Transforming the curriculum while serving the community: strategies for developing community-based sites

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Community Health

Background:

• Developing effective community-based clinical opportunities for nursing students presents significant challenges.
• Traditional clinical placements may not adequately prepare students for diverse community health needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the curriculum transformation at San Jose State University (SJSU) School of Nursing.
• To detail the development and implementation of faculty-directed, student-delivered community-based clinical experiences.

Main Methods:

• Faculty redesigned the nursing curriculum to incorporate novel community-based clinical experiences.
• Students delivered healthcare services under faculty guidance within community settings.

Main Results:

• The new structure provides a framework for educating nursing students in real-world community settings.
• Enhanced student ability to deliver healthcare to underserved populations was observed.

Conclusions:

• The implemented community-based clinical experiences offer a viable model for nursing education.
• Strategies are provided to assist other institutions in developing similar programs to improve community health outreach.