Palliative Care Concepts Should be Integrated into the Nursing Curriculum

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Nurse educators lay the groundwork when preparing to teach nursing classes. When considering curriculum development there are several things to keep in mind such as making the nursing classes as useful and interesting as possible, and also want ensuring that the information is inclusive of current standards of care, that is comprehendible for the learner. According to Billings and Halstead (2009) the design of curricula is to provide a sequence of learning experiences that enables the student learner to achieve educational outcomes and desires. Critical choices are made along with creative approaches necessary to enhance student's cognitive abilities and receptivity. A fundamental question for faculty is to ask what will the students learn and know upon completion of their educational experience. Debate and discussion continues concerning the technical elements that should be present in nursing education, the temptation to base curricular decisions on technical knowledge, overlooking the relevance of other elements, is short sighted. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the aspects of curriculum development for establishment a new School of Nursing release of the schools Palliative Care Curricula.

Educational Needs and Rationale

The steps and tasks inherent in the three curriculum development phases are planning, design and application. Curriculum development ought to proceed according to a clear curriculum development strategy. Such a strategy could be established through a curriculum development model. A curriculum development model will guide nurse educators through the curriculum development process to ensure that curriculum development is conducted systematically and comprehensively. The majority...

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...e for specific palliative care scenarios that students will encounter during clinical placements. Teacher-based instruction, discussion, on-line and tutorial case-based learning

Conclusion

Palliative care concepts need to be integrated into nursing curriculum to produce nurses with graduate capabilities to deliver a palliative approach and to better meet the needs of the growing numbers of people who are living longer with chronic illnesses and rising consumer expectations. Program evaluation is necessary to to evaluate the palliative care capabilities of our nursing graduates.

References

Geldard and Geldard, 1998. Geldard K, Geldard D. Basic personal counselling. Australia: Pearson Education. Retrieved from http://www.collegianjournal.com/article/PIIS1322769610000284/fulltext#back-bib16 on June 13, 2011.

Johannes (2010)

Ramjan (2010)

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