Jasmine University School of Nursing has worked diligently to develop a new curriculum. Even though the faculty examined the advantages of an upper-division nursing program, they decided to continue with their 4-year integrated curriculum. This new curriculum is based on phenomenology, humanism, and feminism, with a strong focus on community-based nursing while hospital-based practice remains a major component of the curriculum. The introduction of the new curriculum will be coupled with a 50% increase in the class size i.e. from 100 to 150. The faculty faces a significant problem in clinical placements in relation to phasing out the current curriculum and introducing the new one. The introduction of the new curriculum implies that 100 fourth-year students and 75 second-year students will require clinical placements on the same units on the same days in the fall semester.
In light of the problems with clinical placements that will be brought by the introduction or implementation of the new curriculum, the Faculty of Jasmine University School of Nursing needs to make some logistics considerations. The logistical considerations will help in developing appropriate measures to avoid the problem of phasing out the existing curriculum and introducing the new one. The logistical considerations in this case include commitment by all stakeholders to the institution's mission and purpose of nursing education, the philosophical approaches and outcomes of the curriculum, sufficiency of personnel, and scheduling and phasing out the current curriculum (Iwasiw, Goldenberg & Andrusyszyn, 2009, p.269).
Since the problem with clinical placements can result in 40% decrease in the number of family birthing rooms as a result of introducing the new curriculum, the faculty should...
One of the alternatives is for the administrators in this school of nursing to request for scheduling for classrooms, laboratories, and practice before the commencement of the term in order to promote careful planning and allocation. Scheduling requests will be crucial for planning and implementation of the new curriculum and phasing out the existing one because of the anticipated increased enrollments, budget limitations, and development of new classrooms and buildings. The scheduling requests will help in course planning and phasing out the current curriculum. Secondly, the faculty can consider hiring additional faculty for some of the teaching. This alternative will assist in providing more teaching so that the placements of 175 students will not happen on the same units on the same days and lead to decrease in the number of family birthing rooms.
Scheduling requests to facilitate course planning and help during phasing out the existing one implies that these students should expect some major changes in their timetables as part of ensuring that the problem with clinical placement is avoided. On the other hand, the faculty and clinical personnel will need to work together in joint planning. This may also require working together with personnel from other nursing institutions and/or programs. In contrast, hiring additional faculty to help in some of the teaching and ensure that the placements do not take place at the same time has some major implications on the faculty and clinical agency personnel. While this alternative will help ensure the faculty is not overstretched, the increase in the number of personnel means there will be need to strive towards fairness in handling workload.
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