Development of Curriculum Assessment Template for Targeted Student Outcomes in a BSN Program

To be accredited, nursing education programs in the United States are required to be in compliance with designated accreditation standards including pertinent nursing standards and guidelines. These guidelines, such as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN)(2008) The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education of Professional Nursing Practice, outline what are expected outcomes of graduates from the program. One of the challenges for nursing education programs seeking accreditation is to track and measure the required student outcomes.

One nursing baccalaureate (BSN) program in conjunction with the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy conducted a team project to support the development and evaluation of student progression toward safe nursing practice in regard to targeted student outcomes identified from the AACN’s (2008) Baccalaureate Essentials. The purpose of the pilot project was to create a comprehensive evaluation plan for targeted student outcomes in the BSN curriculum. The objectives of the project were to analyze the integration of the student outcomes throughout the traditional and accelerated BSN programs and to map current assessment activities designed to evaluate the outcomes including the assessment type and level of Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy, ensuring progressive student development. The project was conducted over the 2014-2015 academic year. The team members analyzed course materials and assessment activities from the 16 undergraduate nursing courses from both the traditional and accelerated programs with input from the course coordinators of those nursing courses. One of the outcomes of the project was the development of a curriculum assessment template that was used by the team members in evaluating the BSN curriculum. This template can serve as a guide to help nursing education programs track targeted student outcomes, identify areas for restructuring, and show progressive development of the student in regard to targeted student outcomes.