Program objectives
The main purpose of the Masters in Nursing (MSN) program is to prepare graduates to take up advanced and more demanding and involving roles in fields such as nursing education, nursing practice, nursing leadership and research work in nursing. One objective of the MSN program is to prepare the graduates to become agents of change in the society through delivery of accessible, high quality and a culturally compliant health care not only to the immediate communities but also to the global society (Billings & Halstead, 2011).
The other objective of the program is to prepare the graduates to become nursing professionals who are capable of applying excellent communication, collaboration and research skills in the delivery of health care services to the global society.
The program is also aimed at equipping the graduates with critical thinking skills so as to enable them use the knowledge acquired in the investigation of problems and coming up with practical solutions to health problems in good time. When doing this, they are supposed to respect the ethics of the nursing profession.
Lastly, the program has the objective of preparing graduates as facilitators in the designing of health care teams with a view of integrating local health care provision systems to the global health care system (Publication manual of the American psychological association, 2010).
Curriculum design for MSN
A student first enrolls for a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. Upon completion, he or she qualifies to enroll for the MSN program. The curriculum of the program has two components namely the core subjects (core knowledge) and the specialization courses (population courses). The core subjects are taken by all students and they include global health systems, evidence based practice, research and scholarships, management of illness and professional nursing. The specialization courses include practitioner nursing, advanced child health nursing, advanced adult health nursing, advanced family health nursing and anesthesiology nursing (Keating, 2011).
According to the university’s formula for allocation of credits, nursing practitioners, advanced child health and advanced adult health students have to complete at least 630 hours of practice while advanced family health nurses complete at least 770 hours with the anesthesiology students completing at least 3240 hours of clinic practice. The curriculum design is aimed at producing graduates who are capable of discharging their duties in a professional and competent manner. The curriculum design is also designed to comply with the requirements of the Council on Accreditation of Nurses. The curriculum therefore helps in the realization of the expected outcomes of the program because students are able to study the core subjects and chose one of the specialization courses. They are thus exposed to general knowledge in nursing as well as to a specific area of study in nursing.
The development of the program outcomes is influenced by the health needs of the global society. The university undertakes a comprehensive audit of the global health care system to establish what has been done, what has not been done, the major ailments, the methods of intervention and their effectiveness, access to health care facilities and availability of health services to the global society. This kind of an audit enables the institution to design the curriculum in a manner which reflects the health needs of the global society. The whole idea is to produce graduates who are capable of working in any part of the globe and also graduates who are capable of finding solutions to complex health conditions around the globe.The curriculum outcomes therefore meets the nursing professional accreditation requirements and the social expectations of the people from the profession of nursing.
References
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (Eds.) (2011). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty. (4th Edn). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.
Keating, S.B. (2011). Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing. ( 2nd Edn) New York, NY: Springer.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (2010). American Psychological Association. (6th Edn). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.