Building a Curricular Structure to Cultivate Nurse Leaders Dedicated to Providing Care to Vulnerable Individuals

Sunday, 17 November 2019

Abigail S. Rea, MSN
Home, Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Ellen B. Buckner, PhD, RN, CNE, AE-C, FNAP
Ida Moffett School of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Samford University, Birmingham, AL, USA
Karen L. Carlson, PhD, RN
College of Nursing, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

The purpose of this leadership project is to create a purposeful and sustainable program in the Mount Saint Mary’s University (MSMU) nursing curriculum linking the Roy Adaptation Model to the care of vulnerable populations. This program exposes students to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ), who founded MSMU in 1948, and their ministries that provide care for vulnerable individuals. A secondary purpose is to build student and faculty leadership and scholarship of application of the Roy Adaptation Model (RAM) with vulnerable populations. This application of the RAM demonstrates that MSMU nursing programs are dedicated to producing nurse leaders that graduate with the knowledge and experience to provide holistic care promoting adaptation for vulnerable individuals in the communities in which they live and work.

This project is dedicated to aligning the mission and values of the CSJs, MSMU, and the nursing department and linking these across the baccalaureate curriculum at MSMU. This project is important because MSMU was started by the CSJs who have been dedicated to caring for vulnerable individuals including sick and homeless individuals since their beginning in 1644. Ministries established in the Los Angeles area by the CSJs post Vatican II have been focused on providing holistic care to vulnerable individuals. Their work has addressed the changes occurring in our modern society and they have been able to adapt to meet the needs of the communities in which they live and work (Williams, 2014).

The main goal of the leadership project is to establish a sustainable curriculum-based outreach partnership between the nursing department, CSJs, and their ministries that provide services to vulnerable individuals. This involved identifying a team of motivated individuals, working together to identify specific courses and outcomes of the nursing curriculum where MSMU nursing students could gain experience working on specific assignments that align with CSJ and MSMU mission and values. These assignments demonstrate the ability of MSMU nursing students to apply the Roy Adaptation Model while providing holistic nursing care.

Team members identified specific courses beginning at the sophomore level and began the process of creating assignments that focused on caring for individuals, families, and communities using the Roy Adaptation Model. These assignments focused on promoting adaptation for vulnerable individuals, families, and groups and will expose students at different levels of the nursing program to the process of developing holistic plans of care that will address the four adaptive modes of the Roy Adaptation Model (Roy, 2009). Team members also explored student experiences that would provide students with opportunities to provide nursing care to CSJs as well as vulnerable individuals. A framework was created that aligned these assignments and experiences to CSJ, MSMU, and the nursing department outcomes. Evaluative methods will be included to track progress as the outreach partnership is developed. This leadership project is a product of the Experienced Faculty Leadership Academy (ENFLA) of Sigma, The Honor Society of Nursing. It contributes to development of the faculty at MSMU and supports the mission of the Roy Adaptation Association in furthering the application of the RAM in education and practice environments.

See more of: Experienced Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy (ENFLA)
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