Background
Developments in professional education and the demands of society have impacted the migration of nursing programs from schools to higher education institutions. The liberal arts and sciences taught at higher education institutions play an essential role in nursing education and lay the groundwork for developing critical thinking and clinical decision-making, crucial to the nursing process. The paper analyzes the impact that issues and trends in nursing education have had on nursing curriculum development.
A Review of Six Major Issues and Trends in Nursing Education
A significant cause for concern exists regarding the challenges of recruiting nursing faculty, the attrition of qualified nursing academics currently working as faculty members, and the enculturation of incoming faculty. The experience of a new graduate nurse entering practice, research indicates that the transition from clinical position to faculty role can be extremely difficult (Boamah et al., 2021). Due to the enormous number of students who want to become nurses and the absence of permanent career opportunities, nurse educators often engage in part-time teaching (Boamah et al., 2021). As a result, it is obligatory for nursing education to make use of educators to the fullest extent possible in order to facilitate learning.
A reduction in the number of faculty members with formal training in nurse education can negatively impact the quality of nursing education. Even with their official training, they will only be able to train a limited number of nurses to become future nurses, or they will lower the quality of nursing education (Henderson et al., 2020). They will not provide the degree of education required to ensure that nurses can provide the best care to their patients, and they will not do so due to their unwillingness.
It has been noted that distinct traditions are followed in the Ph.D. education of nurses worldwide. Since it was not feasible to get a doctorate in nursing, nurses have historically been doctoral-educated in fields other than nursing. Since the early part of the 20th century, nurses in various nations, such as the United States, have gotten doctorates in education (HUNG et al., 2018). On the other hand, it was noted that Ph.D. programs in the 1970s became increasingly focused on nursing.
The ever-increasing advancements in information, communication, and technology affect the structures utilized to provide medical care and the methods used to educate nursing students. As a result of advancements in dispensation speed and volume, the development of sophisticated, dependable systems, increase in the number of computers and communication devices within reach of the average consumer, the health care industry continues to experience a period of profound change.
In a culture that traditionally values the learner and learning outcomes, the nursing business presents a challenge by introducing new systems, enforcing changes, and introducing training and research modules. Since the development of a new curriculum necessitates the modification of a system’s established norms and practices, there is an urgent need to maintain continuity to reduce any worry that may occur among the implementing agencies and the students (Keating, 2014). The combination of these discrepancies and the constant cultural alterations within a given system provide significant obstacles to the curriculum development process.
How Each of the Issues Impacts Nursing Education
The ongoing expansion of nursing’s knowledge base may be slowed down due to a decline in the number of people who do research and the loss of experienced investigators due to retirement. The shortage of nursing faculty will also affect the production of the knowledge basis for nursing practice, as the shortage will negatively impact this. Since there are not enough nursing professors, the number of professional leaders who can influence health policy at the state, national, and worldwide levels will be restricted.
There is a considerable correlation between the employment level and rank of the individual teaching the material in higher education and the teaching effectiveness of that individual. Students’ lower assessments of the adjunct and part-time faculty’s teaching effectiveness may be due to the professors’ fewer opportunities to access professional development opportunities and campus resources. It is much more likely that full-time educators would be actively engaged in the research process and have the opportunity for professional development with innovative teaching approaches.
Since establishing the first Doctor of Nursing Practice program in the United States, graduates have made significant contributions to the nursing profession and the evolution of health care systems. They can develop and evaluate novel patient care models, analyze the cost-effectiveness of patient care initiatives, and exercise varying degrees of impact on health policy. One of the critical goals of evidence-based practice, which is a central component of all DNP education, is to increase the utilization of research-based interventions employed to improve patient outcomes.
As a result of the expansion of digital technology, students now have access to a wealth of opportunities to participate more actively in the learning process. One of the most critical roles of teachers is to give students a clearly defined structure that enables them to develop technical literacy properly (Keating, 2014). Since content management systems (CMS) have begun to support mobile platforms, students can now read the entirety of the course material on their cell phones.
The healthcare system should undergo a fundamental shift to provide patient-centered care. It will be able to deliver more primary care as opposed to specialty care, to deliver care in the community as opposed to acute care settings, to enable all health professionals to practice to the full extent of their education, training, and competencies, and to promote interprofessional collaboration. This fundamental adjustment is necessitated by the changing environment of the healthcare system and the changing demographic profile of the population.
Role Nursing Faculty Development Play in Mitigating the Impact of the Issues on Nursing Education
The effectiveness of the efforts to promote nursing as a career has helped to alleviate the nursing shortage. However, academic nursing schools are not adequately prepared to handle the recent increase in applications. Directly contributing to the nursing shortage is the inadequacy of teaching staff to meet the rising demand for registered nurses with bachelor’s degrees. Consequently, the nursing shortage directly affects the safety of patient care (Keating, 2014). The primary causes of the shortage of faculty to meet the demand for more nurses are the increasing age of the current faculty and the decreasing number of years left to teach.
For the nursing faculty to mitigate the adverse effects of increasing part-time to full-time faculty ratios on nursing education, all practicing nurses and registered nurses must earn master’s degrees from RN and PN nursing programs. It will assist them in maintaining competitiveness within their respective industries. The Faculty Qualifications Committee members recommended that the PN nursing faculty standards be reinforced due to the increased complexity of nursing practice and nursing education in the current day (Keating, 2014). It will constrain workers who are not qualified, guaranteeing full-time employment for those who are qualified. The nursing faculty should reduce the impact of the growing number of graduates with Ph.D. degrees, particularly the doctor of nursing practice, by encouraging them to specialize in either teaching or research. In doing so, the profession’s operations will have relevant personnel.
References
Boamah, S. A., Callen, M., & Cruz, E. (2021). Nursing faculty shortage in Canada: A scoping review of contributing factors. Nursing Outlook, 69(4), 574–588. Web.
Henderson, D., Sewell, K. A., & Wei, H. (2020). The impacts of faculty caring on nursing students’ intent to graduate: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 7(1), 105–111. Web.
HUNG, H.-Y., WANG, Y.-W., FENG, J.-Y., WANG, C.-J., LIN, E. C.-L., & CHANG, Y.-J. (2018). Evidence-based practice curriculum development for undergraduate nursing students: The preliminary results of an action research study in Taiwan. Journal of Nursing Research, 27(4). Web.
Keating, S. (2014). Chapter 3: The role of faculty in curriculum development and evaluation. In Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (3rd ed., pp. 49-60). Springer Publishing Company.