Howett’s Nursing Curriculum Revision Work Published in the Journal of Professional Nursing

By Sarah Goldthrite

Howett and co-authors Hannah Murphy, Amy Daniels, Jana Goodwin, Katie McElroy, Nicole Smith and Mary Pat Ulicny, all from the University of Maryland, detail their approach to revising the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum at the University of Maryland to align with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. This revision responds to the evolving needs of contemporary nursing education and aims to produce practice-ready nurses equipped with essential competencies.

“New standards for nursing education are transforming the way we educate nurses today and hopefully that translates to a transformation for the profession”, says Howett, who was a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Nursing before joining UB in 2023. “Nurses need additional education in wellness, population health, telehealth, and disaster management, among other new competencies.”

Key Features of the Curriculum Redesign:

• Expanded Electives and Specialized Courses: Introduction of new elective choices and specialized courses on wellness, resiliency and palliative care.
• Enhanced Clinical Experience: Increase in clinical hours, including simulations and community/public health experiences, providing students with a broad range of practical experiences.
• Competency-Based Education: Development of a new Clinical Evaluation Tool to assess students' skills and competencies in various healthcare settings.
• Focus on Social Determinants of Health: Integration of content and strategies addressing social determinants of health and structural racism, preparing students to handle diverse and complex patient needs.

The faculty's collaborative effort involved extensive data collection, analysis of national standards and active engagement with stakeholders, including clinical partners and advisory boards.

The curriculum redesign process was guided by Patricia Benner’s theory of Novice to Expert and Tanner’s model of clinical judgment, ensuring a robust and progressive learning framework. The Curriculum Revision Task Force worked through an extensive timeline, employing backward design principles to ensure the revised program outcomes and course structures were meticulously aligned with the AACN Essentials.

The first cohort of students under the new curriculum began their studies in August 2022 and graduated in May 2024.