Clinical leadership and pre-registration nursing programmes: A model for clinical leadership and a prospective curriculum implementation and evaluation research strategy

AimTo present for wider debate a conceptual model for clinical leadership development in pre-registration nursing programmes and a proposed implementation plan.BackgroundGlobally, leadership in nursing has become a significant issue. Whilst there is continued support for leadership preparation in pre-registration nursing programmes, there have been very few published accounts of curriculum content and/or pedagogical approaches that foster clinical leadership development in pre-registration nursing. A doctoral research study has resulted in the creation of an overarching model for clinical leadership.DesignA multi-method research study using theoretical and empirical literature 1974–2015, a focus group, expert opinion and a national on-line survey.DiscussionA conceptual model of clinical leadership development in pre-registration nursing programme is presented, including the infinity loop of clinical leadership, an integral curriculum thread and a conceptual model: a curriculum-pedagogy nexus for clinical leadership. In order to test out usability and evaluate effectiveness, a multi method programme of research in one school of nursing in Australia is outlined.ConclusionImplementation of the proposed conceptual model for clinical leadership development in pre-registration nursing programmes and a programme of (post-doctoral) research will contribute to what is known about curriculum content and pedagogy for nurse academics. Importantly, for nursing students and the profession as a whole, there is a clearer expectation of what clinical leadership might look like in the novice registered nurse. For nurse academics a model is offered for consideration in curriculum design and implementation with an evaluation strategy that could be replicated.     

Integrating preventive care and nursing standardized terminologies in nursing education: a case study.

This study investigated the development of a community-focused curriculum integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention and nursing standardized terminologies as an organizing infrastructure. This is a case study of the curriculum redesign of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago. Faculty developed a conceptual framework integrating core concepts into curriculum design, course content, and clinical applications. A coherent curriculum was designed using a community-focused approach; primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies; and standardized terminologies as the organizing infrastructure to teach and apply nursing practice. The curriculum provides a meaningful correlation between the classroom and clinical experience. Students journey with their patients throughout the health care experience, applying nursing concepts using standardized terminologies. Clinical experiences provide students with the opportunity to transfer knowledge to the health experiences of patients in their care. Patient encounters, whether at the primary, secondary, or tertiary level of prevention, are used to assist students in developing critical thinking skills through the use of standardized nursing terminologies.     

Mitral valve prolapse and its effects: a programme of inquiry within Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing

The optimum growth and scientific progress of nursing knowledge during the next century will depend upon the development and execution of focused programmes of clinical and theoretical research The planning and design of such programmes must originate with the clear definition of nursing research questions Nesting such questions within established theoretical frameworks provides a nursing context, lends precise language and suggests relevant variables for study The development of a sequence of related studies exploring and describing the self-care needs of people with symptomatic mitral valve prolapse illustrates one such systematic research programme Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing was used as a theoretical framework for four completed studies which describe one population's need for nursing assistance The evolving nature of the research programme and plans for future research are discussed     

Technological competence as a fundamental structure of learning in critical care nursing: a phenomenological study

Post-registration education programmes are frequently informed by nationally agreed curriculum frameworks. Although these aim to promote comparability between similarly focused clinical courses, inconsistencies have recently been identified across a range of critical care curricula. This suggests that broad-based frameworks may be insufficiently sensitive to local learning needs. This study was concerned with the extent to which the curriculum met the learning needs of 10 post-registration critical care students and, in particular, aimed to explore the meaning of learning to the students themselves. The study revealed technological competence to be a necessary foundation to the development of clinical practice and this is discussed from a philosophical perspective which allows the nature of contemporary nursing practice to be reconceptualized. It is argued that curriculum development for clinically based, post-registration courses can be constructively informed by local consultation and that phenomenological study can complement more traditional approaches often relied upon in educational research.     

The Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory as a curriculum conceptual framework in baccalaureate education

Although Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory has been used for curricula framework for years, it was not until 2001 that Orem identified the nursing practice sciences and the foundational nursing sciences and specified the appropriate content for the two sciences. The broad purpose of this paper is to reinforce the importance of utilizing nursing theories as curricular conceptual frameworks. The specific purpose is to delineate the appropriate content for baccalaureate programs that adopt a Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory conceptual framework for their curriculum.     

