NURS FPX 6108 Assessment 2

NURS FPX 6108 Assessment 2 Curriculum Overview Student Name Capella University NURS-FPX6108 Curriculum Overview: Design, Develop and Evaluate Professor Name Submission Date   Curriculum Overview The education nurses receive can greatly affect their skills, kindness, and knowledge-based work. Nursing curriculum has been known to impact patient safety and clinical outcomes across health care systems. The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing will be used as a sample for the introduction of the complete Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Established in 1939, the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing is one of the country’s oldest baccalaureate nursing programs (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). The following will be highlighted as a major component of this Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program: Mission Alignment; Standards; Outcomes; and Current Review Process. Curriculum Identification, Organization, and Learner Population Before deciding whether or not the nursing program at the University of Pittsburgh is a fit for your needs, you will want to take into account what kind of nursing program (institutional context) it is teaching and for which groups of people (target population). The University of Pittsburgh offers a Bachelor of Science – Nursing (BSN) program for anyone who wants to enter the field of nursing as a generalist, entry-level nurse with a high school diploma. The program takes four years of full-time study on campus, at the University of Pittsburgh campus in Pittsburgh, and is eligible for the NCLEX-RN examination after completion (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). To be successful in a rapidly changing and complex healthcare world, a diverse and appropriately prepared population of learners is needed to help support the nursing workforce. The target population of learners within the University of Pittsburgh Nursing program consists of those learners who graduate from high school directly into the nursing program and those learners who transfer into the nursing program (internal transfers) (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). The nursing program is designed to give the students enrolled over 1200 hours of clinical time, which will be spent in a hospital, clinic, or community setting, and will be more than just theoretical knowledge. Therefore, the nursing program embraces various kinds of learners and offers coursework that not only lays a theoretical foundation but also offers much greater hands-on professional preparation than today’s generalist nurse requires. Mission Statement Linkage to Curriculum The mission of an organization is to establish a basis for the philosophy of their nursing program, and the Mission Statement of the University of Pittsburgh has a key mission of “To prepare the highest quality nurse to provide holistic care for patients/individuals, families and communities across all populations” (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). Part of this mission is a commitment to diversity/inclusivity and equity for all ethnicities, races, cultures, ages, disabilities, and gender identities (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). In addition, these mission values are addressed through cultural competence content in the nursing curriculum and through diversity of clinical placement opportunities. When the mission statement of the organization is congruent with the nursing education curriculum, it offers a mechanism to support institutional values and purpose—all curricular development is based on advancing the nursing education larger institutional (organizational) mission statement. It draws on the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics to encourage the development of practices that involve compassion, respect for the dignity of all, and make inclusion of all within their scope of practice a reality (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). The evidence-based practice and scholarly participation emphasized in the curriculum indicate the approach in developing the mission-based academic standards (Sangwa & Mutabazi, 2025). This ethical obligation is fulfilled via interprofessional training sessions, health equity content and training, and clinical experiences in community settings. Course List, Sequencing, and Organization We can list the courses in sequence – from simple (the foundation of the curriculum) to complex (advanced nursing knowledge) to enhance the understanding of the curriculum. The Pitt BSN has a four-year curriculum with the first two years focused on taking some basic sciences, as well as liberal arts, and then introducing the clinical nursing courses throughout the remaining two years. In third and fourth years, the clinical nursing courses build on basic skills (assessing a patient) to the more complex skills of caring for a patient with multiple organ systems (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). This will assist in supporting the AACN (2021) recommendation to begin simple and work towards more complex learning. This sequence will give students a seamless course flow to receive continuous learning and support, and allow them to build upon their clinical nursing skills acquired from previous clinical experiences. Concurrent nursing courses will enable students to integrate all three disciplines in learning about patient care, such as basic science and/or liberal arts courses (from the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences) and clinical nursing courses (University of Pittsburgh, 2024). Comprehensive practice assessments will be provided throughout the nursing curriculum, with a final comprehensive NCLEX diagnostic predictor exam / 3 day NCLEX review at the end of the program for the student to demonstrate their ability to prepare for the NCLEX. A complete list of the courses, with a description and the sequence/curriculum guide, is provided in the appendix of this paper. Professional Standards, Guidelines, Competencies, and Technology The curricula for the nursing programs are derived from outside sources, specifically those of nursing profession regulatory/oversight agencies and accrediting or third-party agencies. The University of Pittsburgh’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program is accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The quality of the baccalaureate degree programs (University of Pittsburgh, 2024) is very high in CCNE. This program’s curriculum is based on the core competencies outlined by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (2021) in The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (AACN, 2021). Person-centered care, partnerships, scientific theories and research guiding practice, partnerships with patients, families, and communities to improve the quality of healthcare, and use of information technology/informatics are core competencies. Today, nursing education has become an era in which expecting to integrate technology is the norm. Digital health