Designing Integrated Courses in an RN-to-BSN Program.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Curriculum Development
• Instructional Design

Background:

• Newly revised Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum required development of first-term courses.
• Collaboration between faculty and instructional designers was essential for curriculum implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and implementation of first-term courses for a revised RN-to-BSN curriculum.
• To explore a novel approach to student assessment using integrated assignments.

Main Methods:

• The ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) model was utilized as the framework for course development.
• Integrated assignments were designed to span across multiple courses, assessing student learning holistically.

Main Results:

• Students successfully demonstrated achievement of learning objectives across all three courses.
• Integrated assignments facilitated the synthesis and application of newly acquired knowledge and skills by students.

Conclusions:

• The ADDIE model provided an effective framework for developing and implementing the revised RN-to-BSN curriculum.
• Integrated assignments offer a viable method for assessing student learning and demonstrating mastery of course objectives in nursing education.