RESTRUCTURING OF A GRADUATE NURSE CURRICULUM

The Restructuring of

Graduate Registered Nurse Orientation Curriculum

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction3

Purpose4

Design/methodology/approach5

Findings5

Research limitations/implications -5

Originality/value -6

Chapter 2: Literature Review7

Registered Nurse Curriculum (Integrated)14

History of Concern16

Chapter 3: Methodology26

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion29

Theme one: socio-cultural influences on learning: The value of learning30

The family as the controller of learning34

Theme two: the experience of past learning36

Theme three: transforming the learning experience38

Chapter 5: Conclusion44

Limitations50

Recommendations50

References52

Chapter 1: Introduction

This paper provides an overview of research undertaken between 2001 and 2002. This study explored the lived experience of learning for a group of staff nurses in the Middle East, who undertook a post registration nursing education programme in the specialty of nephrology nursing (the NNP). It comprises an academic year of study, with a 50:50 split of theory and clinical practice, followed by a six-month clinical internship.

The participants had come from a behaviourist learning tradition that resulted in rote learning and memorisation, and the compartmentalisation of knowledge, a common experience among learners (Mitchell, 1993; Woodcock, 1993; Macdonald and Walsh, 1994; Business Today, 2000).

To meet international, primarily Western standards of specialist practice and education (UKCC, 1994 cited by Castledine, 1995), the NNP, through a broad-based curriculum, sought to develop the staff nurses into active learners, able to utilise a new body of specialist nursing knowledge and skills in the appropriate manner. This meant the participants had to adopt and adapt to different teaching and learning methodologies, which would challenge their past learning experiences. They would be expected to develop a reflective ability, along with problem- solving and critical thinking skills.

Consequently, this study sought to identify the participants' experience of trying to incorporate these new learning strategies into their practice, and the effects they experienced as a result. The study used the case study method as it created a vehicle to study this unique group of participants, in a revelatory study. Focus group interviews, combined with field observations and document reviews were the chosen methods of data collection. One intake of 20 NNP students, formed the bounded “case”, used in this study, a specific group, during a specific period, the period of their academic study (Stake, 1994).

Purpose

This study aims to explore the lived experience of learning for a group of staff nurses in the Middle East, who undertook a post-registration nursing education programme in the speciality of nephrology nursing (the NNP) between 2001 and 2002. The broad-based curriculum seeks to develop the staff nurses into active learners, able to utilise a new body of specialist nursing knowledge and skills, which challenges their previous behaviourist learning tradition. This study seeks to identify the students' experience of trying to incorporate new learning strategies into their practice, and the effects they experienced as a result.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study methodology was used to study this unique group of 20 participants. Data were collected using focus group interviews, combined with field observations and document reviews.

Findings

Thematic analysis revealed three themes, “Social-cultural influences on learning” with two sub-themes, “Past experiences of learning” with two sub-themes, and “Transforming the learning experience” with three ...