Date of Award
2001
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Ruth M. McKeefery
Committee Member
Richard E. Hoehlein
Committee Member
Daniel L. Austin
Keywords
Copilot said: accreditation, articulation agreement, attrition, BSN, career mobility, Competency Outcomes Performance Assessment, curriculum change, curriculum modification, development research methodology, diploma nursing program, educational track, evaluation, focus groups, governing board, hospital-based nursing program, implementation, implementation plan, Lenberg, literature synthesis, Medical Center, National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, non-nursing support courses, nursing education, nursing program, Petersburg, population growth, questionnaire, recruitment methods, registered nurses, regulatory standards, RN, service area, Southside Regional Medical Center, SRMC, statewide consortium, student recruitment, systematic evaluation, three-year program, two-year curriculum, university transfer, Virginia, Virginia Board of Nursing
Abstract
Southside Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Petersburg, Virginia had experienced an increased demand for registered nurses because of growth in the population of its service area and a decrease in the number of graduates from its nursing program. The three-year hospital-based diploma nursing program had a decrease in the number of applicants to the school and an increase in attrition of enrolled students. The purpose of the project was to develop a two-year hospital-based diploma nursing program that included an educational track for career mobility and plans for implementation and evaluation from the current three-year program.
The development research methodology was the principal process used to conduct this study. Synthesis of the literature, responses to a questionnaire sent to deans/directors of other hospital-based nursing programs about the impact of curriculum change on their school, and results obtained from focus groups were additional tools used in this study. Criteria and standards of the regulatory and accreditation agencies governing nursing education programs were used to guide the completion of the project. The framework for the two-year hospital-based diploma nursing program was developed using a modified version of Lenberg's theory of Competency Outcomes Performance Assessment. Non-nursing support courses that could be transferred to an RN to BSN program at a local university were included as part of the curriculum modification. A draft of an articulation agreement between the diploma program and a local university was designed, but not implemented, because of the impending development of a statewide consortium.
A plan for implementation of the proposed two-year curriculum was submitted to the administration and the governing board of the Medical Center. Both groups, as well as the Virginia Board of Nursing and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, approved the implementation plan. A plan for systematic evaluation of the proposed two-year project was developed using the current standards and criteria published by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.
The recommendations for the project included implementation of the two-year curriculum as developed and exploration of additional recruitment methods to attract students to the school.