Policy effects on healthcare and nurse education

Nursing Education Development Policy (NEDP) for Nevada State Board of Nursing (NSBN)
Assessment & Nursing diagnosis:
Policy: It is mandatory for every NSBN nursing education provider to follow, sequentially, the four-hour process described by the NEDP (Nursing Education Development Policy), for approval to deliver. Failure to stick to the policy will lead to the education failing to acquire delivery approval under the NSBN.
Purpose: This policy aims at supporting quality nurse education delivery via a standardized nurse education developmental process.
Scope/Audience: The policy applies to every internal NSBN education provider engaging in nursing education planning and delivery.
This document aims at communicating the minimal prerequisites for council approval of nursing education courses to the masses, pupils, healthcare sector personnel and nurse education program operators. Further, the standards constitute a way of ensuring the students graduating in nursing education from Nevada have acquired practical skills and knowledge to work effectively within the context of current and projected future healthcare systems (College of registered nurses of Manitoba, 2018). Increased clarity when it comes to competency prerequisites would guide evidence development in the area of minimum clinical time required for a registered nurse to acquire relevant competencies and skills. Currently, the clinical hour requirement for earning a license to practice as a registered nurse varies, nationally, from 0 to 1600 hours. Typically, international partners need between 2000 and 3000 hours in a clinical setting for becoming registered nurses. Every existing nursing program has its own unique curriculum. While a majority of program curricula are effective and some even excellent in quality, one will find a few that, owing to numerous factors, are of substandard quality. Curricular quality may be adversely impacted by teaching faculty shortage, insufficient program assessment and evaluation metrics across the nation for ensuring they fulfil practicing nurses’ requirements, and inadequate expertise when it comes to writing and delivering nursing curricula. Superior-quality core curricula planning and implementation, employable and customizable by all nursing educational institutions (to their unique set of learners, teaching staff and communities) may prove to be an effective and efficient solution (Jeffries, 2015).
Historically, education within a clinical setting has remained a key aspect of all nurse education initiatives. Coming up with novel means of improving the clinical teaching-learning process may aid in cultivating a more positive work environment that has successively been determined to produce better pupil learning outcomes. Nurse clinical learning may be likened to in-situ or ‘situated learning’ in the real world. Such learning typically takes place within a context or activity (i.e., situated) contrary to the more theoretical classroom-based learning internalized by pupils. It is an established fact that nursing workplaces constitute an important clinical setting for student learning. These workplaces, situated in community health centers and hospitals, each having their own distinctive cultures, behaviors and social identities, constitute extremely complex social environments which offer invaluable student learning experiences (Smedley & Morey, 2010). Clinical learning lies at the core of clinical education. Several factors prove to impact learners’ clinical competency development, such as pupil exposure to various clinical experiences, self-directed learning, providing a supportive atmosphere, and learning within authentic clinical contexts (AlHaqwi & Taha, 2015).
Plan:
The nurse education policy offers an inclusive plan demonstrating the policy’s feasibility and ensuring the nursing education courses are in line with relevant competencies and standards. The plan considers:
a. Nevadan citizens’ health requirements, the need to have nurse education graduates, and interest and support for nursing education.
b. Stakeholders’ consultation, which includes Indigenous groups’ contribution, is obtained and employed in informing the curriculum.
c. Organizational committees, structure, and program faculty roles; this includes identifying groups the program is responsible for and those whose decisions might potentially have an effect on the program.
d. The program’s philosophical groundwork that includes beliefs regarding:
· Learning and teaching which reflects emergent and extant adult learning trends
· Students
· Professional nurse practice consistent with relevant competencies and standards (College of registered nurses of Manitoba, 2018)
Definitions: Nursing education: It covers all education lasting a minimum of 4 hours, including direct learning, web-based learning and self-directed workbooks.
Principles: Every application will be Nursing Education Development Committee (NEDC) – approved. The NEDC will guarantee NSBN education is in line with good organization learning principles, besides ensuring it:
· Is in line with the overall NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing) and NSBN direction
· Facilitates learning application within clinical practice
· Is a partnership instrument across groups, teams, institutions and professions, and can be shared over the broader health system
· Has content and objectives planned by incorporating both educational and subject matter planning expertise
· Matches content with development method
· Decreases development time and program duplication
· Has explicit objectives, aims, and outcomes
· Guarantees a fair, sound and consistent assessment procedure
· Can be accessed by the entire workforce
· Is in line with adult learning principles
· Has a learning culture to support it
· Is evaluated using Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model against outcomes and aims, from time to time, and
· Is appraised and redesigned as needed (Cantebury District Health Board, 2014).
Intervention:
The NEDC will:
· Meet up once a month to make sure every application is taken into consideration and promptly returned to applicants
· Manage the entire application process
· Offer support and counsel to individuals whose applications haven’t been accepted
· Audit decisions annually
· Avoid duplication
· Prioritize resource allocation
· Ensure learning leads to intended outcomes
· Allocate expertise for supporting development process when required (Cantebury District Health Board, 2014).
The Professional Development Unit (PDU) will
· Make sure faculty enjoys support for completing the first couple of applications.
Evaluation:
· A yearly audit will be conducted of every NSBN –delivered and –advertised nursing education of a minimum 4-hour duration for ascertaining whether or not it has acquired NEDC approval (Cantebury District Health Board, 2014).











References
AlHaqwi, A. I., & Taha, W. S. (2015). Promoting excellence in teaching and learning in clinical education. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 10(1), 97-101.
Cantebury District Health Board (2014). Nursing Education Development Policy. Retrieved April 11, 2018 from https://www.cdhb.health.nz/Hospitals-Services/Health-Professionals/CDHB-Policies/Nursing-Policies-Procedures/Documents/Nursing-Education-Development-Policy.pdf
College of registered nurses of Manitoba (2018). Standards for Nursing Education Programs (2018). Retrieved April 11, 2018 from https://www.crnm.mb.ca/uploads/document/document_file_82.pdf?t=1438187354
Jeffries, P. R. (2015). The evolving health care system: The need for nursing education reform. Journal of professional nursing, 31(6), 441-443.
Smedley, A., & Morey, P. (2010). Improving learning in the clinical nursing environment: perceptions of senior Australian bachelor of nursing students. Journal of Research in Nursing, 15(1), 75-88.