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Facilitating Learning Learning has become an integral component of any profession in the twenty-first century. Taking nursing profession as an example, it is apparent that nursing education is critical in ensuring the professional advancement of many nurses. In fact, in the twenty-first century, nursing education is a task that has been assigned to specific individuals known as nurse educators to facilitate the learning process. Sayers (2013) explains that the position of a nurse educator is an advanced nursing role that is crucial to progressing professional education and development. The nurse educators are always required to work as leaders and change specialists, and to utilize leadership abilities and skills in preparing former students for the constantly changing, complex healthcare settings (Adelman-Mullally, 2013). This fact calls for the need for the nurse educators to possess specific core competencies such as a sound comprehension of contemporary instructive speculations, standards and models underlying the design of curricula and the value of grown-up learning (World Health Organization, 2016). In this regard, the nurse educators have to comprehend and stay well-informed of the trends and issues concerning the development of curricula as well as those affecting nursing education. As a member of the nursing faculty at a specific educational institution referred to as Hartford University, it is a requirement for individual courses within the newly-established BSN curriculum to be designed and developed as well. Since the curriculum of interest in the university aims at ensuring that all students acquire tools, information, and knowledge necessary to perform basic nursing care in clinical settings, one vital individual course is the Nursing Fundamentals course. This paper intends to outline the development procedure of the Nursing Fundamentals course thereby highlighting the entire process of designing and developing nursing curricula. Part A: Four Competency Statements When developing the curriculum for any given course, competency statements stand out as crucial elements. For instance, in this case of Nursing Fundamentals course, various competency statements exist that are based on modern specialized nursing guidelines and standards. The Nursing Fundamentals is the initial medical course that scholars involve in once accepted to the BSN nursing program. In this regard, the competency statements to be talked about provide the framework or platform for the majority of nursing scholars to prepare for future clinical nursing courses. Furthermore, they also enable the nursing students to acquire various skills, knowledge, and information that are necessary for care provision. Even though many competency statements can be formulated, this paper focuses on the four stipulated below. All the four competency statements will be used as the foundation to develop the Nursing Fundamentals course curriculum. 1.	The nursing students from Hartford University must be able to utilize the therapeutic communication strategies to provide information and support to patients. 2.	The nursing students from Hartford University should strictly adhere to the standards of practice for registered nurses and other nursing standards. 3.	The nursing students from Hartford University should be able to portray various nursing skills such as creative thinking, primary care provision, and so forth during their practice. 4.	The nursing students from Hartford University should be able to collaborate and coordinate with other healthcare professionals to ensure the patient-centered care provision that is competent and safe. A1: Alignment with One National Nursing Standard and Guideline Several national nursing standards and guidelines usually exist. In this case, it can be pinpointed that each of the four competency statements aligns with one or more of the national nursing standards and guidelines that exist. Even so, this paper concentrates on stipulating how each of the four competency statements aligns with QSEN (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses). Webster University (2018) highlights that the main aim of QSEN is to address the test of preparing future nurses with the learning, aptitudes, and states of mind that are important to ceaselessly enhance the safety and quality of the healthcare systems in which they function. The achievement of this goal is contingent on six competencies that were characterized in Phase I of QSEN (Webster University, 2018). They include informatics, safety, quality improvement, evidence-based practice, teamwork and collaboration, and patient-centered care (Webster University, 2018). The first competency statement as was already mentioned is the notion that the nursing students from Hartford University must be able to utilize the therapeutic communication strategies to provide information and support to patients. In the nursing profession, critical activities are talking to patients, providing them with crucial information concerning their health, and supporting them in every way possible, to mention just a few. Almost all nurses are required to learn and know how to undertake all the above-stated activities, a scenario that forces the nursing students to possess therapeutic communication skills. In this regard, QSEN therapeutic communication will not only improve the nursing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSA) but also ensure that all patients are served well. This information emphasizes that regardless of the therapeutic communication strategy employed by a nursing student, so long as it can lead to outstanding and excellent delivery of medical or clinical services, it is considered suitable or perfect. In a way, therapeutic communication skills will prepare the nursing students for the healthcare setting or workplace (Hammer, Fox, & Hampton, 2014). It ensures that they can provide patient-centered care and safe, competent, and quality medical and clinical services to people, all of which are part of the six competencies advocated for by QSEN. This information, therefore, presents the point at which the first competency statement highlighted aligns with QSEN (one of the national nursing standards and guidelines). The second competency statement is the nursing students from Hartford University should strictly adhere to the standards of practice for registered nurses and other nursing standards. The nursing profession is always guided or governed by various nursing and practice standards. In this regard, it is often a requirement for all students to know about those specific standards as well as adhere to them. The QSEN attitude competencies assist the