¶ … Blueprint for Teaching Ethics in Nursing Practice The development of a test blueprint is an important component in teaching practice just like architecture is to the building and construction industry. One of the major reasons for the development and use of a test blueprint in the teaching profession is the differences in understanding and perspectives of the term "test" by students and teachers alike. Moreover, teachers and students are increasingly likely to have differing opinions and expectations regarding the contents of a test. Therefore, teachers are increasingly faced with the task of preventing these misunderstandings about the nature of a test. A test blueprint is an important tool through which teachers make valid and reliable judgments regarding test scores before the test itself (Oermann & Gaberson, 2013, p.59). For this lesson plan on teaching ethics in nursing practice, tests administered to students will be based on the development of a test blueprint to help ensure teachers make valid judgments.

Introduction from the Lesson Plan

Ethics has emerged as one of the most important issues in the modern health care setting because of its role and impact on patient outcomes and achievement of patient safety goals. Nurses are increasingly faced with the need to do the right thing in all their practices and operations in order to improve patient outcomes and safety. In light of the significance of ethics in the nursing setting, it is important for learners to develop necessary skills towards ensuring ethical practices in the delivery of patient care. Therefore, developing a suitable lesson plan to help ensure professional ethics is incorporated in nursing practice is important for learners.

The goal of developing this test blueprint is to help ensure that appropriate and valid judgments and decisions are made by teachers regarding the students' understanding of the meaning, significance, and process of integrating professional ethics in nursing practice. Some of the major elements incorporated in the test blueprint to help in effective judgments regarding test scores include the major topics or instructional objectives to be covered by the test, the degree of complexity of the task, and the emphasis each topic will have based on number or percentage of points. Therefore, the test blueprint will be crucial in examining students' achievements based on their understanding of the topic in relation to the learning goals and objectives or outcomes of the lesson.

Learning Goals

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the significance and process of integrating professional ethics in nursing practice. Consequently, one of the learning goals is to help students effectively define and understand the role of professional ethics in nursing practice. Secondly, students will be expected to understand the processes through which they can incorporate professional ethics in the daily practices in the nursing field. These learning goals are based on the premise that professional ethics in nursing practice has a considerable impact on patient outcomes and safety. In essence, students or learners will be prepared to understand how to enhance patient outcomes and safety through incorporating professional ethics in nursing practice regardless of the specific setting in the nursing field.

Learning Objectives or Outcomes in the Test Blueprint

The achievement of the learning goals entails developing and clearly defining learning objectives or outcomes that relate to professional ethics in nursing practice. Upon completion of the lesson, the student or learner will

1. Define the concept of professional ethics and Code of Ethics in relation to nursing practice, particularly with regards to promoting and enhancing patient outcomes and safety throughout the delivery of care (Seavey, n.d.).

2. Demonstrate understanding of ethical responsibilities and decision making in the nursing field or setting.

3. Describe ethical judgment and ethical dilemmas in nursing practice.

4. Demonstrate understanding of the significance and process of how to ensure ethical decision-making and practice in the nursing setting.

Test Items for Evaluating Each Learning Objective

Given the significance of ethics in nursing practice, the achievement of these learning objectives is increasingly crucial towards enhancing patient outcomes. However, it is important to develop measures through which the achievement of these learning objectives or outcomes will be measured. The identification and establishment of probable ways to measure or evaluate the achievement of stated objectives or outcomes helps in developing measures to handle any emerging issues that may hinder the realization of the objectives. Moreover, the identification of test items for evaluating each learning objective or outcome will help ensure every test is geared towards achieving the overall learning goals.

The determination...

Testing in turn enables the teachers and learners know how much has been learned and provide an opportunity to identify areas the need to be covered in future learning processes (Schwartz, n.d.). This process is also vital in reinforcing course material or enabling students to utilize or think about the things they have learned in a new perspective. Generally, test items should be developed with the primary lesson and course objectives in mind and cover all aspects of the course such as textbooks, lectures, and sections. In addition, the selection of test items for every learning objective has a direct impact on how the students prepare, study, and learns.
The test item that will be utilized to assess the first learning objective or outcome of defining the concept of professional ethics and Code of Ethics with regards to nursing practice is multiple choice assessments. Multiple choice tests are objective assessments in which the students or learners are needed to choose a response. This test item will be used since the process of evaluating students' learning in this learning objective or outcome will involve asking learners to define the concept of ethics and Code of Ethics. The strength of this test item is based on assessing students' ability to recognize instead of recall information relating to the subject, topic or learning objective.

The second learning objective or outcome will entail the use of short answer questions to show understanding of ethical responsibilities and decision making in nursing practice. Short answer questions have been largely effective in demonstrating understanding of the correct series of procedures or various issues relating to a topic. Since students will be required to demonstrate their understanding of ethical responsibilities and decision making in nursing practice, short answer questions will help prevent students or learners from guessing answers. As students are prevented from guessing answers, the strength of the assessment or test item is recalling instead of simply recognizing information.

The third learning outcome requires a test item that is based on analysis, evaluation, organization, and fusion of ideas. Effective assessment of students' ability to describe and discuss ethical judgment and ethical dilemmas in nursing practice requires significant analysis, evaluation, organization, and synthesis of ideas. In this case, long answer questions will be utilized since they are effective in promoting effective analysis of information. The process entails examining a concept and breaking it down into parts, making qualitative or quantitative judgments, and combining information in a unique manner (Arreola, 1998). With regards to analysis, the learners' ability to evaluate a concept and break it down will involve present students with a unique situation relating to the learning objective and have them assess it and develop suitable measures for resolving the issue. In relation to synthesis, students will be required to resolve the issue through the use of suitable information. The evaluation aspect of this learning objective incorporates provision of justification of or critique to the solution.

The fourth learning objective or outcome will be measured through presenting learners with a unique situation that is not similar to that used during instruction and require them to apply their knowledge in finding solutions and using the proper procedure. The nature of this learning objective requires using a test item that promotes the use or application of information in a new situation. Therefore, learners will be presented with a unique situation for application of information in order to demonstrate the significance and processes of how to integrate professional ethics in nursing practice.

Test Items for Evaluating Different Levels of Bloom's Taxonomy Cognitive Domain

Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain is a measure for student assessment that was developed on the premise that what educators want learners to know can be organized in a hierarchy from less to complex and encompassed in statements of academic objectives (Huitt, 2011). Generally, the various levels in the hierarchy are considered to be successive, which implies that one level must be mastered before the learner can progress to and achieve the next level. Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain is made of various level sie. knowledge, comprehension, analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation. However, these original levels of Bloom's Taxonomy were reduced following review of the levels to help ensure they fit into more outcome-centered academic objectives in the contemporary educational environment and/or sector (Overbaugh & Schultz, n.d.).

This test blueprint for achieving the goal of teaching learners how to incorporate professional ethics into nursing practice will include the use of Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain. In this case,…