Case Study 2-Poplarfield University School of Nursing – Best Solved Essay
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Case Study #2: Poplarfield University School of Nursing
Members of the Poplarfield University School of Nursing completed their data-gathering about internal and external contextual factors. A curriculum consultant was hired for a two-day retreat to help the group derive the curriculum nucleus from the data. Dr. Werstiuk, the School Director, stated her intention to attend and participate fully. The Dean of the Faculty was also invited, since her support would be needed for any additional resources that might be required for the new curriculum. Faculty believed that the dean’s involvement would be an effective way to educate her about the complexity of curriculum planning and the many influences on the nursing curriculum. Additionally, members of the Curriculum Advisory Committee were invited to attend, and two of the twelve members were able to do so.
In preparation for the retreat, data had been organized for each contextual factor on a chart and a hard copy distributed to all faculty members. A copy of the chart was loaded onto laptop computers, so that ideas could be immediately recorded and preserved…
Solution – Case Study 2-Poplarfield University School of Nursing
Case Study 2-Poplarfield University School of Nursing
Introduction
The curriculum of a given institution offers a structure for teaching and learning. However, in a world marked by uncertainty and unpredictability, making decisions concerning the content of the curriculum that is and implementation processes within specific institutions and classrooms are not only challenging but also contested (Ayub & Law, 2015). The influences that shape the curriculum decisions include socio-political, ideological, historical, pragmatic, as well as theoretical factors that lead to multiple standpoints and interpretations of curriculum content. Consequently, this essay aims at examining the influence and assessment of contextual factors that influence curriculum change using Case Study #2 concerning Poplarfield University School of Nursing(PUSN).
The PUSN is in the middle of a contextual curriculum development process after it collected data concerning the internal and external contextual factors. The institution then hired a curriculum consultant for a two- day workshop to assist the group and Curriculum Advisory Committee for the curriculum nucleus from the data collected. The Director of PUSN, Dr. Werstiuk, offered her full participation. At the same time, the faculty believed the dean’s participation would let her realize the magnitude and the amount of time as well the effort needed for the new curriculum development. The curriculum consultant arranges each contextual factor in a chart and had hard copies distributed to all participants besides uploading the same to individual members’ laptops for immediate response. After the retreat, the taskforce group concurred with the curriculum nucleus and pledged their support to the new development.
Strengths and Limitations evident in the Process Undertaken by the Poplar Faculty and its Application in other Settings
It is instructive that some of the strengths manifested in the group’s unanimous approval for the development of a new curriculum nucleus guided by their professional competencies and skills, ideas, and solutions to counter the challenges. Additionally, the member’s open discussion about the meanings of both external and internal factors is viewed in the context of curriculum development. The combination of these and other strengths results in another strength, which involves having the possibilities of curriculum development flowing spontaneously. Nevertheless, the conspicuous absence of administrative support, inadequate faculty development, and having budgetary constraints were some of the limitations to PUSN faculty. A case in point played out when the faculty aired their views on the need for a computer lab to supplement the possibility of computer-mediated learning. However, the University budgetary allocation and inadequate faculty staffing were some of the notable challenges. A ray of hope is the fact that the PUSN faculty concurred with the consultant’s solutions, which would see the program’s development take place with no input emanating from the administration.
