Collaboration in the face of change: A successful graduate curriculum revision

Abstract

The reality of a rapidly changing healthcare arena forces nursing professionals to continually keep pace with advancements in nursing practice. Similarly, those responsible for educating future nurses must continue to keep abreast of changes in healthcare and nursing practice. Maintaining an up-to-date curriculum prepares nurses to adequately meet current and future challenges to the profession. This article outlines the processes undertaken by one comprehensive university in the United States to revise its graduate curriculum to prepare students for graduate-level nursing practice and to function as leaders within the healthcare arena.

Adult Education Faculty and Programs in North America

“…Academic disciplines dealing with such expectations from guiding organizations initiate changes in their curricula in light of these multiple influences, and can engage in doing so based on the demands of professional organizations and their larger cultural influences. For example, McCleary-Jones et al (2014) recently discuss how this has played out in collaborations on a curricular revision project in light of the guidelines initiated by the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing Association, who developed new guidelines in response to the Affordable Care Act. Bourdieu (1986) would suggest that the processes of negotiating changes to comply with these larger forces are dependent on how individuals negotiate multiple forms of capital including economic, cultural, and social capital.…”