Conference Proceedings - School of Nursing & Midwifery - Trinity ...

School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin: 8 th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference
Transforming Healthcare Through Research, Education & Technology: 7 th – 9 th November 2007
Conference Proceedings
3. The Curriculum Development Process
4. The Stakeholders
5. Leadership
6. Ethnic minorities
Discussion
Category 1: Existing Programme
Although the process of developing new curricula has been amply
described in available literature, it was interesting to note, that
virtually no author ever mentions the “old” programmes offered in
the Department. In this project the stakeholders felt a need to talk
about the previous degree. All of them recognised the need to
change the then existing BHSc. (Nursing) programme. “I firmly
believe that the curriculum needed challenging I thought”
(Participant 1:21-23), or “But certainly my impression was that the
older programme, the original programme, the old degree seemed
to be tired and dated. It had not kept up with the changes in
nursing practice and it was time to revise it. I think both in terms of
content but also in terms of approach and the actual structure of
the degree, how the papers were structured and how the progress
through the degree was structured” (Participant 7:13-20).
In educational circles it is now accepted that the information
relevant to nurse education will double every 5 years (Barnard,
Nash, and O’Brien, 2005:505), which support the stakeholders’
recognition of the need to change curriculum in order to keep up to
date with the latest developments in the health sector. This was
specifically necessary if it was expected of the graduates to meet all
the needs of the New Zealand population in the future
Category 2: The need to change
In this main category it became evident that there were many
reasons for changing the previous programme. These “drivers for
change” included the Government of New Zealand's Primary Health
Care policy, which led, amongst others, to an extension of the
registered nurses’ roles.
Baker et al. (1998:1-2) stated clearly that educational programmes
for health care professions need to identify the knowledge and skills
necessary to meet the goal of improved community health. At MIT
the lecturing staff and the Stakeholders were in agreement with this
statement. Moreover, they felt that it was necessary for students to
identify their own learning needs before selecting their final
placements. By doing so, students would be able to meet their
educational needs, and take more responsibility for their own
education. “So it was really to facilitate the student more. But also
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