Evaluation of a forensic psychiatric setting to provide a graduate nurse programme

There has been growth in the number and diversity of models of Australian graduate nurse programmes in psychiatric nursing. Programmes have also been established in specialist areas, and evidence is needed regarding best models of graduate nurse programmes and the ability of specialist areas to prepare nurses for psychiatric nursing. This paper reports on a qualitative project that examined the adequacy of a forensic psychiatric hospital to provide a graduate nurse programme. Individual, semistructured interviews were undertaken with nurses participating in the programme, and nurses who had completed the programme and had remained at the hospital or were nursing in other areas. Participants identified that the environment was safe and supportive of professional practice and development, and that skilled nurses were willing to encourage and teach graduates. Processes such as orientation, preceptorship and academic study were appreciated; however, their colleagues' willingness to be available, to teach, and to support were more valued. Participants reported that they felt confident and prepared as psychiatric nurses. Although limitations of undertaking a graduate nurse programme in a forensic setting were identified, the participants from past programmes who had gone on to work in other services did not report that their nursing careers had been disadvantaged. It can be concluded that as long as the context of the programme has adequate resources to support and assist graduates to develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes of psychiatric nursing, then the specialist nature may not be a limitation.     

The Neuman model in medical-surgical settings

More and more teaching institutions and hospitals are integrating conceptual frameworks into nursing practice. This article describes how the Neuman theory can be applied in a medical-surgical setting. Strengths and perceived stressors are identified using selected, preformulated questions; they are further classified as intra-, inter-, or extra-personal factors affecting the holistic system of the person and the environment. A case study demonstrates how interventions can be applied at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.     

The Cockcroft difference: an analysis of the impact of a nursing leadership development programme

Aim Identifying impact areas of nursing leadership development programmes is needed to determine if there are measureable effects on participants. Background These impact areas help to identify measures to substantiate the benefits of nursing leadership programmes for organization leaders making decisions about support and implementation of such opportunities for their emerging leaders. Method Using mixed qualitative/quantitative methods, the impact of a nursing leadership development programme, the Amy V. Cockcroft Fellowship, is examined to determine if there are measureable influences. Results Themes of four areas of impact: improved conflict resolution/negotiation skills, communication skills, personal development and career action or change were identified through content analysis. Conclusions These themes provide the basis for creating measureable indicators for nursing organizations to use in determining the value of nursing leadership development programmes such as the Amy V. Cockcroft Fellowship. Implications for nursing management Based on the findings established in this research article, nurse managers can focus on developing themselves and their peer groups through nursing leadership development programmes to prepare for leading in the present and future healthcare environment.     

Postgraduate education for nurses: the Middlesex model

Nurse education has been subject to many changes and much debate and criticism over recent years. What has become increasingly evident is that with the changing nature of nursing within society, nursing curricula have to be more flexible and dynamic if they are to meet a multiplicity of needs. There is also a need to recognize that many levels of curricula will be required to prepare the nurses of the future. At Middlesex University the development of specialist practice programmes at postgraduate diploma level, and preparation of nurses for a higher level of practice at masters level has required the development of a new curriculum model which allows both the individualization of academic programmes to meet the needs of nurses, their clients and the organization in which they work, and the integration of development and learning through practice. This model is built on the results of an evaluation of an existing postgraduate programme in interprofessional health care. Key features of the curriculum development include a structured collaboration between student, practice mentor and academic supervisor, and the use of a professional development portfolio to individualize the academic programme and facilitate autonomous learning.     

