Template for Evaluation of Curriculum through Application of National Guidelines

Course Name (copy and paste from course syllabus)

Kingsborough Community College –Associate Degree Program
Nursing 18 – Fundamentals of Nursing
Course Description (copy and paste from course syllabus)
Beginning level clinical nursing students are introduced to basic nursing knowledge and skills
including dependent, independent and interdependent functions of the nurse. This course is
designed to introduce the beginning student to the following concepts: Quality and Safety for
Nurses (QSEN) Initiative incorporating patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration,
evidenced based practice, safety, quality improvement and informatics; the nursing process; and
the Categories of Patient Needs.
Classroom instruction and laboratory sessions, at the college and in selected health agencies, are
held weekly throughout the semester. During the college laboratory, concepts and principles
discussed in previous classes are used as the basis for performing therapeutic nursing
interventions. The health agency experiences are utilized to extend learning. Each clinical
experience is preceded and followed by a conference where the expected student learning
outcomes are discussed and evaluated. Individual and group assignments are utilized for
laboratory experiences. Class work for the typical week consists of: classroom instruction –
four (4) hours, college laboratory – two (2) hours and health agency experiences – seven (7)
hours. It is mandatory for students to engage in additional practice for the development of skills.
Provisions are available for additional time in the college laboratory for practice.
List of student learning outcomes (numbered)
1. Recognize the steps necessary to deliver safe patient-centered care at the fundamental level.
2. Select priority nursing intervention specific to the care of the older adult.
3. Identify actions that support evidence-based practice when providing care.
4. Define critical thinking/clinical reasoning strategies when delivering care.
5. Describe standards of teamwork and collaboration in the provision of care.
6. Explain leadership and management strategies utilized in the delivery of care.
7. Use the principle of informatic and technology in nursing care.
8. Describe ethical and level beliefs as it applies to the practice of a registered nurse.
Program Outcomes Student Practice essentials or competencies guiding
Learning the program:
Outcome of the QSEN Competencies
course
1 Organize nursing care Student Learning Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Practice,
to provide a safe patient Outcome: 1 Safety
environment.
2 Prioritize nursing Student Learning Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Practice
interventions when Outcome: 1, 2, 3
providing nursing care.
3. Integrate evidence- Student Learning Evidence-Based Practice
based nursing practice Outcome: 1,2, 3
into nursing care.
 4. Integrate critical Student Learning Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Practice, s
thinking/clinical Outcome: 1, 2, 3,
reasoning strategies when 4
providing nursing care.
5 Support principles of Student Learning Teamwork and Collaboration, Quality Improvement
teamwork and Outcome: 5
collaboration when
working with members of
the interprofessional
team.
6. Develop appropriate Student Learning Teamwork and Collaboration
leadership/management Outcome: 6
strategies when providing
nursing care.

7. Incorporate the Student Learning Quality Improvement, Safety, Informatics

utilization of informatics Outcome: 7
principles and technology
systems while providing
nursing care.
8. Support ethical and Student Learning Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Practice
legal principles relevant Outcome: 8
to the practice of a
registered nurse.

The accrediting body for the Associate Nursing Degree at Kingsborough Community College
is the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
The standard met is standard number 4, the curriculums standard. The substandard met is 4.1 where the
curriculum incorporates established professional nursing standards, guidelines, and competencies and
has clearly articulated end-of-program student learning outcomes (Accreditation Commission for
Education in Nursing, 2020).

Program Learning Outcomes

Program Learning Outcome 1

The first student learning outcome identified in the NUR 18 course syllabus for Kingsborough

Community College’s Associate Degree in Nursing is to “recognize the steps necessary to

deliver safe patient-centered care at the fundamental level” (Edelman, et al., 2021). This student

learning outcome (SLO) correlates with the first program learning outcome (PLO) of
Kingsborough nursing program which is to “organize nursing care to provide a safe patient

environment” (Kingsborough Community College, 2022). The SLO and the PLO are basically

the same at aiming for safe patient care.

One assignment where safe patient care is a goal is the lab/simulation experience. In this

assignment students are expected to 1) use patient care ergonomics, 2) assist patients in and out

of bed with various devices, 3) use therapeutic positioning devices and restraints, 4) assess for

normal range of motion, active and passive, 5) perform range of motion activities, 6) ambulate

patients with and without assistive devices, and 6) position a patient for skin integrity protection

(Edelman et al., 2021). According to Mansour et al. (2018), patient safety education is an

important tool in safeguarding patient’s welfare. Teaching safety techniques to nurses early in

their nursing education has a long-term impact on shaping their safety knowledge, skills and

behavior towards patient safety. This lab/simulation assignment is in line with the goal of

maintaining patients safe from falls and maintaining skin integrity. Mansour et al. (2018)

continues to recognize that teaching where students are active participants is more likely to

encourage better engagement with better information-retention rate as a result. Teaching safety

techniques in a lab/simulation setting can accomplish that goal. The assignment is congruent

with the PLO for safety.

