Using The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (2008) as a Framework for Curriculum Revision

Curriculum development is often seen as an arduous process by faculty in nursing education. Curriculum revisions need to take place based on profound changes in science, a more complex health care system, technology, and more current models of curriculum design. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing's The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice is an organizational framework that can easily be used during a nursing program's curriculum revision process. The redesign of nursing curricula is urgent and needs to reflect the integration of clinical and classroom learning consistent with the language found in the Baccalaureate Essentials, standards of the institutions' accrediting bodies, and the state boards of nursing. An additional consideration to ensure high-quality nursing education and student outcomes is to include a review of the National Council State Board of Nursing's Test Plan to identify gaps in content identified as essential to safe practice.