students in appreciating the need for constant adherence to those particular nursing standards. Cashin et al. (2017) explain that some of the nursing standards include maintaining the capability for practice, engaging in professional and therapeutic associations, providing safe, responsive, and appropriate quality nursing practice. Some of these nursing standards emphasize or coincide with the QSEN competencies. For instance, safe and quality nursing practice is a standard that is in line with safety and quality improvement QSEN competencies. Many other nursing standards when analyzed, it is apparent that they are in line with QSEN competencies. In this regard, it is correct to deduce that this second competency statement is also aligned with QSEN, which is one of the national nursing standards and guidelines. The nursing students from Hartford University should be able to portray various nursing skills such as creative thinking, primary care provision, and so forth during their practice is the third competency statement. It focuses on the nursing skills that can improve the safety and quality of care in any given healthcare setting or environment. In a way, this focus is in line with that of QSEN knowledge competencies, which advocates for awareness of nursing care. The nursing care awareness usually influence the care given to patients massively. For example, it can improve the safety and quality of care. Furthermore, it can ensure that the students move towards patient-centeredness. This information highlights the points of attachment or association between this third competency statement and QSEN. QSEN and this third competency statement both advocates for the acquisition of nursing skills that can assist in enhancing the safety and quality of care given to patients. The last competency statement is the nursing students from Hartford University should be able to collaborate and coordinate with other healthcare professionals to ensure patient-centered care provision that is competent and safe. This competency statement can be associated with the QSEN skills framework. Both the competency statement and the QSEN skills framework advocate for students to become skilled in teamwork, collaboration, evidence-based literature concerning the same concepts, and so on. In this regard, right from the start of their nursing education, the students should be involved in activities that can foster the development of teamwork and collaboration skills. These skills are all directed towards ensuring that safety and quality of primary care are improved. Moreover, they also ensure that patient-centeredness is achieved. In a way, QSEN as a national nursing standard and guideline also advocates for such factors within nursing or requires nursing students to possess skills that can ensure the improvements already mentioned. This information, therefore, pinpoints the points of connection between this last competency statement with QSEN, which is one of the national nursing standards and guidelines. A2: Course Competency Learning Objectives Each of the four competency statements has specific learning objectives that can assist in driving the learning process. Even so, this paper concentrates on only one competency statement, which is the second one (the nursing students from Hartford University should strictly adhere to the standards of practice for registered nurses and other nursing standards). This competency statement is chosen because it separates qualified nurses from those who are not. A qualified nurse is an individual who should know all the standards that govern the nursing practice. Furthermore, such a person should adhere to all those specific nursing standards. Such circumstances can portray professionalism of the nurse student. In this regard, some of the learning objectives of the competency statement being talked about are listed below. Even though many other learning objectives of the same competency statement exist, this paper focuses on the three listed below. 1.	Consider factors identified with wellbeing viability, cost, and effect on practice in the planning and conveyance of nursing services. 2.	Assess one's own particular nursing practice in connection with proficient practice models and rule, pertinent statutes, guidelines, and directions. 3.	Recognize the measures that can efficiently improve the quality and adequacy of nursing practice. A2a: One Criterion that can achieve the Learning Objectives The achievement of the learning objectives can only be possible if a specific criterion is employed as well as particular resources are utilized. In this case, the best criterion to be used is setting an environment where students can showcase their ability to apply critical nursing strategies and concepts that relate to various aspects of nursing care. In a nutshell, this criterion can be termed the application capability of the students. In a way, it can assist in measuring the student learning progress. Baumgartner, Ståhl, Manninen, and Hedman (2017) explain that keeping in mind the end goal to evaluate the nursing understudies' territories of skill amid clinical practice, quantifiable evaluation instruments and appraisal forms are required to guarantee that the nature of nursing skills is judged precisely and comprehensively. Studies have demonstrated a need to evaluate the whole rundown of abilities to match the reality of clinical practice (Baumgartner, Ståhl, Manninen, & Hedman, 2017). This information proves that evaluation, especially in nursing education, is a fundamental undertaking. In this regard, when considering the criterion already mentioned, it can assist in achieving all the learning objectives discussed above because it brings forth the need to use specific resources or tools for assessing learning. Some of those resources or tools include continuous assessment tests (CATS), theoretical and practical examinations, surveys, and so forth. In this regard, the instructors or educators have the freedom to choose from this list of assessment strategies and tools and decide the one that best suits them. Furthermore, they should also ensure that the assessment tool selected or strategy will enable them to acquire sufficient information from the nursing students to determine the latter’s level of knowledge and skills regarding various aspects of nursing care, especially, the nursing standards in this case. Incidentally, the criterion that can be shortened as application capability of the nursing student when appropriated to the best possible assessment tool or strategy among the ones already mentioned can spearhead the achievement of all the three learning objectives that were stated above.

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