Improving the Curriculum for Nursing Students

Siegrist (2004) pointed out that adequate preparation of Bachelor of Science and Nursing (BSN) graduates has been complicated by increased competition among educational institutions, including competition for clinical practice and internship sites. Virtually all nursing students must participate in some fairly lengthy clinical internship or student practice. As nursing becomes a more specialized profession, institutions of learning are competing to permit their students to occupy somewhat limited internship opportunities at, for example, public health clinics, emergency rooms, and so forth. Increasing these opportunities in communities in which nursing schools are located is one of the changes that Siegrist (2004) supports.

Nursing education must take on the responsibility of preparing future practitioners in a number of

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practice in hospital settings do so without being adequately prepared for the specific assignment or special field in which they will be working. White (2003) commented on the need for curricular change in nursing education as well. This researcher argued that nurse educators are faced with the challenge of implementing educational programs that value the diversity of students and that positively portray this diversity while meeting the overall goals of the institution. Educational institutions play a major role in shaping the attitudes and beliefs of students. Nurses will invariably be serving an increasingly multicultural and diverse patient population and themselves will be drawn from different ethnic backgrounds, classes, religions, and native languages. Consequently, a proactive nursing curriculum must inevitably include lessons and courses in cultural diversity, cultural and its influence on health and wellness beliefs and practices, and issues related to cultural pluralism. IN this same context, White (2003) calls for incorporating alternative nursing and medical knowledge and practices into nursing curriculum. Alternative medicine and other holistic strategies are being carefully scrutinized by Western practitio
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Approximate Word count = 1268
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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