Curriculum Development Assignment Advice

The curriculum is an essential part of the training, especially in the sphere of healthcare. Health professionals require multivariate education, with a strong emphasis on practice. Yet, the competencies of a healthcare provider go beyond the administration of medical help. A curriculum program should incorporate various disciplines and educational tools to prepare health professionals and community nurses, in particular. This paper advises the faculty and course instructors who develop curriculums for community nurses as well as nurses themselves who wish to know the general direction of the program.

Emphasis of the Curriculum

First, a curriculum has to reflect the real-life needs of healthcare. The United States healthcare leaves out numerous people without the possibility to receive adequate medical help. Groups who cannot afford insurance coverage do not satisfy the prerequisites for healthcare delivery. Subsequently, a large percentage of underserved citizens are under the threat of contracting a disease or sustaining an injury that will not be treated by qualified professionals. In addition to the working people, the vulnerable population also includes infants and expectant mothers. As a result, the overall deficit of social justice is evident in healthcare.

Community nurses are the first instance that patients encounter while applying for admittance. Nurses are involved in delivering direct patient care, and their work is instrumental in treating ill people. They also communicate with the participants of private and governmental programs and have first-hand knowledge of deficiencies in hospitals and problems in the overall healthcare system. Subsequently, nurses have the capability to convey information about the needed reforms to their superior and initiate changes.

The purpose of this curriculum is to acknowledge the variety of tasks and challenges community nurses have to endure. All health professionals should be sufficiently prepared and trained to efficiently deliver qualified healthcare. However, their vision of the industry and the necessary developments are largely formed during their education. Therefore, the curriculum should incorporate elements of political and cultural upbringing. Looking in perspective, teaching nurses the unresolved issue of US healthcare may lead to positive future solutions.

Curriculum Teaching Methods

The curriculum should be developed with digital means of communication in mind. Modern technologies allow distance learning, which will likely be further incorporated into overall education. Gaining experience of using the Internet for completing the curriculum tasks and communicating with colleagues will enable community nurses to resort on online services for streamlining healthcare. Overall, there are two reasons for digitalizing the curriculum program.

First, electronic means of communication allow for interaction-based learning. Cloud services ease the distribution and use of audiovisual materials. Having computers or other electronic devices in the vicinity during online lessons lets students make quick corrections to their homework and exchange ideas without interrupting the instructor. It is possible to develop online scenarios of managing healthcare clients’ complaints, which will help nurses acquire experience in the field of patient-caretaker communication. Naturally, all these activities proceed more productively on a digital basis.

Second, the ongoing pandemic underscores the need for social distancing. Electronic communication eliminates the threat of contracting air-borne viruses, and students with ailments or disabilities can also participate (Gustafsson, 2020). It is unlikely that COVID-19 will cease to be a public health issue requiring people to limit physical and social exposure in a short time. Thus, it is sensible to promote and use online learning as a viable and, in some cases, a more efficient alternative to a traditional classroom.

Informational Support

The curriculum program should be based on the relevant data. The most appropriate information for health professionals is the one retrieved from evidence-based practice. Therefore, it is necessary to task the program students to familiarize themselves with real-life healthcare cases. By connecting the program to the actual practice, the instructors will make it more interesting for the nurses and helpful to their future work.

Another informational aspect that ought to be included in the curriculum is cultural differences. A common issue arising out of a diverse interpretation of attitudes and actions is patient-nurse misunderstandings. Patients may experience distrust to the nurse who does not respect cultural boundaries, thus having a negative impact on healthcare delivery. As the world becomes more diverse, cultural differentiation is a rising necessity in nurse education.

Medical illiteracy is a common problem in treating patients as they seek medical attention after failing to prevent the illness. Raising health awareness can be targeted by the course instructors within the curriculum program. Not only will it make use of the electronic means of information distributing for this program, but it will also encourage patients to learn more about health and prevent ailments from developing. As a result, teaching nurses to share medically relevant information in a clear and concise manner will ease health promotion.

Conclusion

Altogether, the curriculum for community nurses should be comprised of several integral parts. First, the program should cover existing problems in the healthcare area. Second, instructors should prioritize online communication and interaction-based learning. Finally, the course materials should be provided with relevant data that also include cultural differences and basic illness prevention information. Hopefully, the faculty and course instructors will make the curriculum program as comprehensive as possible, enabling community nurses to change American healthcare for the better.

Reference

Gustafsson, L. (2020). Occupational therapy has gone online: What will remain beyond COVID‐19? Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 67(3), 197-198. Web.