A proposed framework for evaluation of support courses in a nursing curriculum

Evaluation of nursing educational programmes has received increased attention since the early 1970s. Many evaluation models have been proposed; they are intended for evaluation of the total educational programme, but provide little evidence on the relevancy of the support courses to nursing practice. This paper describes one nursing school's experience in evaluation of a support course. The nature and sources of problems and difficulties encountered during the evaluation process are also discussed. The authors propose a framework for evaluation of support courses in a nursing curriculum. This framework is an application of the Glaser, Stufflebeam and Stake models of programme evaluation. It is designed to assist nurse educators to strive for sound curriculum decisions.