Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 18, September 16, 2024
PURPOSE: This amendment aligns clinical simulation
and distance education with the nursing curriculum.
(1) General Purpose.
(A) The program shall have a philosophy
and/or mission which guides the curriculum practices.
(B) The curriculum incorporates established
professional standards, guidelines, and competencies with clearly stated
objectives, graduate competencies, and program outcomes.
(C) The educational program shall provide
planned learning experiences essential to the achievement of the stated
philosophy and/or mission and graduate competencies of the program and
demonstrate logical progression.
(D) The educational program shall provide
clinical education to facilitate transition to practice as a practical nurse,
which includes clinical decision making, leadership, and management under the
supervision of a registered nurse or a physician.
(E) A nursing program that uses clinical
simulation shall adhere to model standards of best practice. Mapping of
clinical simulation experiences to course and clinical objectives as well as
graduate competencies should be documented.
(2) Curriculum Organization and Development.
(A) The nursing faculty shall have the
authority and the responsibility to develop, implement, and evaluate the
curriculum. Student learning experiences shall be directed and evaluated by the
faculty and be consistent with the curriculum plan.
(B) There shall be a written curriculum plan
that is logically structured to achieve expected individual and aggregate
student outcomes.
(C) Curriculum
design of programs of practical nursing shall foster seamless academic
articulation toward a program of professional nursing.
(D) The curriculum shall be planned so that
the number of hours/credits/units of instruction are distributed between
theory, lab, and clinical. The curriculum plan shall indicate credit hours, if
utilized, and clock hours allocated to theory, lab, and clinical
instruction.
(E) Curriculum shall
be planned so that each division of the curriculum (whether it be a quarter,
term, or semester) has a reasonably equal number of credit hours of instruction
and has a beginning and ending date.
(F) The number of credit or clock hours
required for completion of the nursing program may not exceed the number of
credit hours required for a comparable program.
(3) Curriculum Requirements. Content may be
developed as a separate course or integrated. Integrated concepts shall be
evident in the course objectives. Instruction shall be provided in the
following areas:
(A) Biological and Physical
Sciences. Content from these sciences shall include:
1. Anatomy and physiology;
2. Nutrition; and
3. Pharmacology;
(B) Social and Behavioral Sciences. Content
from these sciences shall include concepts of:
1. Communication;
2. Interpersonal relations;
3. Culturally and spiritually sensitive
care;
4. Patient involvement in
decision making and care management; and
5. Promotion of healthy lifestyles for
patients and populations;
(C) Growth and development/life
span;
(D) Nursing Science. Theory
and clinical instruction in nursing shall be based on the nursing process and
encompass the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of physical and mental
health and the prevention of illness for individuals and groups throughout the
life cycle. Content shall enable the student to develop competency in each of
the following areas while preparing for safe and effective practice as a
practical nurse:
1. Fundamentals of
nursing;
2. Nursing of
adults;
3. Nursing of
children;
4. Nursing of the
elderly;
5. Maternal and newborn
nursing;
6. Mental health
concepts;
7. Administration of
medications; dosage calculation should be included;
8. IV therapy;
9. Leadership/management concepts, to include
coordinating and managing continuous patient care;
10. Evidence-based practice;
11. Culturally sensitive care that is
patient-centered, to include respect for patient differences, values,
preferences, and expressed needs;
12. Patient safety;
13. Quality of care; and
14. Use of information technology to
communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision
making;
15. Measures to equip
students to face unique psychosocial, spiritual, and physical stressors that
healthcare professionals may encounter while carrying out their
duties;
(E) Personal and
vocational concepts shall exist as a discrete course in the curriculum and
include the following content:
1. Ethical and
legal aspects of nursing;
2.
Nursing history and trends;
3. Role
of the practical and professional nurse;
4. Inter-professional approach to patient
care; and
5. Quality improvement
processes; and
(F)
External nursing examinations, if used, shall not be used solely for program
progression or graduation.
(4) Syllabus Construction. Syllabi shall be
current and available to all faculty, students, and cooperating agencies. Each
syllabus shall include:
(A) Course title,
current date and year the course is offered, and required
pre-requisites;
(B) Course
description;
(C) Course
objectives;
(D) Teaching or
learning strategies;
(E)
Evaluation methodologies;
(F)
Grading scale;
(G) Course
policies; and
(H) Clock hour
requirements related to theory, lab, and clinical instruction. Each syllabus
should reflect credit hour requirements for theory, lab, and clinical
instruction, if used.
(5)
Distance Education Measures and Opportunities.
(A) Nursing programs and courses delivered
solely or in part through distance education technologies shall meet the same
academic program and learning standards as programs provided in face-to-face
format, to include the following:
1.
Budgetary support specific to distance learning resources;
2. Course management/delivery platform(s)
that are reliable and navigable for students and faculty including measures to
ensure exam security shall be in place;
3. Sufficient technical support to assist
students and faculty to consistently meet program outcomes including
communication of available technical support should be provided to
students;
4. Learning and
technology resources, to include library resources, that are selected with
input of the nursing faculty and are comprehensive, current, and accessible to
students and faculty;
5. Student
outcomes consistent with stated mission, goals, and objectives of the
program;
6. Collaborative and
interactive learning activities that assist students in achieving course
objectives;
7. Planned,
faculty-guided, clinical learning experiences that involve direct contact with
patients;
8. Learning opportunities
that facilitate development of students' clinical competence and judgment, role
socialization, and transition to nursing practice;
9. Evaluation of student outcomes at set
intervals;
10. Tracking of student
retention and completion rates on ongoing basis;
11. Faculty and student input into the
evaluation process; and
12.
Evidence that outcome data are consistently utilized to plan and improve
distance learning.
*Original authority: 335.036, RSMo 1975, amended 1981,
1985, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 335.071, RSMo 1975, amended 1981,
1999.