N584 Module 6: Curriculum and Program Evaluation

Critical Thinking Exercises : 

Case Study #1: Jasmine University School of Nursing 

Faculty of Jasmine University School of Nursing have worked diligently to develop a new curriculum. Although they considered the advantages of an upper-division nursing program, they decided to continue with their 4-year integrated curriculum. The new curriculum is based in phenomenology, feminism, and humanism, with a strong emphasis on community-based nursing. However, hospital-based practice remains a feature of the curriculum. Concurrent with the introduction of the new curriculum will be a fifty percent increase in the class size from 100 to 150.

For more than 35 years, university students have had on-campus classes from Monday to Wednesday, with hospital-and community-based clinical practice on Thursday and Friday, during the day. Other nursing programs in the city have had clinical experiences at other times.

As they discuss phasing out the existing curriculum and introducing the redesigned one, faculty identify a significant problem with clinical placements. Currently, fourth-year students have an experience on maternal-infant units in the fall semester. In the changed curriculum, this experience is scheduled in the fall and winter semesters of the second year (75 students in each semester). Both groups have 2 days of clinical experience each week. This means that for 2 consecutive years, 100 fourth-year students and 75 second-year students require placements on the same units on the same days in the fall semester. In addition, the popularity of home births, discharges from hospital, 8–24 hours after delivery, and city-wide hospital restructuring, will lead to a 40% decrease in the number of family birthing rooms.

1. What are the logistical considerations in this case?
2. What options are possible to address this situation?
3. What are the likely implications for students, faculty, and clinical agency personnel for each of the options proposed?
4. Should faculty reconsider the design of the new curriculum? Justify whether or not they should.
5. In what ways can faculty prevent situations such as this when a revised curriculum is being planned and implemented?

Case Study #2 

A national nursing accrediting body has notified you that your program is due for reaccreditation in 3 years. What steps must you take to be prepared for the accreditation team? Develop a plan of action to evaluate and document student and program outcomes, and organize the documents obtained.

1. Based on the best evidence, choose an evaluation model and evaluation tools, develop a method to track outcome evidence, and a plan to delegate certain evaluation components.
2. Develop a timeline and action plan.
3. Discuss your timeline, action plan, and impact of accreditation with at least two other students.
4. What are the evaluation obstacles facing your nursing program and what plan do you have to overcome these obstacles?

• Billings, D. M. & J. A. Halstead. (2012). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (4th ed.). St. Louis: Saunders. (Chapters 24, 25, and 28)
• Iwasiw, C., Goldenberg, D., & Andrusyszyn, M. (2009). Curriculum development in nursing education (2nd ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett. (Chapters 11 and 12)
• Keating, S. B. (2011). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. (Chapters 14 and 15)