Ways the Retreat Might Have Been Organized in a Different Way to advance Curriculum Work
The retreat could have been held in another venue not necessarily the institution in order to allow the members to have a change of atmosphere. Having a change of scene would see the members have more time to be relaxed and think in a different perspective (Brussow et al., 2019). At the same, I content that the two-day duration was not adequate as the short time meant that some of the salient features of the new curriculum were not exhaustively addressed. Having the retreat for 3 to four days would deal with the sticky issues of the new curriculum. If the budget so allowed, the members, the retreat organizers could also recruit facilitators to help in team building, the decision makes, and consensus-building activities. As he retreat drew to close, the committees should have come together under the administrator’s leadership so that they could share insights and make final decisions while the administrators would also have the opportunity to demonstrate their gratitude to the retreat’s participants,
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Review Tables 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4., the Gaps and Overlaps Present In the Contextual Data
A review of the tables 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4 indicate that many of the inhabitants born between 1946 and 1964 continue to increase because of immigration. At the same time, the fertility ration is inadequate to sustain the present population where the younger generation is migrating to the Poplarfield town. The temporary farmworkers do not have health insurance in addition to the fact that they cannot express themselves in English. Besides having poor faculty retention, the University’s budget, where the government is its leading contributor, is insufficient. Other areas of concern are that the youth are under the influence of drugs. One cannot also help noticing that healthcare services accessibility is entire of a challenge, as evidenced by the fact that the nearest hospital and cancer treatment facility is 100 miles away from the city. Other notable information revealed is that the injuries and accidental deaths of infants in Poplarfield are above the national average while domestic violence is identified as another cause of public health concern. Of note also is t the existing nursing curriculum does not subscribe to any medical model. Having to scrape off or merge local nursing programs with hose large universities has enabled the PUSN to cut back on its financial expenses.
Examination Tables and Proposal of Other Interpretations of the Data, Concepts, Professional Abilities, Curriculum Limitations and Possibilities, and Administrative Issues
By adopting a different perspective in the review of tables 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4, one can see that the ratio between the older and younger generation is not uniform because of the insufficient fertility rate. The curriculum concept should concentrate on recognition of the risk factors, the reasons as well as the community’s fertility ratio. One can argue that both faculty and students should participate in seminars which create awareness on the importance of having a sustainable fertility rate. About the aging, curriculum concepts should concentrate on disease prevention and management. The professional competencies to emphasize include but are not to be limited to community health services to administer vaccinations, home visits to enhance preventive health at the community level. The institution leadership should also support funding of staff development.
The Curriculum Nucleus Identified By the Poplarfield Faculty, Its Reasonableness, and Changes That Could Be Propose
This paper holds the view that the PUSN curriculum nucleus, as approved by members of the faculty, was realistic and was proof enough that contextual factors were used to make the decisions. The curriculum nucleus is representative of the core measures of curriculum concepts, philosophical approaches, and professional abilities. The proposal determines the direction, formulation execution, and offering guidance to further its progress. The presence of only one baccalaureate nursing makes this academic infrastructure relevant. The diversity in this community will is captured in the new student population.
Strategies That Could Be Implemented To Keep the Momentum Going In the Curriculum Development Process
As stated earlier, curriculum development is a decision made in isolation. Instead, it is a process characterized by collaborative engagement and interpersonal activities of all those taking part. Successful curriculum development embraces the involvement of the institution leadership, coupled with the effective organization of work and faculty development. According to Livingstone (2014), the formulation of a new curriculum demonstrates that a change in faculty understands certain issues. Faculty is in a position to establish and initiate processes that not only commemorate the achievements of the other but commemorate their achievements as well
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A Way That My Actions Might Be Similar or Different From Those of Professor Rose
It is imperative to observe that theorem of a curriculum consultant is to plan, develop, and help in the execution and evaluation of a nursing program development within the context of nursing education. The curriculum consultant services extend to the proposal and guidance on the desired initiative. Day one of the retreat was not productive due to the differences in ideas of significant representation. The consultant’s suggestion to break the participants into smaller units to complete the generation of ideas While the groups had come up with a variety of ideas the proposals could not sail through due to the intergroup conflicts. The writer of this essay, however, believes that Professor Rose delivered justice to her role as the chair of the curriculum committee.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this essay has established that curriculum change has got to factor in the views of all the leading stakeholders and incorporates the views of experts like curriculum consultants. It has also found that curriculum development constitutes part of bigger change management within an institution where the perspectives of the faculty, the administration, and student body need to be considered and incorporated in the proposed changes. To wind up, one should acknowledge that in the Process of curriculum development, patience holds the key. There is a need to align the curriculum change with faculty development since the faculty comprises the primary curriculum change implementers.
