UPDATED Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education.docx Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education College of Health Professions, Western Governors University

College of Health Professions, Western Governors University C920: Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education 2 Contemporary Curriculum Design and Development in Nursing Education Contemporary curriculum development creates evidence-based, content-relevant, integrated learning into nursing education. Facilitation of learning in nursing depends on curriculum that incorporates effective learning activities, appropriate assessment of learning outcomes, and aligns with The Essentials for Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (AACN, 2008). Academic nurse educators (ANEs) strive to create environments that are intellectually stimulating, challenging, and encourage continual development of knowledge and skills. The ANE uses learning theory, supplemental resources, and scenario-based learning activities to enhance student learning in the classroom and the online learning environment. Learning Environment Academic nurse educators must be open and receptive to explore new approaches to teaching that are designed to meet the diverse learning needs of today’s nursing students. Nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level are expected to advance professional nursing practice that benefits patients and nurses to deliver safe, quality patient care. The primary goal of nursing education remains the same; student nurses need to be prepared to meet the diverse needs of patients and function as leaders within the healthcare community. The contemporary ANE recognizes that a smooth transition from the academic setting to the practice environment depends on preparing students to apply subject knowledge and critical thinking skills with real- world scenario-based learning activities. Incorporating course elements that create a stimulating and challenging learning environment while developing student nursing knowledge, skills, and competencies is a crucial task for the nurse educator. To align with The Essentials, the modules were designed using course elements that emphasize evidence-based practice, patient safety, critical thinking, cultural sensitivity, professionalism, and caring for patients across the lifespan. 3 Module 1: Community Health Promotion This module was designed for students to gain knowledge of the social determinants of health (SDOH) and how SDOH impact people and the community. This module challenges students to promote healthy choices by taking action to improve the conditions in people’s surroundings. Using the Healthy People ( data/social-determinants-health) microsite authored by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), students will gain additional knowledge and skills to create social, physical, and economic environments that promote health and well-being for all members of the community. Students continue to develop collaboration skills by working in small groups to work through a scenario-based case study. Discussion questions encourage students to reflect and make recommendations about current and future health and quality of life issues a person can experience as a result of their environment. Module 2: Improving the Health of Vulnerable Populations This module was designed to teach students about vulnerable populations in the community. Students will gain knowledge by analyzing correlations between healthy behaviors and increased quality of life, creating a community program, and assessing the opportunities and challenges in creating community programs that serve vulnerable populations. Student learning will be enhanced with an peer-reviewed journal article that provides an examples of how to develop a community program to help vulnerable populations in the community. To deepen learning of concepts, students will be challenged with creating a community program to help an identified population group and designing an educational brochure to explain their program’s purpose and provided services.