Nurse Consultant Associates

We help nursing schools with curriculum development and national accreditation preparation

Health Policy: A Professional Responsibility

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By Dr. Barbara Sheer

Every aspect of our lives is influenced by policy. At the workplace there are policies and procedures to guide practice. Our daily lives are affected by policies at the local, state, national and international levels. Professional organizations including: American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), American Nurses Association (ANA), National League for Nursing (NLN) and Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) have all endorsed policy as part of the professional role. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in their report “The Future of Nursing Leading Change, Advancing Health” (2010), recognized the importance of nursing and called for nurses to take the leadership role in improving the quality of healthcare. In the “Presidential Call to Action 2015-2017, Influence on Advance Global Health and Nursing”, Cathy Catrambone PhD, RN, FAAN, called for expanding SSTI’s influence through advocacy, policy, philanthropy and lifelong learning. She encouraged all members to contribute leadership, scholarship and research expertise to advance health policy (1).

If nurses are in a pivotal position to effect policy change why are so few involved? Involvement in policy requires both knowledge and skill. These essential elements should be incorporated into all levels of nursing education from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. Nurses must learn about the issues, identify key stakeholders, and become advocates for healthcare.

Our national political landscape is changing every day. In response many women who have not previously been involved in politics are beginning political campaigns and running for office. More nurses than ever are running for political offices and local, state, and national levels. Local, regional and national nursing organizations provide additional opportunities for policy involvement.

Nursing students must get adequate content on policy making and advocacy and develop competencies in these areas before graduation. In addition to policy, graduate nursing curricula must include content on the fiscal context in which practice takes place and address the linkages of health policy, financing, and economics to quality patient outcomes.

Nurse Consultants Associates can provide nurses and educators the skills and knowledge needed for developing leadership in the area of health policy. NCA offers a wide range of services from curriculum consultation, to courses in health policy and workshops. Our associates have first-hand experience in changing health policy on the local, national, and international levels.

Catrambone, C, https://www.sigmanursing.org/docs/default-source/BOD-Documents/call-to-action-brochure-web-2.pdf?sfvrsn=2 (April 31,2018).

 

The Rules and Regulations Conundrum: Starting a new educational program for health personnel in the United States of America

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By Dr. Rosemary Goodyear

Health care personnel in the USA require an education that assures the public that they are safe and competent providers of health care services. Each state in the nation has established rules and regulations (R&R) that guide institutions and educators in the content and process that will allow individuals, who successfully complete these programs, to become certified and/or sit for national licensure examinations. The legal authority that evokes and monitors these rules and regulations most frequently is the state board of nursing, board of education, public health authorities or a combination of these official bodies. Following successful completion of an educational program, public and/or private, each individual must attain a certificate or license to practice in that role, regardless of the work setting or title of the position fulfilled.

The R & R’s that assist programs in providing the necessary educational opportunities for interested individuals are available to the public, and can usually be accessed in an online format from the official bodies in each state. These are often published in a combination of the Nurse Practice Act, which identifies the requirements for practice in each specific state, and Articles or Standards that spell out the required administration, personnel, curriculum and steps in the process for educating the generalist nurse/registered nurse (RN) education. The academic level of education of the RN or Specialized Nurse is also included in these documents which may identify added preparation and levels of certification needed to practice in each state.

The following is a broad outline of a process to seek approval to begin a new educational program for health personnel such as (Certified Nurse Assistant – CNA; Licensed Vocational/Practical Nurse – LVN/LPN); Registered Nurse at ADN/BSN level); Certified Nurse Practitioner; Certified Nurse Midwife; Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist; or Clinical Nurse Specialist. A consistent part of each process is a time-line to be met, assistance and reviews by board staff, hearings of acceptable proposal by the board members and types of approval ratings.

General steps in seeking approval to begin a new educational program for health personnel:

  1. Submission of a Letter of Intent from institution (public/private) to official board regulating the health personnel to be prepared.
  2. Identification and history of the institution, need for a new program preparing this type of health personnel in the geographic area of the state, and fiscal support for a sustainable program.
  3. If not a degree granting institution, the affiliation with an institution of higher education, including the collaboration with affiliate administration and faculty.
  4. Connect and work with staff of official board regulating education of health personnel during the drafting of the proposal/self-study.
  5. Identification of qualified personnel to administer and teach in the educational program.
  6. Development of curriculum for preparing health personnel following requirements as set out in the regulations of the official R & R’s.
  7. Identification and acceptance for clinical placement of students by community health care facilities.
  8. Development of policies and documentation of admission, progression, completion and evaluation of educational program.

