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Use of Nursing Concepts in Program and Course Descriptions: An Analysis of Prelicensure Baccalaureate Nursing
Jane K Dickinson1, Samantha Juan, Arlene McGuane
1Program Director/Senior Lecturer (Dr Dickinson), Department of Health & Behavior Studies, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, New York; and Student (Mss Juan, McGuane, and McKenzie-Henry), Nursing Education Program, Department of Health & Behavior Studies, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, New York.
Background:
Ongoing discussions address how and when to introduce nursing concepts in nursing education.
Purpose:
To examine whether baccalaureate nursing programs use 4 nursing concepts in their program and course descriptions.
Methods:
Researchers explored websites of 300 US bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) programs and assigned scores based on how many of 4 nursing concepts (context, holism, health, and caring) were represented in program and 3 course descriptions.
Results:
Mean program and course scores were 2.51, 0.96, 1.17, and 1.18, respectively. Programs and courses included between 0 and 4 concepts in their descriptions. There was a significant difference in program scores between BSN programs in 4 US regions. The most frequently identified concept was "context" in program descriptions and "holism" in course descriptions.
Conclusions:
Discipline-specific concepts are missing in many baccalaureate programs and course descriptions, which raises questions about how and when nursing students are learning what nursing is.
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