Faculty Identification of Competencies Addressing Quality and Safety Education in Alabama Associate Degree Nursing Education Programs

This presentation will  describe the extent to which Alabama associate degree nursing faculty, implementing a standardized curriculum, implement the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) selected competencies of safety and teamwork and collaboration. Full-time nursing faculty with a minimum of three years teaching in the Alabama Community College System associate degree schools of nursing participated in a Web survey. The survey instrument was created to incorporate the two selected QSEN competencies’ knowledge, skills and attitude statements.

The participants were predominantly female holding a master’s degree in nursing with teaching responsibilities in both the classroom and clinical setting and had 10 years of teaching experience on average. Faculty were asked to identify the hours of direct classroom and clinical instruction dedicated to each knowledge and skill statement and rate the attitude statements in relation to importance of inclusion in the curriculum. The data reflected inconsistencies between hours of instruction and the importance rating for each attitude statement. The findings of this study did not indicate QSEN knowledge, skills or attitudes had current widespread inclusion in the Alabama associate degree nursing curriculum.

This was the first study to explore evidence of the QSEN knowledge, skill and attitude statements within the Alabama standardized curriculum. Implications from this study suggest the concepts of quality and safety, though familiar to faculty, are not identifiable nor taught at the complexity level which relates to 1) safety and 2) teamwork and collaboration. A review of the state-wide curriculum may be warranted.  Changes warranted in faculty teaching perspectives and further research needed will be discussed.