The Role of the BSN Nurse in Promoting Community Health

Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning

Course Outline Template

Facilitation of Context-Based Student-Centered Learning

Course Course-Related Information

The emergence of new and complicated diseases has raised the need for more effective nursing services. In particular, the need to mitigate and control the spread of diseases necessitates the involvement of community nurses at all levels in the health care system, right from policy formulation and implementation particularly at the community level. Unfortunately, despite the increasing demand for nurses, the profession continues to suffer from understaffing, leading to serious inconviniences in the healthcare sector (Bae, 2012, 61). In addition, the shortage of nurses with high levels of education that can help in policy formulation and implementation continues to hurt service delivery, leading to negative health outcomes even for diseases and conditions that are easily manageable (Bae, 2012, 61). Therefore, there is a need to ensure an adequate supply of highly trained nurses, particularly those involved in disease management and prevention at the community level.

The BSN program will go along way in solving the challenges currently bedeviling the health care system, particularly the shortage of highly trained community health nurses. The eight week training program will present substantial benefits not only to the trainees but also to the entire healthcare system. In particular, the course will impart the leaners with knowledge and skills necessary for proper decision making regarding the effect of different types of drugs on the body, maternal and child care and other vital areas relating to human health. Possessing such vital skills is essential for solving the challenges posed by complicated health conditions. Besides improving the healthcare system, the course will present the nurses with an opportunity for career growth, as many agencies and institutions prefer professionals with a baccalaurete degree. On the whole, the BSN program will improve the healthcare system by introducing a highly skilled workforce that is critical for proper service delivery. Regarding the individual nurses, the program will present an excellent opportunity for career progression.    

Aspects of the Course

The BSN course is integral in improving healthcare delivery particularly at the community level. The suitability of this course for community health workers stems from its ability to train learners on a broad range of topics, ranging from microbiology, nutrition and diet, nursing research, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology and other vital topics touching on healthcare. In order to draw maximum benefits and impact, the program will involve courses on general nurse education and clinical trials. A comprehensive coverage of the different course topics highlighted above and involvement in the clinical trials will present the learners with two main advantages. Firstly, it will improve their knowledge and skills and ultimately enhance their efficacy in patient care. Secondly, the course will position the nurses for career development.

Cultivation of the course

The course has been modeled in a manner that encourages interactive learning. Accordingly, even though the trainers will be primarily responsible for imparting knowledge, the learners will be encouraged to participate in the process through offering suggestions and opinions that can make learning better. Generally, this multi-level approach to learning aims to push the entire group towards the same direction, since the interaction will necessitate establishing a common ground regarding course concepts and delivery methods. Han & Zhang (2015, 2638) contend that a multi-level approach is flexible and thus highly convenient for learners with diverse backgrounds since it encourages varying outcomes. As such, even though the program will require close cooperation and partnership between the learners and trainers, there will be room for varying outcomes. Deploying this approach will ensure all the concerns, weaknesses and strengths of the participants are taken into consideration.

Weekly Module Topics

            Week one.  The learners will be taken through a comprehensive review of the roles and responsibilities of nurses. The training will focus on the role of nurses in improving health at the community level.

Week two.  During the second week, students will be introduced to the impact of communicable and noncommunicable diseases on health. For effective learning, engage in an educational outreach program that will allow them to witness the impact of such diseases.

Week three. The program will focus on modes of microorganism infections and their impact on health. The trainers will focus on methods of prevention and their role in improving health outcomes.

Week four.  Explaining the different body structures and their significance in enhancing health will be critical. Learners will learn how infections affect different body parts.

Week five.  The course will focus on the impact of sociological systems on health. In particular, the program will focus on how human relationships can cause diseases.

Week six.  The learners will be introduced to the concept of family health and the different therapeautic methods that can be used to improve health and prevent diseases. Learning will also focus on the causes of diseases at the family level in order to establish the appropriate intervention or prevention mechanism.

Week seven.  The training will focus on the therapeutic elements of the different drugs used in the treatment of diseases. The nurses will learn on the chemical composition of such drugs and their side effects.

Week eight.  The eighth week will see the learners taken through the concept of maternal and child care. In particular, the course will focus on disease prevention during pregnancy, birth and infancy.

Student-Centered Learning

Week one. In order to ensure maximum impact, the learners will participate in nursing information sessions at different levels. Engaging in policy discussion and formulation at different levels will provide an opportunity to put class knowledge into practice.

Week two.  Students will engage in an educational outreach exercise in order to learn how to use different management tools used in disease control. This exercise will enhance their understanding of diseases and their impact on health.