References
Brussow, J. A., Roberts, K., Scaruto, M., Sommer, S., & Mills, C. (2019). Concept-based curricula: a national study of critical concepts. Nurse educator, 44(1), 15.
Khan, M. A., & Law, L. S. (2015). An Integrative Approach to Curriculum Development in Higher Education in the USA: A Theoretical Framework. International Education Studies, 8(3), 66-76.
Livingstone, K. (2014). Improving curriculum design and development: A case study from the University of Guyana. Blue Ocean Research Journals–Journal of Business Management and Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR) 3 (5), 1-17.
Question – Case Study 2-Poplarfield University School of Nursing
Case Study #2: Poplarfield University School of Nursing
Members of the Poplarfield University School of Nursing completed their data-gathering about internal and external contextual factors. A curriculum consultant was hired for a two-day retreat to help the group derive the curriculum nucleus from the data. Dr. Werstiuk, the School Director, stated her intention to attend and participate fully. The Dean of the Faculty was also invited, since her support would be needed for any additional resources that might be required for the new curriculum. Faculty believed that the dean’s involvement would be an effective way to educate her about the complexity of curriculum planning and the many influences on the nursing curriculum. Additionally, members of the Curriculum Advisory Committee were invited to attend, and two of the twelve members were able to do so.
In preparation for the retreat, data had been organized for each contextual factor on a chart and a hard copy distributed to all faculty members. A copy of the chart was loaded onto laptop computers, so that ideas could be immediately recorded and preserved.
The group agreed to derive the curriculum nucleus collectively, starting with a shared understanding of the environment. They were committed to the ideas of inferring curriculum concepts and professional abilities, proposing curriculum possibilities, and deducing curriculum limitations. There was consensus to dismiss identification of administrative issues, since “we already know what the issues are: not enough faculty and not enough money in the budget.
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Examining and Integrating Contextual Data: During the course of discussion about contextual data, the faculty tried to focus on the meaning of the data, and the inter-relationships among the contextual factors. They also addressed curriculum concepts, professional abilities, and curriculum possibilities without labeling these ideas as such, discussing ideas about how:
- the presence of more aged people leads to a greater demand for health care, which increases the requirement for health care professionals
- the growing RN shortage could increase public demand for more seats in nursing programs, and this in turn would necessitate more resources for the School, including human resources
- RN shortages could lead to more care by nonprofessionals, increasing delegation and supervision by RNs. The RN shortage might result in specialization by all RNs or de-professionalization of nursing
- student skills in information technology could be developed when they had limited expertise
- professional standards for nursing practice, accreditation standards, and the availability of clinical placements in and near Poplarfield could be reconciled
- local health problems can be addressed, in a society and health care system which are focused on problems of national scope, such as cancer
- nursing priorities and mandates must be explicated for a society with a growing proportion of elderly people and a health care system where acute care stays are shortened and out-of-hospital care is increased
The group also talked in detail about some specific data, and how to interpret it.
In trying to reach a shared understanding of the context in which the curriculum would be implemented and graduates will practice nursing, several integrated summaries were offered. Each resulted in some disagreement. Finally, at the end of the morning, the group agreed that the environment could be described as one in which:
- there will be less institutionalized health care and growing emphasis on community-based care
- independent decision-making and supervision of non-professional health care providers will become a stronger feature of nursing practice
- vulnerable groups in the community may grow in size
- the proportion of aged people in the community will increase, while young people will likely continue to leave the Poplarfield area
- ethnic diversity will become more apparent
- agriculture will continue to be a significant contributor to the Poplarfield economy
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In the afternoon, discussion progressed to identification of the factors that should be most influential in shaping the curriculum. Initially, there was a strong sentiment that all contextual factors were of equal weight, apart from the internal factors of History; Philosophy, Mission, and Goals; and Culture, all of which seemed less important. The consultant agreed that the factors are highly inter-connected and that the division of the data into these factors is somewhat artificial. Yet, she reminded faculty that there must be some basis for identifying the key curriculum influences, and thus for determining the curriculum nucleus.
