By Haley Jorgensen
Faculty and administrators from each of Wisconsin’s 16 technical colleges recently implemented a collaborative curriculum development project focused on alleviating the state’s nursing shortage. Beginning last fall, learners could enroll in a statewide, “one-plus-one” nursing program at any one of Wisconsin’s 16 technical colleges.
Developed in collaboration with the Worldwide Instructional Design System (WIDS), a nonprofit organization that provides curriculum-design software, consulting and training services, the unique nursing program allows students to become practical nurses after one year and associate-degree nurses after two years, without overlap or repeating credits.
Already, Wisconsin’s aligned nursing program is serving as a model for other states and colleges interested in doing the same.
The nursing alignment project is a first for Wisconsin and one of a few in the nation, according to Kay Tupala, dean of health sciences at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay. No matter where or how it is delivered—online or face-to-face—the program has the same course titles, numbers, credits, descriptions, competencies (skills) and performance standards. Yet, she says, the curriculum leaves instructors free to individualize learning activities and delivery.
“Aligned curricula makes it much easier for the schools and especially the students,” says Barbara Grumet, executive director of the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). “Clinical agencies, such as hospitals, know what the background is for each student in terms of pre-clinical knowledge and skills,” says Grumet. “And students have an easier time navigating the system if they have to transfer or ‘stop out’ for a time.”
Each of the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) schools tossed out its old nursing program and adopted the new statewide curriculum. That way, all technical colleges are teaching to the same standards, and learners are achieving the same skills, or competencies, according to WIDS Consultant Terri Johnson, who facilitated the collaboration process.
Johnson worked with deans and faculty from all 16 colleges to create a program representative of the best practices in nursing.
“All the campuses had to work as a team to help increase the number of nurses and ensure we had a quality product,” says Tupala. “Without a quality facilitator, we would have been spinning our wheels. Designing the program with WIDS Software puts the curriculum into an easy, organized and valuable format.”
Dianne Joyce, a nursing instructor at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, agrees. “We have a remarkable product because baseline rules were established right off,” she says. “We could be the beginning of something national. This is exciting and will be a good thing for Wisconsin.”
As the second largest employer in Wisconsin, the health care industry is expected to lose a large number of nurses to retirement in coming years, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). As a result, the need for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses is expected to grow 20.2 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively, from 1998 to 2008. The nursing deficit spurred the state legislature to urge WTCS to reduce the barriers to entry and advancement in nursing, according to Tupala. The new aligned nursing program is designed with this in mind.
The one-plus-one nursing program requires the same core competencies (skills) to become a practical nurse as it does to become an associate-degree nurse. This allows learners to more easily transfer between programs and schools without duplicating credits.
“The program really increases career mobility,” says Karen Taylor, nursing instructor at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire. “Students can complete their first year anywhere and finish their second year anywhere for RN licensure.”
The new curriculum allows students who complete the one-year practical nurse program to return to school to pursue an associate-degree nurse without duplicating credits. This makes it easier for nurses to climb the professional ladder, according to Tupala, because LPNs don’t need to repeat general education courses to get back into the nursing program.
It didn’t used to be that way. Now, students enrolled in the associate-degree nurse program can become practical nurses after completing their first year of coursework. If they choose, they can seek licensure to become licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and either work as LPNs, or complete the second year of coursework to become associate-degree nurses. Associate-degree nurses can then take a licensure exam to become registered nurses (RNs).
New online theory courses expanded opportunities for distance learners and made preparation for nursing more convenient for working professionals. “The new program gives students the choice of online or traditional learning for the theory portion, but also retains clinical hands-on experience,” Tupala says.
Even though not all 16 colleges offer theory courses online, seamless transferability means students can take the online courses from colleges that offer them, and still get credit from the institution in which they are enrolled.
“The online availability of the theory courses has added a lot of flexibility for students,” says Tupala. “All over the state, they are taking advantage of it.”
The aligned, statewide program creates more opportunities to educate students interested in nursing, says Tupala. Plus, curriculum used statewide is more cost effective than developing individual programs at each college.