Both SLO and PLO regarding safety are in line with the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses

(QSEN) competency standards for nursing programs in the area of Safety. According to QSEN

the definition of safety is to “minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both

system effectiveness and individual performance” (QSEN Institude, 2020). To achieve this

competency of safety nurses need to demonstrate effective use of strategies to reduce risk of
harm to self or others. The program curriculum clearly shows the goal to promote safety by the

planned activities, the SLO, and the PLO.

Program Learning Outcome 5

The fifth learning outcome identified in the NUR 18 course syllabus for Kingsborough

Community College’s Associate Degree in Nursing is to “describe standards of teamwork and

collaboration in the provision of care.” (Edelman, et al., 2021). This SLO correlates with the fifth

PLO of Kingsborough Nursing Program which is to “support principles of teamwork and

collaboration when working with members of the interprofessional team” (Kingsborough

Community College, 2020). The SLO and the PLO both focus on teamwork and collaboration

with others when providing nursing care.

One assignment that shows the curriculum aims to fulfill the SLO and PLO is found in the

clinical rounds. One aspect of the required clinical experience includes identifying the roles the

nurse has a member of the healthcare team communicating patient’s need using standard

communication tools such as SBAR and EHR (Edelman et al, 2021). This clinical experience

aims at accomplishing the goal of learning teamwork and collaboration. Teamwork competencies

save lives. Teams with strong teamwork report less missed patient care, fewer falls, and a higher

quality of work life. Nursing educators have various tools they can use to accomplish this goal

such as simulations, debriefing and facilitated discussions (Barton et al., 2018). This teamwork-

related assigment found in the syllabus multiple times. According to Dirks (2019), team training

needs to allow many opportunities to practice teamwork skills can be refined and team dynamics

confidence can increase.

 Both SLO and PLO regarding teamwork and collaboration are in line with the QSEN

competency standards for nursing programs in the area labeled the same. According to QSEN the

definition of Teamwork and Collaboration is to “function effectively within nursing and inter-

professional team, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to

achieve quality patient care” (QSEN Institute, 2020). To achieve this competency nurses need to

communicate effectively while adapting to different communication styles. They also need to

know when to request help, solicit input and initiate actions to resolve conflicts. Another QSEN

competency that is congruent with the SLO is Quality Improvement where part of the knowledge

is that nursing and other health professions are part of a care system and it’s important to value

other’s contribution to the outcome of care. The program curriculum clearly shows the goal to

promote teamwork, collaboration and quality improvement by the planned clinical activities.

Program Learning Outcome 7

The seventh learning outcome identified in the NUR 18 course syllabus for

Kingsborough Community College’s Associate Degree in Nursing is to “use the principle of

informatic and technology in nursing care.” (Edelman et al., 2021). This student learning

outcome (SLO) correlates with the seventh program learning outcome (PLO) of Kingsborough

nursing program which is to “incorporate the utilization of informatics principles and technology

systems while providing nursing care.” (Kingsborough Community College, 2020). The SLO

and the PLO both focus the use of informatics and technology during nursing care.

One assignment that aims at fulfilling the SLO and PLO is the clinical experience where

students need to review documentations systems, discuss the implications of using Electronic

Healthcare Records (EHR) to patient-centered care (Edelman et al., 2021). Use of technology is

essential for all nurses and there is always new development of electronic information systems.
Therefore, nurses need to develop the skills to use the technologies during the care of the patient.

Although millennials are assumed to know how to use technology, it's important for students to

learn how technology/informatics can improve communication and critical thinking (Williamson

& Muckle, 2018). The assigment is congruent with the PLO.

One of the QSEN competencies is Informatics. The definition for this competency is the

“use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and

support decision making” (QSEN Institude, 2020). This is aligned with the SLO and PLO almost

word-for-word. The goal for this competency is not only for the student to learn how to navigate

EHR but to use technology as a course of information to support safe patient care. Reviewing

documentation system and discussion EHR regarding patients is one way to accomplish this

competency.

