Capella University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Curriculum Overview and Analysis
Capella University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree is a curriculum targeted at already registered nurses. The curriculum is designed to expand the knowledge and skills of professional nurses to enable them to meet the growing diversity in the needs of patients and diverse healthcare systems and promote positive population health outcomes. The current healthcare environment has grown complex, requiring healthcare professionals to apply effective thinking skills to solve current and emergent health issues (Baron, 2021). Healthcare systems are currently using patient-centered care, practical evidence, and technology-assisted approaches to improve the quality of population health (Stalter & Mota, 2018). The Capella University Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum is therefore designed to equip registered nurses with the required knowledge and skills applicable to promoting population health.
Mission Statement and Course Descriptions
The Capella University School of Nursing and Health Sciences’ mission statement states the school is focused on being a leader in the provision of quality undergraduate and graduate nursing and healthcare education. It seeks to achieve distinction in scholarship and practice for healthcare practitioners and leaders who intend to maximize their personal and professional potential. The school prepares health professionals for a lifetime of learning, service, leadership, and contribution by offering innovative programs in response to the needs of adult learners and an online environment.
The curriculum courses are divided into various groups, which include general education courses, foundational nursing courses, effective courses, capstone courses, and courses designed for student registered nurses in the honors pathway. Effective courses are the core of the curriculum and include;
Developing a Health Care Perspective: Designed to help students build and strengthen their knowledge, skills, and abilities for success both in the program and in their workplace.
Leading People, Processes, and Organizations in Inter-professional Practice: Designed to help learners understand and develop abilities desired to effect and manage change in interprofessional health care practice.
Improving Quality of Care and Patient Safety: Designed to enable learners to develop relevant skills for quality improvement of health care and patient safety.
Making Evidence-Based Decisions: Designed to equip the students with the right knowledge and skills to enable them to effectively interpret research and apply evidence in care planning and decisions to support and promote interventions.
Managing Health Information and Technology: Designed to equip learners with knowledge and skills to leverage technology to best achieve the desired patient, health care systems, and population health outcomes,
Coordinating Patient-Centered Care: Designed to equip the learners with the required knowledge and skills to respond effectively to “unique biopsychosocial attributes and situational context of each individual patient while recognizing the patient as a full partner in all health care decision making.”
Practicing in the Community to Improve Population Health: Designed to equip the learners with the skills and knowledge to analyze community and social determinants of health within culturally diverse populations to enable them to promote health and prevent disease.
Professional Guidelines, Standards, and Student Learning Outcomes
The curriculum is accredited and recognized by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the American Nurses Association (ANA), and the Nurses on Boards Coalition (NBC). Therefore, it is designed under the guidelines of the CCNE to ensure that it meets the quality and integrity of levels of programs in nursing education. It also considers the guidelines of the ANA in its training to produce nurses who meet the quality standards and ethical obligations required in nursing care. The student learning outcomes (SLO) of the BSN curriculum include:
Applying leadership concepts and skills in interprofessional teams to promote high-quality care,
Inter-professional communication and teamwork,
Integrating evidence, clinical reasoning, and interprofessional and patient perspectives in making clinical decisions,
Demonstrating skills in the use of patient care technologies and related health information systems
Demonstrating critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Curricula Organizing Design and Demonstration
Based on the analysis of the Capella University BSN curriculum, it seeks to examine and expand concepts related to the improvement of care delivery to patients. It, therefore, applies a concept-based nursing curriculum in nursing. A concept-based curriculum promotes problem-solving and effective thinking skills to utilize and apply gained knowledge to various healthcare situations (Baron, 2021). The concept-based model in nursing curricula has been demonstrated in the Capella University BSN curriculum in that:
It helps registered nurses develop skills to efficiently integrate nursing practice and knowledge in interprofessional teams to improve the quality of health services.
It provides the student registered nurses with the knowledge to effectively interpret and apply research and practice and make informed decisions.
It exposes the students to healthcare technologies and other information systems and engages them on how to effectively apply informatics to promote patient health, develop health systems, and achieve the desired population health outcomes.