The group then considered whether it was the recipients of nursing services (Demographics), the nature of nursing (Professional Standards and Trends), or the location and nature of health care (Health Care) that was most important. Faculty phrased this as who, what, where, and how. Finally, they agreed that most important were the people being served, and therefore, Demographics and External Culture would be most significant in determining the curriculum nucleus. History was immediately labeled as being of least importance. After further discussion, faculty members concurred about the rank-ordering of contextual factors:
- Demographics; External Culture
- Health Care; Professional Standards and Trends; Infrastructure
- Socio-politico-economics
- Technology
- Environment; Philosophy, Mission, and Goals of the University and School of Nursing; Internal Culture; History
Inferring Curriculum Concepts and Professional Abilities, Proposing Curriculum Possibilities, and Deducing Curriculum Limitations
The stakeholders wanted to complete this intellectual work together, in the belief that it was necessary for all to participate in every aspect. Ideas were recorded on charts, which had previously been loaded onto laptop computers.
It became apparent that one more day would be insufficient to complete this effort, if the group continued in the same way. The consultant suggested that the contextual factors might be divided among smaller faculty groups to complete the formulation of ideas about curriculum concepts, professional abilities, curriculum possibilities, and curriculum limitations. The group agreed to think about this proposal.
The next morning a member of the Advisory Committee proposed that dividing into small groups would expedite the curriculum work. There was now consensus about this. Three smaller groups were formed and each took responsibility for some of the internal and external factors.
In reviewing the contextual data, members recognized that curriculum concepts, professional abilities, and curriculum possibilities and limitations did not necessarily arise from each internal factor. However, they noted that the data about some of the factors could ultimately influence decisions about curriculum, either limiting or propelling the curriculum design. For example, when examining the School’s infrastructure, they recognized that the existence of computer labs for students meant that computer-mediated learning was a possibility, whereas the School budget and faculty numbers could constrain the curriculum. Accordingly, they reaffirmed their intention to identify the curriculum possibilities and limitations as they examined each contextual factor. As the groups worked, they recognized again that the contextual factors do not operate in isolation and that their ideas reflected the inter-related nature of the internal and external context. The ideas arising from the internal and external contextual data were recorded.
Identifying Administrative Issues : As they continued, faculty quickly recognized that there were administrative issues beyond faculty numbers and budget. Accordingly, the groups considered and recorded the administrative issues. They also recognized that Financial Resources was an important contextual factor.
At the end of their two days together, the participants felt proud of their efforts. All were eager to proceed with synthesis of the completed work, and the determination of the curriculum nucleus. See Table 7.1 for analysis of the external contextual factor of Demographics. Table 7.3 presents the internal factors of Financial Resources and Infrastructure. Table 7.4 outlines the analysis of the external factors of Culture, Health Care, and Professional Standards and Trends. (Tables 7.3 and 7.4 follow the case description).
Resources were not available for an additional retreat day. Therefore, the group agreed:
- to distribute hard copies of the analysis of the contextual factors, so all could individually review the work that had been completed by all groups
- to use a regularly-scheduled faculty meeting to collectively review the work and add ideas that might have been omitted
- to reorganize individual schedules so they could meet from 3-7 PM twice in the next 2 weeks to determine the curriculum nucleus
- that Dr. Werstiuk and the Dean would meet to discuss the identified administrative issues, and plan further discussion with senior administrators, if necessary.
There was consensus that Professor Rose, Chair of the Curriculum Committee, would lead the discussions. As well, members were enthusiastic about the possibility of adding ideas to the work of other groups. Professor Rose asked that all try to ground their thinking in the work to date and, as much as possible, to look beyond personal beliefs.