Not Meeting Student Learning Outcomes

The layout of this fundamental nursing course is: lecture reviewing the different body systems,

clinical experience, and lab/simulation experiences. After reviewing the syllabus, one student

learning outcome that would not be met is SLO number six to “explain leadership and

management strategies utilized in the delivery of care.” The reason is that although Unit 1 lecture

content says “Delegator/manager/leader” as part of the lecture content, there aren’t any particular

assigment or that focuses on the roles of leadership and management. It’s also not included as

one of the goals of any of the clinical experiences. It’s important that leadership begins to

develop early in the clinical journey for nursing student, so it becomes purposeful instead of a

byproduct university education (Ha & Pepin, 2018). The QSEN curriculum criteria that would

not be met is that of teamwork and collaboration where the curriculum is expected to help

nursing students develop the skill of “assuming the role of team member or leader based on the
situation” (QSEN Institute, 2022). According to Ha & Pepin (2018), a solution for this issue is to

develop delegation and supervision skill, and conflict resolution in clinical rounds. This can be

done by simulation, and/or peer preceptorship. Ha & Pepin (2018) also identified some useful

interventions for clinical nursing so students can learn leadership skills. One I would add to this

curriculum is the use of visual examples presented through videos of leadership skills followed

by group discussion. This can help them see a direct image of clinical nursing leadership in case

they do not get to really experience it during their clinical rotation.

Clinical Evaluation

The purpose of curriculum evaluation is to assess the curriculum’s effectiveness in creating

desired student change. It’s done to determine the curriculum strengths, weaknesses, merits,

redundancies, and deficits (Iwasiw et al., 2020). The elements of curriculum evaluation are the

administrative structure of the school, the institutional support for the school, faculty member’s

teaching, student support services, library access and the school relationship with other academic

units (Iwasiw et al., 2020). The stakeholders involved in the development, implementation, and

evaluation of the nursing curricula are faculty members, students, graduates, administrators, and

employers. However, curriculum evaluation is divided among faculty members led by a

curriculum leader in an organized and coordinated effort.

Kingsborough Community College’s nursing program is accredited by ACEN. The

ACEN has published curriculum criteria for associate degree programs where the goal of the

curriculum is to support the end-of-program SLO and PLO and is consistent with safe practices

in the contemporary healthcare environment (Accreditation Commision for Education in

Nursing, 2020). Included are the following curriculum standards: 1) curriculum incorporates

establish standards, guidelines and competencies, 2) end-of-program SLO used to organized

curriculum, 3) developed by faculty and regularly reviewed, 4) include cultural, ethic and

socially diverse concepts, 5) clinical experiences and practice learning environments are

evidence-based and 6) learning activities, materials, and evaluation methods are appropriate and

consistent with end-of-program SLO. After reviewing all the information for the nursing

program and the ACEN it's apparent that the associate degree program in Kingsborough

Community College aligns with the competencies set for by the ACEN at times word for word.
 References
Accreditation Commision for Education in Nursing (2020). ACEN Accreditation Manual –

Standards and Criteria – Associate. https://www.acenursing.org/acen-accreditation-

manual-standards-a/

Barton, G. Bruce, A. & Schreiber, R. (2018). Teaching nurses' teamwork: Integrative review of

competency-based team training in nursing education. Nursing Education in Practice,

32, 129-137. https://doi.org/10.1016j.nepr.2017.11.019

Dirks, J. L. (2019). Effective strategies for teaching teamwork. Critical Care Nurse, 39(4), 40-

47. doi: 10.4337/ccn2019704

Edelman, M., Byrne, K., Cichminski, L., & Hegazy, J. (2021). NUR 1800 – Fundamentals of

Nursing Course Syllabus: Spring 2021.

https://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/academicdepartments/nursing/documents/nursing_syllabi/

nur_18-2021.pdf

Ha, L. & Pepin J. (2018). Clinical nursing leadership educational interventions for first-year

nursing students: A qualitative evaluation. Nurse Education in Practice, 32, 37-43.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2018.07.005

Iwasis, C.L, Andrusyszyn, M.A. & Goldenberg, D. (2020). Curriculum development in nursing

education (4th ed). Jones and Barlett.

Kingsborough Community College (2022). Nursing, A.A.S.

http://catalog.kingsborough.edu/preview_program.php?

catoid=9&poid=541&returnto=629
Mansour, M., Al Shadafan, S., Abu-Sneineh, F.T. & AlAmer, M. M. (2018). Integrating patient

safety education in the undergradaute nursing curriculum: A discussion paper. The Open

Nursing Journal, 12, 125-132. doi: 10.2174/1874434601812010125

QSEN Institute. (2020). QSEN Institute Competencies. https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-

licensure-ksas/

Williamson, K.M. & Muckle, J. (2018). Students’ perception of technology use in nursing

education. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 36(2), 70-76. doi:

10.1097/CIN.00000000000396