Upgrading Curriculum: The Nursing Process

Nursing Process

·         The nursing process is a continuous cycle of assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. It is used to identify patients needs, establish priorities, develop a plan of care, carry out a plan of care and evaluate its effectiveness to promote optimal health and well-being of patients.  The nursing process can be adapted to meet the specific needs of each individual patient. Based on the patients priority needs a care plan is developed. 

What content should be kept? / What is essential and timeless?  

• The nursing process is an essential aspect in nursing curriculum.  It facilitates critical thinking and allows the nurse to function independently in the healthcare system.  Nursing care requires a high degree of skill and knowledge which has led to a shift in responsibility from the physician to the nurse (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010). The nursing process is the beginning step, the building block, and foundation of nursing practice. A nurse utilizes the skills of assessment, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating everyday in practice. This way of thinking and planning can be applied to acute/critical care, the community health setting, and/or outpatient setting. The nursing process is timeless and is the standard of nursing practice which is backed by the Joint Commission, American Nurses Association, and the National League for Nursing. NCLEX, the nursing licensure exam is structured based on the nursing process.

What content should be cut? / What is not essential or dated? 

• Utilization of the nursing process requires nurses to identify a NANDA (North American Nursing Diagnosis Association) Diagnoses and put together a handwritten care plan. NANDA diagnoses are actual or potential patient problems identified by the nurse. Examples include: impaired gas exchange, activity intolerance, pain, ineffective coping, impaired nutrition: less than body requirements, risk for falls, etc. Nursing diagnoses are different from medical diagnoses in the aspect nurses are not treating a specific medical condition; only doctors are licensed to make a medical diagnosis based on a pathological process. After the nurse identifies the priority diagnosis a care plan is created. Handwritten care plans are time consuming and inefficient. Nurses often get lost is the formalization of the NANDA diagnosis and the proper format of the care plan. Technology allows us to streamline this concept with the use of computer programs. Formal nursing diagnoses and care plans are non-essential. The goal of nursing practice is to identify actual and potential patient problems and create a plan of care to facilitate optimal patient care; a formal plan is not needed to accomplish this.

What content should be created? / What should be created that is evident and necessary?

• Concept maps and standardized care plans are developed based on a nurses understanding of the nursing process and are necessary components of nursing curriculum. These tools demonstrate a nurses ability to critically think about a patient situation and directly apply it to the clinical setting. 
• A concept map is a diagram focusing on actual and potential patient problems and the interventions that go along with the problems. It also allows the nurse to evaluate the effectiveness of each intervention and adjust the plan of care accordingly. Concept maps organize patient data and allow the nurse to focus on the holistic view of a patient. Concept maps can also be used in the educational setting and/or as a form of an assessment.
• Standardized care plans are pre-developed plans of care for specific patient populations and disease processes that identify nursing problems/diagnoses, interventions and outcomes. Standardized care plans will save time and promote optimal patient care. Although the care plan will be standardized, it can be tailored to the specific needs of each patient.This form of care planning can be completed on the computer possibly using interactive software.

Literacy in the 21st Century

Literacy, the ability to read and write. This definition of literacy has taken on new meaning in the 21st century. In Curriculum 21, Frank Baker, adds that "Today, being literate also means understanding wiki's, blogs, nings, digital media, and other new and emerging technologies." Learning is not just about reading a book, listening to a lecture, or writing an essay. We have the capabilities to expand learning worldwide. There is a great deal we can learn when we go beyond the walls of a classroom.

Baker added that "Unfortunately, many K-12 educators have yet to realize the benefits of teaching students with and about non-print media, what is today recognized as an important part in 'media literacy.' " Technology has drastically changed and improved over the past 50 years, yet many of us are reluctant to embrace these changes. What has worked in the past, will work for the future, right?...wrong! Technology continues to change everyday. Technology allows educators to reach students of all learning styles facilitating their success in school. More students are excited about and engaged in the learning process. Lectures and essays are a thing of the past; blogs, podcasts, games, etc. are at the forefront of education. Instead of reading about the life of Eskimos in Alaska students can initiate an online chat with an actual Eskimo who lives in Alaska while using Google Earth to pinpoint their exact location. In addition, assessments such as multiple choice exams have been replaced with simulation exercises, student produced movies and plays, interactive websites, etc.  Do multiple choice tests and quizzes truly evaluate a students knowledge and ability to comprehend specific curriculum content? Incorporating technology into the assessment process allows educators to evaluate their students in real-world situations which prepares them for their future.

Technology allows the learning process to be limitless. Overall, technology has changed the field of education. Embracing technology is the key to success. Terry Heick agrees, technology has changed education and the way students learn by increasing the access to resources, erasing physical boundaries, and changing rules of communication. Communication is now in the form of texts and tweets. Educators must educate themselves on the current technology and resources available, therefore, they can pass on the knowledge to the next generation of learners and future educators which will help us adapt the definition of "literacy" to reflect the 21st century.

Think about it...How do you define literacy in the 21st century???

Technology in the Classroom

The world today is filled with tremendous amounts of technology. From i pads to Facebook, what is the best way to incorporate all of the technology into the classroom to benefit the 21st century learner? The first thing to do is educate the parents and the educators. Often times people are reluctant to utilize the current technology because they in fact are unsure how to use it themselves. As educators become more familiar with the technology and the benefits of social networking; resources such as twitter and edmodo can be utilized in the classroom to enhance learning.

Every person learns differently and at a different pace which makes it difficult to teach a lesson to a group of 30 people. Technology has solved this problem, lessons can be tailored to meet the needs of the more advanced learners as well as the average learners. Technology is multifaceted, multidimensional, and adaptable to any educational setting.  Now, just as we all have been introduced to all of the new technology available to us, there are more emerging technologies right around the corner. How do you keep up? You can set up a Personal Learning Network to support the  lifelong learner in you.