History and Concepts of the Concept-Based Nursing Curricula
Traditional nursing training has majorly focused on learning as passive, and that knowledge of facts is evidence of understanding (Lee & Willson, 2018). The curriculum relied on memorization and fragmentation of factual knowledge. This approach to learning and nursing education limits the ability of students to understand data and make clinical decisions (Lee & Willson, 2018). The approach also failed to enable students to retain knowledge or apply knowledge in diverse health situations. Nursing students were only taught to develop a diagnosis. Despite this, the nurses were required to adapt to different patient needs irrespective of their training and competency.
The current shifts in the nursing care paradigm, such as emerging health technologies, nursing shortages, global demographics shifts, changes in population and global health, new diseases and treatment procedures, and a shift from curative to preventive approaches require a new approach to nursing education curriculum (Salvage & Stilwell, 2018). To meet these new demands in nursing practice, educators require an innovative and practical approach to nursing training. The changes led to the adoption of concept-based curricula to promote active learning and critical thinking (Repsha et al., 2020). The concept-based approach to nursing instruction is based on the concepts of informatics, evidence-based practice, client-centered care, leadership, management, health promotion, patient safety, interdisciplinary collaboration, and quality improvement (Lee & Willson, 2018). It combines these concepts with the social determinants of health for health planning (Porter et al., 2020).
Recommendations for Updating the Current BSN Curriculum
Most of the current BSN curriculum learning is focused on memorizing nursing concepts without much application of what has been learned in real time. I recommend that the school update the approach to learning throughout the course. The students can be provided with real-life settings to apply the class knowledge. Accordingly, as the curriculum is designed for registered nurses, the update could include a more physical approach to learning, including having the RNs learn from within their work environments.
References
Baron, K. A. (2021). Changing to concept-based curricula: The process for nurse educators. The Open Nursing Journal, 11, 277.
Lee, S. K., & Willson, P. (2018). Concept-based curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation: A systematic review. Int J Nurs Clin Pract, 5(271), 2.
Porter, K., Jackson, G., Clark, R., Waller, M., & Stanfill, A. G. (2020). Applying social determinants of health to nursing education using a concept-based approach. Journal of Nursing Education, 59(5), 293-296.
Repsha, C. L., Quinn, B. L., & Peters, A. B. (2020). Implementing a concept-based nursing curriculum: A review of the literature. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 15(1), 66-71.
Salvage, J., & Stilwell, B. (2018). Breaking the silence: a new story of nursing. J Clin Nurs, 27(7-8), 1301-3.
Stalter, A. M., & Mota, A. (2018). Using systems thinking to envision quality and safety in healthcare. Nursing Management, 49(2), 32-39.
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Question 
Assessment 1 Instructions: Curriculum Overview, Framework, and Analysis
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Prepare a 3-6 page evaluation and theoretical framework analysis of a nursing curriculum of personal or professional interest.
Capella University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Curriculum Overview and Analysis
Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.
The nurse educator role is a dynamic, challenging, yet rewarding career choice for which many nurses have developed a passion. This course provides you with an opportunity to assess, design, implement, evaluate, and revise nursing curricula. Because health care knowledge and technology are expanding, these elements must be considered when a curriculum is built for today’s learner.
In this assessment, you will select a nursing curriculum either from an academic setting, such as a school of nursing, or a clinical setting, such as a hospital staff development program. You will evaluate the selected nursing curriculum in detail and describe the organizing design or theoretical framework on which your selected curriculum is based. You will also need to examine how this design or framework is demonstrated in the curriculum. Possible organizing designs or frameworks include simple-to-complex, stages of illness, nursing conceptual framework, concept-based, outcomes based, competency-based, interdisciplinary, and others.
According to Iwasiw and Goldenberg (2020), curriculum design involves not only configuring courses within a program, but also deciding how those courses will be sequenced and establishing a relationship between the courses. Also, the mission, values, philosophy, and goals of the institution influence the curriculum design of the nursing program. These relationships are articulated through the strategic goals and plan, and should be clearly identifiable within the curriculum.