Week three.  The trainers will incorporate Team Based Learning (TBL) in order to ensure collaboration between the teacher and learner. This approach will make the course interactive and exciting (James, Cogan, & McCollum, 2019).

Week four.  The learners will be encouraged to adopt peer-assisted learning. In this context, the nurses will be encouraged to form groups and help each other in the learning process.

Week five.  The course will encourage cooperative learning. Utilizing cooperative learning method will enhance unity, enabling the learners to share their experiences on sociological systems.

Week six.  The course will involve formulating therapeutic nursing methods. Formulating a work program that can be used in the provision of care to sick people in different settings.

Week seven.  At week 7, the course will entail establishing the therapeautic aspects of the drugs used in the treatment of common diseases. Evaluating case studies involving the use of different drugs will help establish the chemical composition of different drugs and their therapeautic value (Mesquita et al, 2015).

Week eight. The program will focus on programs for providing care to women and newborns. An education enrichment method that allows learners to make systematic decisions regarding patient care will enhance the learner’s understanding of this concept.

Professional Standards and Guidelines

Dealing with complex health conditions necessitates developing a workforce with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for proper decision making especially in environments undergoing constant change. In order to develop such a workforce, there is a need to deploy mechanisms that can ensure professionalism and enhance competence. This program utilized the Quality And Safety Education For Nurses (QSEN), a professional standard used to enhance the safety and efficacy of the healthcare system. Ideally, the standard enhances nurses’ knowledge, skills and attitudes, making it easy for them to make proper decisions at all levels within the healthcare framework (Dolansky & Moore, 2013, 66). As such, its use in this program will enhance competence, leading to positive outcomes.

The key concept created in this outline is the importance of ensuring nurses and other workers in the healthcare setting are adequately equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for service delivery in different healthcare settings. Hall, Moore, & Barnsteiner (2008, 421) contends that proper training of nurses can enhance the safety and efficacy of the healthcare system. For this reason, the concept aligns with QSEN.

Concept Alignment

  Relevance of Course Outline

Creating a course outline is essential in ensuring the success of a nurse educator. Firstly, a course outline provides an effective framework for selecting and designing course content, instructional methods and learning materials (Bastable, 2017, 444). In addition, an outline of the entire couse enables learners to organize themselves, making learning easy and convenient (Bastable, 2017, 444). Thirdly, the outline helps the nurse educator establish th extent to which the study objectives have been achieved.

Learning Strategies

One To One Instruction.

The one to one instruction method is an effective learning strategy that can help equip nursing students with the knowledge, skills and attitude necessary for efficient service delivery. Under this approach, the teacher specifically targets a particular student (Bastable, 2017, 361). Information is conveyed through verbal and non verbal exchanges. Generally, the one to one instruction approach helps the educator attend to the unique needs of every learner.

Demonstration and Return Demonstration.

The demonstration and return demonstration is one of the learning strategies deployed in the BSN program. Ideally, demonstration allows the teacher to demonstrate to the learner how to perform a particular task, while return demonstration entails the learner emulating the educator (Bastable, 2017, 364). Using this method will facilitate learning since the students will learn from experienced trainers.

Simulation

Simulation is a common learning strategy used by nurse educators. The method entails creating an artificial experience that reflects real-life activities or conditions (Bastable, 2017, 369). Simulation provides learners with an opportunity to solve problems as they would in real life.

Learning Strategy Implementation

I will implement the one to one instructional method by conducting first conducting an evaluation of the learner’s strengths and weaknesses. Thereafter, I will engage the learner in order to set mutual objectives that they need to meet.

            Predominant learning style.  In my view, setting mutual objectives is the predominant learning style, since it allows the students to choose goals based on their abilities.

            Development of clinical reasoning and self-reflection.  Generally, one to one learning will enhance the development of clinical reasoning, making it possible for the learner to reason independently and provide efficient services. Using this approach enhances interaction and cooperation between educators and learners, making it possible for the latter to acquire the course content using methods that suit their strengths.

Interprofessional Collaboration and Student-Centered Outcomes

Generally, interprofessional collaboration and teamwork is essential in the delivery of healthcare services. In addition, it enhances learning especially in an educational setting, making it possible for learners to collaborate with educators in goal setting. The most important aspect about interprofessional collaboration is that it bridges communication gaps, therefore enabling stakeholders in the healthcare setting to share information that can help provide comprehensive patient care services (Morley & Cashell, 2017, 210). Besides, the concept enhances unity and team mentality, enabling healthcare workers to focus on a common objective.

