Curriculum Development Issues in Nursing Education
This paper examines the key challenges surrounding curriculum development in nursing education, with particular focus on the persistent shortage of qualified nurses and nursing faculty, evolving healthcare demands, and the gap between academic preparation and practical competency. It discusses how rapidly changing healthcare environments require curricula to be continuously assessed and updated. The paper identifies specific skill deficiencies among new graduates and analyzes systemic barriers such as uncompetitive faculty salaries and research-driven tenure pressures. It concludes by proposing both internal and external strategies — including problem-based learning, simulation, distance education, and nurse advocacy — to strengthen nursing education programs and better prepare the future nursing workforce.
- Introduction: Nursing curriculum must keep pace with healthcare changes
- Challenges in Nursing Curriculum Development: Skill gaps and changing healthcare demands strain curricula
- Faculty Shortages and Their Impact on APRN Education: Low salaries and tenure pressures reduce APRN faculty
- Proposed Strategies to Resolve These Issues: Internal and external solutions to nursing education gaps
- Nurse Advocacy as a Curricular and Professional Strategy: Point-of-care advocacy strengthens profession and patient outcomes
- Conclusion: Knowledge and curriculum central to nursing's future
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper connects abstract curriculum theory directly to concrete workforce consequences, such as graduates lacking IV insertion skills or healthcare IT proficiency, making its argument practical and grounded.
- It balances problem identification with solution-oriented thinking, dedicating significant space to both internal and external strategies rather than simply cataloguing issues.
- The use of multiple cited sources across nursing research, policy advisory bodies, and professional journals adds credibility and disciplinary breadth to the argument.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective problem-solution structuring in professional writing. It first establishes the scope and urgency of the problem — workforce shortages, skill gaps, faculty deficits — and then systematically proposes remedies at institutional, inter-professional, and individual (advocacy) levels. This layered approach mirrors the structure expected in policy-oriented nursing research papers.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing section that defines the role of knowledge in nursing before moving into a multi-paragraph introduction covering the 21st-century pressures on nursing education. It then isolates the specific problem of APRN faculty shortages and their systemic causes. The second half pivots to proposed strategies — internal, external, and advocacy-based — before closing with a forward-looking call for nurse engagement at all levels. Citations are integrated throughout to support each major claim.
Introduction
Nurses make use of wide-ranging theories, models, knowledge, and skills in nursing practice. Both their skills and knowledge are gained from diverse methods — a few are "hidden" from practice. However, all sources of knowledge and skills ought to be assessed for quality and relevance, and should they fail to meet national standards, they ought to be discarded. Knowledge in the nursing profession helps nurses achieve the goals of patient care, since it reinforces what they do daily. Knowledge classifies and distinguishes nurses when compared with the related but distinct roles of doctors or physiotherapists, and helps to distinguish nurses from support-care workers and even lay carers. Knowledge, therefore, is what differentiates the nursing profession, since possessing a "distinctive form of knowledge" classifies a profession within a society. Curriculum consequently holds a significant place within nursing education (Hall, 2005).
The development of curriculum concerning nursing education faces considerable problems, in that the nursing profession must continue to stay abreast of the changes that take place in the healthcare sector in order to ensure the continuous delivery of safe, high-quality, and effective healthcare with a patient-centric approach. As such, curricula must be relevant not only to current trends but also anticipatory of and responsive to changes that may arise in the future. To remain up to date, new entrants to the nursing profession must be adequately equipped and educated with appropriate and relevant competencies, skills, knowledge, and attitudes, which may not always be readily available. The nursing practice of the 21st century faces several challenges, such as an increasing number of hospitalized patients who are both older and more seriously ill, which drives up the cost of healthcare and creates the need to stay updated on recent improvements in medical technology and knowledge.
References
Almidei, N. (2010). So you want to make a difference: Advocacy is the key (16th ed.). Washington, DC: OMB Watch.
Fitzgerald, C., Kantrowitz-Gordon, I., Katz, J., & Hirsch, A. (2011). Advanced practice nursing education: Challenges and strategies. Nursing Research and Practice, 2012.
Hall, A. (2005). Defining nursing knowledge. Nursing Times, 101(48), 34–37.
Malone, B. (2011). Commentary on "The Doctor of Nursing Practice: A national workforce perspective." Nursing Outlook, 59(3), 117–118.
NACNEP. (n.d.). Addressing new challenges facing nursing education: Solutions for a transforming healthcare environment. National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice.
Tomajan, K. (2012, January 31). Advocating for nurses and nursing. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1), Manuscript 4.
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