One of the most difficult tasks for most Nursing Educators or Staff Development Coordinators is the process of developing a curriculum. There are several factors that can attribute to this but what is most commonly seen is the fact that very few individuals understand what a curriculum really is. Let's consider Curriculum a large box and we will give that large box a name called Basic Arrhythmia Interpretation. Within the box that has just been given a name there are other smaller boxes which are entitled, Ventricular Arrhythmias, Atrial Arrhythmias, Blocks, Diagnosing Arrhythmiasand others. These are the lessons that make up the Curriculum. Inside the lesson boxes are even smaller boxes which are the topics of each lesson. In order to successfully pass the course which is Basic Arrhythmia Interpretation, the student must successfully pass all of the lessons that make up the courses within the box. There you have it, the true and easy to comprehend definition of curriculum.
As an Educator or Staff Development Coordinator in a hospital, the planning phase is crucial. There must first be an overall educational needs assessment for each department that you are responsible for providing education to. This can be accomplished either by verbal interviews of each department manager or by sending out either a paper or electronic assessment. Simply ask each manager, “What do you see as priority learning needs in your department?” Depending on the number of departments that you are responsible for you may want to limit the requests to 2 or 3 .
Once you have accomplished your assessment you will now need to evaluate your findings and plan your curriculum. There may be commonalities between various departments which is actually a plus as you will be able to develop courses that you can share with the staff in different departments.
After Planning, define what your course will be and then break it down into the lessons that it will consist of. You will then want to break each lesson down into topics. These tiny building blocks will prove to be quite worthwhile for both the learner and the educator. The learner will find that it is easier to retain smaller pieces of information a little at a time with a chance for self-assessment after each section. The educator will note that when the cumulative assessment is given to the students in test form at the conclusion of the course, the curriculum will have been a success.