In addition, many institutions identify a theory or set of theories that form a theoretical foundation for their curriculum. In today’s nursing education, it is often found that the theories used as a conceptual framework are not necessarily limited to nursing theories. Theory has been borrowed from education, sociology, and psychology to form a foundation for nursing curriculum. The main point is for the institution to validate that the theory they are using for their conceptual foundation is consistent with the mission, values, and philosophy of the institution and the nursing unit.
Reference
Iwasiw, C. L., & Goldenberg, D. (2020). Curriculum development in nursing education (4th ed.). Jones and Bartlett.
In Assessment 2, you will design a course to be included in the curriculum selected in this assessment.
In Assessment 3, you will examine the evaluation process used to evaluate the curriculum selected for this assessment.
Preparation
As a practicing nurse, you have been asked to present an evaluation of a nursing curriculum to a nursing leadership team at your place of employment. They are seeking input on coursework recommendations for CEU fulfillment. The curriculum you select should be of interest to you either personally or professionally.
In this assessment, you will select a nursing curriculum either from an academic setting, such as a school of nursing, or a clinical setting, such as a hospital staff development program. If you are currently teaching, you may wish to use the curriculum from your school or workplace. If you are not currently teaching, you may want to consider using the curriculum from your undergraduate program. If neither is an option, you are encouraged to look for a nursing curriculum you can use as a model for your assessments. One choice might be an orientation curriculum for a clinical facility.
You will evaluate the selected nursing curriculum in detail and describe the organizing design or theoretical framework on which your selected curriculum is based. You will also examine how this design or framework is demonstrated in the curriculum. Possible organizing designs or frameworks include simple-to-complex, stages of illness, nursing conceptual framework, concept-based, outcomes based, competency-based, interdisciplinary, and others.
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
How do the mission, values, philosophy, and goals of an institution inform the development of a nursing curriculum?
In your experience, what types of curriculum designs commonly used to develop nursing curricula?
What characteristics of the intended audience for a nursing curriculum should inform development of the curriculum?
What is the difference between curriculum design and a theoretical framework for a nursing program? Should both be identified?
Requirements
Your overview and analysis of the curriculum should fulfill the following:
Identify an appropriate nursing curriculum, the intended learner population, and why it is needed.
Provide the mission statement and course descriptions for all courses in a selected curriculum.
Describe the established professional standards, guidelines, and competencies incorporated in the program.
Describe the student learning outcomes of a selected nursing program.
Recommend a process to update health care knowledge in a selected nursing curriculum.
Explain how an organizing design and theoretical framework or model is demonstrated within a selected nursing curriculum.
Provide an overview of the history of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
Describe the major concepts of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
You will use this assessment to complete Assessment 3. Be sure to incorporate the feedback you receive before adding this assessment to Assessment 3.
Additional Requirements
References: Include references from at least three peer-reviewed journal articles, cited in proper APA format.
Length of analysis: The analysis should be 3-6 pages in length, not including the title page and the reference page, and it must follow proper APA style and formatting.
Appendix: You may use an appendix for appropriate material, such as individual course descriptions. The appendix will not be included in the page count for the analysis.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Examine the development of a curriculum for a nursing program.
Identify an appropriate nursing curriculum, the intended learner population, and why it is needed.
Describe the student learning outcomes of a selected nursing program.
Competency 2: Analyze factors that impact the design of a nursing curriculum.
Provide the mission statement and course descriptions for all courses in a selected curriculum.
Describe the established professional standards, guidelines, and competencies incorporated in a selected nursing program.
Competency 3: Select an appropriate organizing/curriculum framework for the design of nursing curriculum.
Explain how an organizing design and theoretical framework or model is demonstrated within a selected nursing curriculum.
Provide an overview of the history of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
Describe the major concepts of a selected organizing design and theoretical framework or model.
Competency 4: Select a curriculum evaluation process that facilitates continuous quality improvement.
Recommend a process to update health care knowledge in a selected nursing curriculum.
Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations of a nursing education.
Write effectively using appropriate spelling, grammar, punctuation and mechanics, and APA style and formatting.