Revisiting our roots: caring in nursing curriculum design

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Curriculum Design
• Affective Learning

Background:

• Caring is a core value in nursing education and practice.
• Curricular strategies for internalizing caring behaviors are not well-defined.
• Affective learning can be internalized through structured objectives and critical reflection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize theoretical frameworks for integrating caring objectives into nursing curricula.
• To propose a model for developing students' caring behaviors progressively.
• To provide examples of hierarchically leveled caring objectives for curriculum design.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia's taxonomy of affective objectives.
• Applied concepts from Mezirow's transformational learning theory.
• Synthesized theories to inform the design of caring-focused nursing curricula.

Main Results:

• A framework for integrating caring affective objectives into nursing curricula was synthesized.
• The proposed integration supports progressive development of students' caring behaviors.
• Examples of hierarchically structured caring objectives were developed.

Conclusions:

• Integrating caring objectives using established affective and transformational learning theories can enhance nursing education.
• This approach aims to cultivate nursing students' caring behaviors aligned with professional ideals.
• The study provides a foundation for designing more effective caring-centered nursing curricula.