Until 2009, our curriculum at Western Piedmont Community College had morphed into an enormous bank of content that was neither flexible nor up-to-date. Over the last 30 years, we had been cutting and pasting our content, updating content, and adding content. Our curriculum did not flow well, it was not current, it did not consider today’s health care environment and realities, and it was not integrated.
We jumped at the chance to implement a concept-based curriculum. The model offered us a way to address our over-saturated content issues while also ensuring our students were becoming the types of nurses most in-demand today.
As part of our migration to a concept-based model, we wanted to incorporate more active learning. Faculty were hesitant and scared. We had to start completely from scratch, and it was a huge amount of work. But once we got going, we loved it the students, the faculty, and the administration.
While we transitioned, we also set up a simulation lab. Integrating a concept-based model into both the classroom and the simulation lab enabled students to participate in the active learning process holistically. It also enabled them to apply and retain more information and transfer that knowledge more easily to different scenarios on the job.
When Wolters Kluwer introduced Lippincott CoursePoint for Nursing Concepts, we adopted it right away. At first, some faculty were a little concerned about using an entirely digital solution. But we’ve found that it’s easy to use and provides all of the content our students and faculty need in one place. Our students have enjoyed using PrepU’s adaptive learning, and faculty appreciates the software’s reporting tools. The fact that Lippincott Advisor for Education is automatically included is another great feature. Giving students experience with the electronic tools they will encounter in practice is invaluable. We’re also using Lippincott DocuCare to help students further prepare for practice.
The training support included with Lippincott CoursePoint for Nursing Concepts has been invaluable. The Lippincott Implementation team helped us transition and provided training on customizing the site for our school.
Since we adopted a concept-based curriculum, our outcomes have definitely improved. We’ve had good results on our NCLEX scores. Our three-year average is well above the national average. Our student retention increased significantly. Plus, hospitals are hiring our students immediately, and students are performing well in practice.
We took the leap into a concept-based curriculum, and it absolutely paid off in spades.
– Catherine Freeman, Department Head and Director of Associate Degree Nursing Program
Western Piedmont Community College, North Carolina
Contact us today to learn more about how a concept-based curriculum can work in your nursing program.