Colleges and faculty will save time and money when it comes to curriculum development and accreditation, as well. When developing the nursing program using WIDS Software, the curriculum competencies were linked to National League for Nursing standards, ensuring the program met certain requirements. Instead of submitting 16 different nursing curricula to NLNAC, the colleges will now submit one, jointly.
“There are still some factors that each campus will need to address individually, but this simplifies the accreditation process greatly and saves each campus time and money,” says Tupala.
Because competencies are clearly linked to necessary standards, the new aligned program will be easier to evaluate, too. “A statewide curriculum, particularly if developed with NLNAC standards in mind, will clearly make it easier for the schools to meet our standards,” says Grumet.
The first accrediting visit will come in 2006. Until then, nursing instructors meet at the end of each teaching semester via a statewide conference call to discuss the curriculum and possible future revisions. “The curriculum belongs to the faculty,” says Tupala. That’s why nursing faculty from every college participate in conference calls and why more than 300 are expected to attend a meeting on the new program in May.
Curriculum is ever growing and changing, according to Tupala. The same, she says, holds true for an aligned curriculum project embraced by multiple colleges.
Wisconsin’s aligned nursing program is already serving as a model for other colleges in the nation. In Minnesota, two colleges—Northwest Technical College and Fergus Falls Community College—merged in July 2003 to become Minnesota State Community & Technical College (MSCTC), in Moorhead. Prior to the merger, each of the colleges had its own nursing program, according to Trish Schrom, MSCTC dean of health and human services. The new comprehensive community and technical college wanted an aligned nursing curriculum to enhance the articulation pathway between it and its four-year partner, Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
“It was like a shotgun wedding,” says Schrom of the merger. “People knew they had to have a discussion about aligned curriculum, but they weren’t necessarily happy about being there. WIDS helped us look at the overall picture.”
Together with help from WIDS, nursing faculty developed an aligned nursing program, which was partially implemented last fall. “We couldn’t have completed the course outlines in two days without WIDS Software,” she says. “WIDS forces faculty to think full circle about what’s taught and how students are evaluated. It’s nice because it connects to nursing standards.”
As much as aligned programs are needed between multiple colleges, they also benefit single colleges, according to Practical Nursing Coordinator Rhonda Hutton of State Fair Community College (SFCC), in Sedalia, Mo. SFCC’s six nursing faculty and WIDS Consultant Kim Vosicky are working to revise the college’s nursing program. The result will be a bi-level program of 82 total credits, implemented in 2006. The old one-plus-one program, which consisted of 114 credits, was losing too many students, according to Vosicky.
“Faculty are using WIDS to focus on performance, not just content,” says Vosicky. In doing so, curriculum is learner focused, streamlined and competencies link to external NLN standards.
“Thanks to WIDS, we are changing our thought process to more active learning,” says Hutton of the new program. “Students, in turn, must come better prepared to class. That’s exciting.”
Now, students can become practical nurses after the first year and associate-degree nurses after the second year, without repeating credits. SFCC, in turn, gains a curriculum that offers consistency in competencies, learning plans, learning activities, assessments and standards. So, no matter who the instructor is—new, visiting or tenured—the same competencies are taught and achieved.
The benefits of alignment are many, according to Hutton, Schrom and Tupala. But, perhaps more important than the final product is the process by which faculty get there.
“Frequent statewide curriculum meetings helped us gel as a group, both faculty and administrators,” says Tupala of Wisconsin’s alignment process. “I feel I can pick up the phone or e-mail any of the administrators with questions or ideas. I also know that faculty who worked on the project feel the same way. The ability to exchange ideas, share learning activities and discuss policies amongst the campuses only strengthened our product.”
Haley Jorgensen is a frequent education writer. WIDS—a nonprofit division of the Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation Inc.—provides a set of tools to educators, including the WIDS design model, curriculum-development services, software and training. WIDS is used by more than 200 organizations worldwide. To find out more, call (800) 677-9437 or visit www.wids.org.
- Techniques May 2005 Issue -