Face-to-Face

Nurse educators can foster face to face interprofessional colloborations by focusing on activities and ideas that can address the individual learner’s needs. For example, by first evaluating the learner’s strengths and weaknesses, the educator can formulate a learning strategy that can tap and build on the strengths while improving on the weak areas.

Online Setting

Nursing educators operating in an online platform can foster student centered outcomes through several approaches. Firstly, educators can ensure social presence by revealing their details to the learners and welcoming the students every time a class starts (Myers & O’Brien, 2015). In addition, lecturers can ensure positive outcomes by continually posting audi and video messages summarizing the course content.

Clinical Setting

In order to foster student centered outcomes in a clinical setting, a nurse educator should provide examples or conduct demonstration exercises that can help the learners get acquainted with different treatment and intervention strategies. For example, one can conduct lab demonstrations and directly answer questions in order to promote interprofessional collaboration and teamwork.

Student Cultural, Societal, Life Experiences and Learning

Generally such factors as culture, societal mannerisms and life experiences have fundamental impacts on learning. In particular, diverse backgrounds and life experiences enhance learning by promoting creativity and critical thinking mainly due to the conflicting ideas and principles (Wells, Fox, & Cordova-Cobo, (2016). The clash of ideas or values promotes deeper learning.

Integrating Learning Theoretical Frameworks into Nursing Courses

Constructivist Theory

The constructivist theory is one of the models that can be used to develop a nursing education course. In particular, the theory can be deployed in promoting effective education by focusing on genuine experiences, enabling the learners to integrate new ideas with the existing knowledge (Aliakbari, Parvin, Heidari, & Haghani, 2015). In addition, the theory promotes other factors such as collective evaluation of experiences, and individual reflections that are critical in enhancing health outcomes (Aliakbari et al., 2015). Overall, the constructivist theory can help develop nursing courses by focusing on practical learning.

References

Aliakbari, F., Parvin, N., Heidari, M., & Haghani, F. (2015). Learning theories application in nursing education. Journal of education and health promotion, 4.

Bastable, S. B. (2017). Nurse as educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Bae, S. H. (2012). Nursing overtime: why, how much, and under what working conditions. Nursing Economics, 30(2), 60-71.

Byrd, M. E., Costello, J., Shelton, C. R., Thomas, P. A., & Petrarca, D. (2004). An active learning experience in health policy for baccalaureate nursing students. Public Health Nursing, 21(5), 501-506.

Culha, I. (2019). Active learning methods used in nursing education. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 3(2), 74.

Dolansky, M. A., & Moore, S. M. (2013). Quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN): The key is systems thinking. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(3), 1.

Fairall, L. R., Folb, N., Timmerman, V., Lombard, C., Steyn, K., Bachmann, M. O., … & Gaziano, T. (2016). Educational outreach with an integrated clinical tool for nurse-led non-communicable chronic disease management in primary care in South Africa: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial. PLoS medicine, 13(11), e1002178.

Han, L., & Zhang, Y. (2015, February). Learning multi-level task groups in multi-task learning. In Twenty-Ninth AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence.

Hall, L. W., Moore, S. M., & Barnsteiner, J. H. (2008). Quality and nursing: Moving from a concept to a core competency. Urologic Nursing, 28(6), 417-425.

James, S., Cogan, P., & McCollum, M. (2019). Team Based Learning for Immunology Courses in Allied Health Programs. Frontiers in immunology, 10, 2477.

McCormack, B., Dewing, J., Breslin, L., Coyne‐Nevin, A., Kennedy, K., Manning, M., … & Slater, P. (2010). Developing person‐centred practice: nursing outcomes arising from changes to the care environment in residential settings for older people. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 5(2), 93-107.

Mesquita, A. R., Souza, W. M., Boaventura, T. C., Barros, I. M., Antoniolli, A. R., Silva, W. B., & Lyra Junior, D. P. (2015). The effect of active learning methodologies on the teaching of pharmaceutical care in a Brazilian pharmacy faculty. PLoS One, 10(5), e0123141.

Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of medical imaging and radiation sciences, 48(2), 207-216.

Myers, C. T., & O’Brien, S. P. (2015). Teaching interprofessional collaboration: Using online education across institutions. Occupational therapy in health care, 29(2), 178-185.

Pashaeypoor, S., Ashktorab, T., Rassouli, M., & Alavi_Majd, H. A. M. I. D. (2017). Experiences of nursing students of evidence-based practice education according to rogers’ diffusion of innovation model: a directed content analysis. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 5(4), 203.

Wells, A. S., Fox, L., & Cordova-Cobo, D. (2016). How racially diverse schools and classrooms can benefit all students. The Education Digest, 82(1), 17.

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