing curricula at Albany State University and Roseman University of Health Sciences are entirely different as they vary teaching practices and how they undertake practical aspects. Albany State University focuses on content-based lessons, while Roseman University of Health Sciences utilizes a model that focuses on one core subject at a time, referred to as the Six-Point Mastery Learning Model (ASU, 2019: RUHS, 2020). These models differ in lesson delivery, where the former emphasizes teaching key concepts and incorporating them with practical skills. At the same time, the latter focuses on reinforcing learning for the year. At Albany State University, the curriculum prepares the students to assume responsibilities as leaders, change agents, client advocates, healthcare providers, consumers of research, and health educators through evidence-based teaching and practice (ASU, 2019). Such skills and knowledge enable the students to provide nursing care in traditional and non-traditional settings. On the contrary, Roseman University of Health Sciences emphasizes teaching to attain high scores, enhancing teamwork among the students and faculty to detect areas of misunderstanding (Lipsky et al., 2019). Some aspects of hands-on experience are also emphasized at Roseman University of Health Sciences.

Evidence-based Findings in Curriculum Analysis

An analysis of the content-based curriculum shows a structured framework that enhances learning outcomes through instructional delivery of concepts, lesson objectives, and student assessments. A content-based curriculum in nursing programs entails examining concepts linked to the effective delivery of patient care. The execution of nursing lessons focuses on key and established examples and their interconnected nature to ensure that the nursing students can easily recognize features of health conditions and apply learned concepts (Harrison, 2020). Concept-based learning promotes teaching key concepts effectively applied in different conditions and hands-on experience type of learning (Ambler et al., 2021). Students under the concept-based curriculum can break the boredom that comes with undertaking long classroom sessions, which are present in institutions with the block course curriculum.

The effectiveness of nursing curricula involves how teaching models influence learning attitudes. A study undertaken by Rohatinsky et al. in 2018 examined students’ preference for nursing curricula and discovered that most nursing students prefer the non-block curriculums since they promote critical reflection of the concepts taught, attainment of a balanced lifestyle, and simultaneous combination of practice and theory. Such features are contrary to those attained through block curriculum, characterized by aspects like assimilation, socialization, and consolidation (Lipsky et al., 2019). Concept-based and block course clinical models are effective within undergraduate nursing curricula due to their effective learning processes (Ambler et al., 2021). Evaluation of different clinical learning models shows that the main themes are learning and applying concepts, evaluation process, growth time, reflection, immersing and integrating into the clinical environment, and transitioning and assimilation into the real nursing world.

Theoretical and contextual Approach to Curriculum Analysis

The two nursing curricula use numerous theories and models to teach nursing ideas, standards, principles, and changes in the models utilized. Both curricula introduce their students to various nursing theories reflecting the metaparadigm concepts of health, person, environment, and nursing as a whole (ASU. 2019: RUHS, 2020). Theoretical and clinical learning models incorporate these themes differently, influencing the students’ attitudes when subjected to curricula in their learning process. The nursing teaching curriculum’s focus is significant in determining the model’s effectiveness in the students’ future practice (Harrison, 2020). The institution’s culture influences the choice of curriculum, how they approach their students’ ever-changing work environments, their adaptation to the actual nursing world, and their approach to solving the different clinical conditions they encounter (Rohatinsky et al., 2018). Therefore, each institution has various goals that they aim to achieve. They use their curricula for marketing their programs to viable students who want to pursue such objectives in their careers. For example, the generic 2+2 nursing model applied at Albany State University requires students to undertake two years of classroom learning and a similar period in practical learning.

Implications of Curriculum Analysis

The effectiveness of the concept-based curriculum is perceived to influence the transition of learning strategies in numerous institutions across the United States. Such a transition is perceived to enhance nursing programs’ learning process, evident in the increased graduation rates, higher pass rates, retention rates, and standard examination scores. Like the block course curriculum, the concept-based learning model is student-centered and incorporates numerous active learning strategies (Harrison, 2020). In this case, the students are the main focus of the learning process, and the instructors ensure that the students can attain both knowledge and skills in dealing with different health care conditions.

Concept-based learning allows nursing students to study critical concepts in classrooms and then be allowed to practice such skills in real life. These practices allow them to gain the confidence and courage to interact with individuals with varied conditions as they continue to learn (Rohatinsky et al., 2018). Such an aspect is different from the block course curriculum, where the students are taught for longer times on specific subjects before they are allowed to undertake practice in real-life situations (Lipsky et al., 2019). Due to this reason, a concept-based curriculum is more effective in the delivery of nursing programs.

Suggestions for Curriculum Improvement

A critical analysis of the block nursing curriculum’s drawbacks shows that it needs to be adjusted to make it comfortable for the students to feel comfortable and change their attitude toward the learning model. Among the main challenges linked to the block, the curriculum is student time management, where the students feel that the curriculum is a barrier to personal betterment. The model should reduce the workload and assignments to give students time to reflect on the real world of nursing, as learning for long hours on the same topic creates boredom and demotivation. Institutions should incorporate time and stress management programs in the curriculum to enhance the emotional support for the students. Such adjustments can enhance the curriculum’s effectiveness and student outcomes in nursing programs.

Conclusion

In summary, different nursing curriculums have varied benefits and drawbacks. The difference in the curricula maintained in teaching nursing programs in different institutions aims to enhance students’ skills and knowledge transfer. Institutions use such strategies to market their programs in the global market. It is perceived that regardless of whether an institution maintains a concept-based or block course curriculum, the knowledge instilled in the nursing students is based on the theories and knowledge taught through the curricula. The analysis shows that the main aspects that influence student preference in any given curricula depend on aspects like learning and application of the concepts, evaluation process, growth time, reflection, immersing and integration into the clinical environment, and transitioning and assimilation into the real nursing world. Therefore, educators should ensure that the students develop a positive attitude towards the program by tailoring the curriculum to fit their preferences and enable them to manage their emotions while undertaking the program.

References

Ambler, T., Solomonides, I., & Smallridge, A. (2021). Students’ experiences of a first‐year block model curriculum in higher education. The Curriculum Journal, 32(3), 533-558. Web.

ASU. (2019). Albany State University Darton college of health professions department of nursing associate of science in nursing student handbook. Asurams. Web.

Harrison, C. (2020). Concept-based curriculum: Design and implementation strategies. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 17(1). Web.

Lipsky, M., Cone, C., Watson, S., Lawrence, P., & Lutfiyya, M. (2019). Mastery learning in a bachelor’s of nursing program: The Roseman University of Health Sciences experience. BMC Nursing, 18(1). Web.

Rohatinsky, N., Chachula, K., Sedgwick, M., Press, M., Compton, R., & Lane, B. (2018). Comparison of nursing student and instructor preferences for block and nonblock clinical models. Nurse Educator, 43(4), E1-E6. Web.

Roseman University of Health Sciences: 2020-2021 Student Handbook. (2020). Roseman. Web.