This week, I attended a conference on curriculum development, which was sponsored by ERI world. The presenter, Larry Simmons, presented a lecture on “Mapping Curriculum to the NCLEX Test Plan”. Dr. Simmons explained that the content of the NCLEX-RN Test Plan is organized into four major client needs categories. Two of the four categories are further divided as follows:
1. Safe and Effective Care Environment
• Management of Care
• Safety and Infection Control
2. Health Promotion and Maintenance
3. Psychosocial Integrity.
4. Physiological Integrity
• Basic Care and Comfort
• Pharmacological and Parental Therapies
• Physiological Adaptation
The NCLEX Test Plan can be found at the web site www.ncsbn.org
Dr. Simmons suggested that Universities match courses within the curriculum, course description and objectives, and test items to the NCLEX Test Plan. For example, one course objective in English 101 is to use appropriate sentence structure and grammar. This course objective would fall under the category, Safe, Effective Care Environment and under the subcategory, A1: Management of Care: Documentation in the NCLEX Test Plan.
After the lecture, the class was divided into four groups, and we had to analyze a senior level nursing course, Family Health across the Life Span. Our group had to make sure that the course objectives were stated in the course description. Also, we had to decide which category each course objective and test question would fall under according to the NCLEX Test Plan. After analyzing this course, we discovered that the course did not address content in the Basic Care and Comfort category. Dr. Simmons recommended that every nursing course contain some content from each category and subcategory on the NCELX Test Plan.
In conclusion, Dr. Simmons said that mapping the entire nursing curriculum provides a framework for program evaluation and curriculum revisions. In addition, the NCELX test plan provides criterion-related validity to the program. I benefited a great deal by attending this conference because the concept of Mapping Curriculum to the NCLEX Test Plan was totally new to me.
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2 comments:
Sounds like a good experience!
Did the presenters mention anything about including concepts external to the NCLEX content or focus entirely upon building curricula to meet objectives of the test? If not, what do you think about that?
I don't know if this is what you mean about external content or not. The presenter mentioned that coure objectives for even the core classes are important for preparing students to be successful on the NCLEX. For example, one course objective in English 101 is to use appropriate sentence structure and grammar. This course objective would fall under the category, Safe, Effective Care Environment and under the subcategory, A1: Management of Care: Documentation in the NCLEX Test Plan.
I realize how important the nursing classes are to prepare the students for the state boards, but I never gave much thought to the core classes also preparing them. This class has helped me look at curriculum in a totally new light.
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