Teaching and learning activities to educate nursing students for interprofessional collaboration: A scoping review

To prepare new graduates with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to engage in effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC) in practice, healthcare professional programmes need to ensure their curriculum provides opportunities for interprofessional education (IPE) and IPC. To strengthen IPE within an undergraduate curriculum and meet the professional requirements set out by regulatory bodies to prepare new graduate nurses to achieve IPC competencies, a curriculum initiative was developed to expand IPE across the four years of the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) programme. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify published teaching-learning activities in undergraduate nursing programmes to inform the development and integration of IPE curricula. The literature included was identified by searching the following electronic databases: EMBASE and EBSCO (CINAHL, Medline, Education Research Complete, ERIC). The search was limited to articles with abstracts published between 2008 and 2016 in the English language. All ten studies that met inclusion criteria reported students’ perceived interprofessional education as valuable in facilitating their achievement of IPC competencies. Interprofessional education is an approach for preparing nursing students with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve IPC competencies and therefore, urgently needs to become more prevalent in nursing curricula. Educators can use a variety of IPE teaching-learning activities to support students’ achievement of IPC competencies in order to prepare new practitioners to engage in effective IPC in a variety of healthcare milieus. Nurse educators are encouraged to intentionally integrate learning opportunities into current and future undergraduate nursing education to prepare collaborative ready graduate nurses.     

Planning nursing education for the 21st century

In looking towards the 21st century, the faculty at the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, along with the Presbyterian Health Services Corporation and Queen's College, adopted a 1-2-1 programme The process of developing a new nursing curriculum is presented as the task force proceeded from the philosophy and goals to conceptual framework and curriculum objectives After discussions with nurse administrators and educators, extensive literature reviews and brainstorming sessions, concepts and subconcepts were chosen to form a philosophy The metaparadigm of nursing and other related concepts were then organized into a conceptual framework Ongoing communication and feedback from the faculty ensured group ownership of all documents The eclectic organizational scheme was a good fit for a large faculty with differing beliefs and values about a nursing curriculum The process of developing a future orientated nursing curriculum has been exciting, challenging and rewarding The faculty is committed to the new philosophy, goals and conceptual framework and believe that the 1–2–1 programme will educate future practitioners who are prepared to meet the challenges and changes in health care for the 21st century     

Today''s preparation for tomorrow''s practice: the Lehman College nursing programme

This paper is based on a speech given at the twenty-second annual convention of the Massachusetts League for Nursing, Boston, USA, on 24 September 1975. The author looks at the changing trends in nursing education in the USA, the importance of agreement on the level of entry into nursing and the need for a clear conceptual educational model. The Lehman College nursing programme is used as a prototype for such a model and its curriculum and the role of its nursing graduates as primary care practitioners are discussed and evaluated.     

On "problems" with integrated curricula in nursing.

Curriculum development is many things; it is the study of impact on students, a process through which faculty are moving. It usually does not represent a final decision- like all issues in higher education it is altered as different people and issues arise. The integrated curriculum movement in nursing, while a seminal change, has in a way been like a shadow- incompletely described with lack of clarity about base for comparison. It seems to have become the mode for many schools to develop their own conceptual frameworks and curricular plans. While adaptation to the local setting is expected, one must question how much of the total development effort is necessary and due in part to lack of fully developed curriculum models and dissemination and not building systematically toward improvement in the field. In such a situation we all may be making the same mistakes. If these identified "problems" are indeed just that, they all are amenable to correction. Each solution will require hard conceptual work.     

Preparation of community health nursing leaders for social action

Indiana University School of Nursing graduate Department of Community Health Nursing has been preparing community health nurses for primary health care practice, as defined by the World Health Organization since 1978. The faculty are committed to preparing community health nursing leaders for social action aimed at improving the health of the community in both the Department's major in the master's programme and its new major in the doctoral programme. The core curricula for these majors in both programmes are presented. The master's curricula is based on integrating public health principles with those of community development. The doctoral major builds on this base of primary health care practice with a curriculum focused on the contribution of community health nursing to public and health policy. The graduates of the master's programme are prepared to work with community groups as a social force in promoting the health of the community. The graduates of the new doctoral major entitled "Health Policy and the Health of the Community" are being prepared as community health nursing leaders with expertise in health care policy and the legislative process with a focus on issues related to nursing and community health. These graduates will be able to function within the broader community, including national and international settings. Based on experiences in graduate education in community health nursing recommendations are made for the response graduate nursing education must make in order to prepare appropriate leaders who can work toward the goal of improving the community's health.