Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2025

Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques
Published on: December 9, 2022
Leverage pre-requisite courses to teach bachelor of science in nursing students about social determinants of health
Lisa Muirhead1, Rose Hayes1, Melinda Higgins1
1Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, 1520 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States of America.
Background:
Nurses have frequent opportunities to address social determinants of health (SDOH) in practice. However, many nurses graduate without completing coursework in SDOH, and there remain barriers to incorporating SDOH content into nursing curricula.
Purpose:
We propose the revision of nursing pre-requisites to include substantive, introductory coursework on SDOH.
Method:
We explored the history and professional context surrounding nursing's current pre-requisite course expectations. We also performed an assessment of the credit hour requirements and pre-requisite course titles for the nation's 100 top-ranked nursing programs.
Findings:
Our assessment revealed that the allocation of credit hour requirements for most programs leaves little room for SDOH-focused credits once nursing coursework starts; also, based on title analyses, foundational coursework on SDOH may be missing from most programs' pre-requisite listings.
Discussion:
Nursing pre-requisites should include SDOH content for reasons including the limited availability of credit hours for SDOH-focused electives and the importance of students developing a strong foundation in SDOH before their nursing coursework begins.
Related Concept Videos
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching I: Assessment and Diagnosis
It is critical to determine the patient's learning needs during the assessment. Determination of learning needs compounds data...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching II: Planning and Implementation
Fundamentals of Nursing Process II
Factors affecting Blood pressure
Physiological Factors:
Overview of Biostatistics in Health Sciences
Fundamentals of Nursing Process I