This is a brief outline for assisting institutions or agencies interested in starting a new educational health personnel program. The language of the R & R’s is often broad and enmeshed with legal terminology and perhaps not “user friendly” for people new to starting an educational program. This is where Nurse Consultant Associates can assist the developer of new health personnel programs. A useful website that can assist in the beginning search for your state board and the R & R’s is the National Council of State Board of Nursing www.ncsb.org

The Flipped Classroom

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The Flipped Classroom

 Flipping the classroom is all the rage in education these days. But what does it mean and should you do it? In the flipped classroom approach, students study course material outside of class using required readings, video lectures, podcasts, or other assignments. Rather than lecture during class time, the instructor facilitates learning by coaching students through course materials either individually or in groups and promoting active learning strategies.

One of the benefits of using a flipped classroom is to improve student attention span. Student’s today have grown up with the internet, video games, and social media. They are used to using technology for communicating and learning. In the flipped classroom, students engage in lower levels of cognitive work, such as gaining knowledge (see Bloom’s revised taxonomy, 2001), outside of the classroom while higher levels of cognitive work, such as application and analysis, are emphasized in the classroom.

Some faculty are unsure of how to design a course using the flipped classroom approach while others are concerned over the amount of time it may take to design and teach such as course. I recently read an article “Find Time to FLIP!’ by Barbi Honeycutt PhD on three simple strategies to flip a course that takes only 10 minutes to implement in your classroom You can find her article here http://barbihoneycutt.com/3-flipped-strategies-can-10-minutes-less/.

Flipping the classroom can enhance active learning but should be undertaken thoughtfully and strategically. Using the flipped approach, students take on an active learner role and this may be an unfamiliar and uncomfortable role for some. Faculty may also feel intimated or burdened by moving from lecturer to facilitator and coach. There are many articles and other resources available on the web to help you through the process of developing and implementing a flipped classroom. NCA can help you to develop or revise your curriculum to incorporate and evaluate active learning strategies.

Tips For Engaging Students in Online Courses

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Many schools of nursing are offering their graduate and undergraduate programs online. These programs are convenient for students as they can participate in the class on their own schedule and this format allows classmates to be from all over the country. However, online courses also create challenges for faculty. Some of these challenges include: how to create and maintain faculty presence and how to facilitate student engagement.

Discussion boards, also known as threaded discussions, are one of the most common mechanisms used by faculty to foster an online community and student interaction. These discussions allow students to reflect and research their thoughts and ideas before posting for the class to view. Discussion boards also promote student interaction, if faculty require students to respond to the work of others in a substantive and respectful manner. Grading rubrics for the discussion boards are useful in helping students to understand what is expected for a substantive post that demonstrates knowledge of key concepts, critical thinking, and synthesis of knowledge.

In addition to discussion boards, there are several other strategies for engaging students and building a sense of community in an online course. I recently read a post from Matthew Lynch on The Tech Advocate that addresses six other strategies to engage students. These include: videos from course instructors, live (synchronous) class sessions, class surveys, private instructor feedback and encouraging messages to students, and opportunities for group work. Mr. Lynch’s posting can be found at http://www.thetechedvocate.org/keep-humanity-online-courses/.

 

Preparing for National Accreditation Part 2

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Drafting the self-study document is an opportunity for in-depth analysis of what is working well and what could be improved. Each degree program that will be evaluated by the accrediting body should be analyzed by the team responsible for developing the self-study. Gathering and analyzing existing documentation that supports self-study statements will help you tell your story, and provide evidence that your program is effective in fulfilling its mission and goals and in meeting the accrediting body’s expectations. Once you have reviewed existing documentation, you may find gaps and identify areas that need more documentation. For example, many nursing programs have collected student satisfaction data for MSN and post-graduate APRN certificate students in the aggregate. CCNE now reviews post-graduate APRN certificate programs as separate from MSN programs, and therefore, requires that outcome data be reported for each program. If you have aggregate MSN and post-graduate APRN certificate program data, you will either need to disaggregate the data or collect new data on your post-graduate APRN certificate program. While you may end up with small numbers for the post-graduate APRN certificate program, you still need to report these numbers separately from other programs.

Accurate and complete data on student achievement are critical to writing a strong self-study document. CCNE Guidelines for Assessment of Student Achievement (http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation/Guidelines-for-Assessing-Student-Achievement.pdf) can be useful in identifying, analyzing, and summarizing data to address CCNE’s expectations with regard to program effectiveness. Several outcomes are mandated by the Department of Education. These include rates of completion, licensure, certification, and employment. Other outcomes can be set by the individual program, e.g., student and alumni satisfaction. Depending on your degree program level, you may wish to consider other outcomes that demonstrate program effectiveness such as course evaluation, student achievements within 1-year of graduation, and employer satisfaction with graduates. Maintaining strong relationships between the school of nursing and employers can aid in obtaining employer satisfaction data. Many DNP programs include student achievement measures such as dissemination of scholarly projects (publications or presentations), and number of students who are in work or community service leadership positions.

Regardless of what program effectiveness outcome data you choose to report, you will need a robust and systematic program evaluation plan to guide your evaluation process. NCA can assist you in developing or revising your master program evaluation plan and provide you with objective improvement recommendations.

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