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Course Development and Influencing Factors-Capella University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Curriculum

Course Description

The current Capella University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum aims to equip registered nurses RNs with skills necessary for interprofessional practice, making evidence-based decisions, incorporating technology in health information management, improving the quality of care, and improving patient-centered care. However, the curriculum does not fully equip the RNs with the skills to incorporate and utilize both conventional and complementary approaches in patient care for better health outcomes. To provide more patient-centered care that meets the needs of the patient as a whole, nurses need to be equipped with skills that enable them to effectively use conventional medicines and complementary and alternative care approaches from multicultural perspectives in patient care. The development of the BSN curriculum will include the addition of an Integrative Health and Patient Well-being course.

The Integrative Health and Patient Well-being course is designed to equip the RNs undertaking the course to better understand normal human physiology and pathophysiology by combining the patient’s disease, medical, family, environmental, and social histories. The student RNs, upon finishing the course, will be able to collaborate with all caregivers, skilled and unskilled, to design care to meet individual patient needs.

Rationale for Adding the Course to the Capella University Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Curriculum

Enormous investments have been made in health care; however, the world is still experiencing poorer health outcomes (Witt et al., 2017). The current systems of care are more focused on diseases and developing cures for current diseases. Consequently, this has largely ignored factors that influence health outcomes, such as population and individual behaviors and the natural, social, and economic environments. The integrative health care course coordinates conventional and complementary approaches to health care for better patient outcomes (Khalil et al., 2018). Integrative healthcare enables diverse healthcare players to coordinate conventional and complementary approaches and interventions to provide complete person-focused care (Frisch & Rabinowitsch, 2019).

Therefore, the fundamental reasons for the addition of the course to the current BSN curriculum include:

The need to shift the healthcare system from a disease-focused approach to incorporate social, behavioral, economic, and environmental factors in the process of disease treatment,

The a need to explore alternative approaches in disease testing in places where conventional tests fail to identify or define the nature of illnesses,

Enabling RNs to support and promote health initiatives that promote healthy practices beyond the hospital settings,

The need for healthcare systems to prioritize patient well-being and disease prevention,

The need to include the patient in planning care for more patient-centeredness and individualized care

Suggested Topical Outline of the Integrative Health and Patient Well-being

The suggested Integrative Health and Wellbeing course outline includes;

Introduction to integrative health care concepts

Health and illness spectrum

Determinants of health: the individual, the environment, the society, and the economy in health care

Natural approaches to improving physical and mental well-being

Integrative approach to healthcare

Conventional and complementary care coordination

Faculty Collaborations for the Addition of the Integrative Health and Patient Well-Being with the Current Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Curriculum

Successful curriculum development requires all-faculty support to avoid sidelining some faculty members from the process (Iwasiw et al., 2020). Collaborative and collective faculty action and responsibility are required to sustain the curriculum change. Collective faculty action will effectively integrate the Integrative Health and Patient Well-being course with the current curriculum and incorporate the course with continuing education units and continuing medical education. Faculty members include all teaching and non-teaching staff who have the power to influence processes and their direction within the organization. These include professors, librarians, students, and all faculty members.

Factors to Consider for Course Addition and their Impact on Curriculum Redesign

Curriculum development as a process is defined by, According to Billings and Halstead (2019): the ability to develop a curriculum that