Transforming Graduate Nursing Education in the Context of Complex Adaptive Systems: Implications for Master's and DNP Curricula

Development of a master of science, nursing and interprofessional leadership program: AACN essentials in action

BACKGROUND

Leadership acumen, interprofessional relationships, and knowledge of healthcare operations are essential proficiencies for nurses to navigate the dynamic and complex healthcare landscape. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) re-envisioned the academic nursing standards, The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (Essentials), to guide curricular development in preparing nurses with the aptitude to meet these challenges.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this project was to develop an innovative Master of Science nursing program to address the challenges facing the RN workforce.

METHODS

A relationship-based framework and the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation (ADDIE) model were used to guide the development of the program using the Essentials to inform curricular design.

RESULTS

A Nursing and Interprofessional Leadership Master of Science program was designed comprising seven core courses with two tracks, Bachelor of Nursing and Post Graduate Option.

LIMITATION

The program was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced the data used for the program's design.

CONCLUSION

Healthcare complexities are requiring nursing education to evaluate curricula for advanced knowledge and skills. A Nursing and Interprofessional Leadership Master of Science degree program guided by the Essentials was developed to meet this challenge.

Relationship-based care model in paediatrics: A randomized controlled trial to implement the parents' perception of the quality of nursing care

AIM

To evaluate whether the application of the Relationship-based care model as a new treatment, called "Take 5 min", affects the level of anxiety, depression, and perceived quality of nursing care of parents of paediatric patients and the work satisfaction of the nursing staff.

DESIGN

Single-blind randomized controlled trial.

METHODS

The trial was performed from February-July 2016. The trial was conducted with one intervention (N = 101) and one control group (N = 90). Nurses applied the treatment named "Take 5 Minutes", which consisted of dedicating some short time (from 5 to 10 min) to the relationship with the parents using specifically designed communication strategies. The primary outcome was the evaluation of anxiety and depression of parents; the secondary was the parent perceived quality of nursing care.

RESULTS

In the experimental group, participants had a lower level of anxiety and depression and highlighted that the effect of the "Take 5 Minutes" was proportional to the initial seriousness of parents' anxiety and depression. Higher scores for the perception of the quality of care were given from the parents of the experimental group.

CONCLUSION

The "Take 5 Minutes" treatment offered to parents of paediatric patients demonstrated significant improvements in terms of their anxiety, depression, and perceived quality of nursing care.

IMPACT

Caregivers of paediatric patients are subject to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. The communication by the nursing community is of fundamental importance in the management of anxiety and depression in the caregivers of hospitalized patients. Caregivers who received the "Take 5 Minutes" treatment demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety and depression compared with the control group caregivers. The perceived level of quality of nursing care showed a significant increase in the group of caregivers who received the T5M treatment. The RBC model does not require extra costs for health organizations and can be applied during the usual practice of care. Practices such as T5M could become part of paediatric patient care guidelines and nurses should be trained to apply them.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

Padua Research: ID No. 10,034; ClinicalTrials.gov: ID No. NCT04199429.