The subsequent meetings were lively, and at times, tense. Review of curriculum concepts, professional abilities, curriculum possibilities and limitations, and administrative issues went quickly, with some additional ideas offered. There was a sense of accomplishment at the end of the first meeting, and impatience to get on with the definition of the curriculum nucleus.
Determining Curriculum Nucleus : At the first 4-hour meeting, there was consensus that synthesis of curriculum concepts, professional abilities, and curriculum possibilities should be completed collectively. Some important curriculum concepts were: aging; health promotion; nursing care of people at home, in the community, and institutions; and nurse-client relationships.
Professor Rose reminded them of the weighting they had assigned to the contextual factors, noting that they had not attended to all the factors they had weighted as second in importance. With this, the group returned to Health Care, agreeing that the curriculum should address local health problems as well as national ones. In considering Professional Standards and Trends, faculty confirmed that a strong emphasis on health promotion was warranted, and agreed that illness intervention must be included. One member noted that rural health was an important concept that had been omitted, and there was immediate agreement to include it. Synthesis and further discussion of the curriculum concepts led to the conclusion that the core curriculum concepts would be: health, aging; health promotion, illness intervention, context, and nurse-client relationships.
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In synthesizing curriculum possibilities, the group decided that the principal teaching-learning processes would be self-direction, collaborative learning, and use of information technologies. Synthesis of the professional abilities led to the conclusion that the key professional abilities would be would be: critical thinking, clinical reasoning, independent and collaborative decision-making, cultural competence, and life-long learning.
The group recognized that acceptance of these ideas would require resolution of administrative issues related to human, physical, and financial resources, along with faculty development. Dr. Werstiuk reaffirmed her commitment to work toward resolution of these matters.
The group then turned to a review of the philosophical approaches. These had been proposed by a faculty sub-group and had been tentatively accepted, pending further refinement of the narrative. The philosophical approaches included beliefs about nursing’s role in society, social justice, caring, and the nature of the nurse-client relationship, and faculty members’ and students’ responsibility in the curriculum. They considered the fit between the philosophical beliefs and the concepts, abilities, and teaching-learning approaches that had been identified.
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The group confirmed the curriculum nucleus to be comprised of the following:
- core curriculum concepts: health, aging; health promotion, illness intervention, context, nurse-client relationships, social justice, and caring (the latter two from the philosophical approaches)
- key professional abilities: critical thinking, clinical reasoning, independent and collaborative decision-making, cultural competence, and life-long learning
- principal teaching-learning approaches: self-direction, collaborative learning, and use of information technologies
- philosophical approaches: social justice, caring, humanism, phenomenology
The group felt satisfied with the curriculum nucleus and confirmed they could support these ideas as the basis for subsequent curriculum development. Dr. Werstiuk and Professor Rose congratulated the participants for their hard work, creativity in reconciling varying perspectives, and intellectual courage in envisioning a curriculum that would require considerable change and learning by each member. All were proud of themselves individually and collectively, and anxious to begin the intensive planning that would bring their ideas to fruition.
Please review Tables 7.1 (p. 142-143), Table 7.3 (p. 156-161) and Table 7-4 (p. 162-168) to answer the following questions.
- What strengths and limitations are evident in the processes undertaken by the Poplarfield faculty? How might these processes be applied in other settings?
- How might the retreat have been organized differently to advance the curriculum work?
- Review Tables 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4. What gaps and overlaps are present in the contextual data?
- Examine Tables 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4. Propose other interpretations of the data, concepts, professional abilities, curriculum limitations and possibilities, and administrative issues.
- Consider the curriculum nucleus identified by the Poplarfield faculty. Does it seem reasonable? What changes could be proposed?
- What strategies could be implemented to keep the momentum going in the curriculum development process?
- If you were to assume the role of curriculum consultant for the Poplarfield University School of Nursing, in what way might your actions be similar or different from those of Professor Rose?