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Curriculum Crosswalk: Aligning Learning Outcomes, Program Outcomes and Practice Essentials

Jaclyn Pfaeffle

School of Nursing, SUNY Delhi

NURS 602 Curriculum Development

Dr. Quartuccio

February 17, 2022

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Template for Evaluation of Curriculum through Application of National Guidelines

Course Name (copy and paste from course syllabus)

SUNY Delhi RN to BSN Online Program
NURS 303: Health Promotion

Course Description (copy and paste from course syllabus)

Current trends in health promotion and clinical preventive care across the lifespan are
examined. Specific and evidence-based guidelines for assisting clients to maintain/improve
health and/or prevent illness are reviewed. Attention is given to the roles of the health care
provider and care recipient in screening, communication, and counseling. The use of
complementary and alternative therapeutics in assisting clients to achieve goals of health
promotion is examined and evaluated based on research findings related to selection of
therapeutics and measurement of expected outcomes. Choices of social media are analyzed as
a method for health promotion education (Pratt, 2021).

List of student learning outcomes (numbered)

Upon completion of the course, the learner will:

1. Apply theoretical and conceptual models of health-related behavior, risk factors, health
promotion, and illness prevention in both internal and external environments to
individuals, families, and groups throughout the life span, considering factors such as
age and cultural background.
2. Examine empirical basis for selected complementary (non-pharmacological)
therapeutics and application in Western medicine and medical treatment.
3. Evaluate appropriateness of complementary therapeutics for assisting clients to achieve
goals of health promotion and/or symptom attenuation.
4. Develop appropriate plans of health promotion and clinical preventive care education
for individuals and groups of clients from diverse ethnic and sociocultural backgrounds
through the use of social media campaigns and community health fairs.
5. Design outcome measures appropriate for selected evidence-based therapeutic
interventions related to healthy lifestyles (Pratt, 2021).

Program Outcomes Student Practice essentials or competencies

Learning guiding the program (examples
Outcome of include BSN Essentials of Practice
the course or QSEN Competencies)
Synthesize knowledge from the Student Essential I: Liberal Education for
liberal arts and sciences as a Learning Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing
foundation for professional nursing Outcomes: Practice
practice. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Use theory, research findings, and Student Essential III: Scholarship for
evidence to support nursing practice Learning Evidence Based Practice
related to disease prevention, health Outcomes:
promotion, illness, and restoration of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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health.

Communicate and collaborate with Student Essential VI: Interprofessional

interprofessional team members to Learning Communication and Collaboration
provide high-quality, culturally Outcomes: for Improving
congruent client-centered care. 1, 2, 4 Patient Health Outcomes

Develop interventions to meet the Student Essential VII: Clinical Prevention

healthcare, safety, education, and Learning and Population Health
counseling needs of diverse client Outcomes:
groups. 1, 3, 4, 5

Analyze diverse leadership roles Student Essential II: Basic Organizational

across the continuum of care that Learning and Systems Leadership for Quality
integrate healthcare policy and Outcomes: Care and
manage human, fiscal, and material None Patient Safety
resources. Essential V: Health Care Policy,
Finance, and Regulatory
Environments
Integrate values, ethics, morals, and Student Essential VIII: Professionalism and
legal aspects of professional nursing Learning Professional Values
in clinical decisions in a variety of Outcomes:
practice settings. None

Apply knowledge and skills of Student Essential IV: Information

health literacy, information Learning Management and Application of
management, and technology in the Outcomes: Patient Care Technology
care of clients across the lifespan. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(SUNY Delhi, 2022)
The accrediting body for SUNY Delhi’s RN to BSN program is the Accreditation Commission
for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
The standard met from this crosswalk is standard 4, curriculum. This standard states the
curriculum supports the achievement of end-of-program student learning outcomes and
program outcomes and is consistent with safe practice in contemporary healthcare
environments.
The sub-standards met from this crosswalk are 4.2, the end of program student learning
outcomes are used to organize the curriculum, guide the delivery of instruction, and direct
learning activities and 4.4, the curriculum includes general education courses that enhance
professional nursing knowledge and practice (ACEN, 2020).

Student Learning Outcomes

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Program Learning Outcome 1

The first program learning outcome (PLO) of SUNY Delhi’s RN-BSN program that will

be assessed is that of “synthesizing knowledge from the liberal arts and sciences as a foundation

for professional nursing practice” (SUNY Delhi, 2022). This PLO relates to all of the student

learning outcomes (SLOs) of NURS 303: Health Promotion. NURS 303 requires a pre-requisite

of statistics and research methods or statistics and transition to professional nursing. The SLOs

that relate to synthesizing knowledge from arts and sciences as a foundation for professional

nursing practice are all of them because they require prerequisite liberal arts knowledge. For

example, the first SLO is applying “theoretical and conceptual models of health-related behavior,

risk factors, health promotion, and illness prevention in both internal and external

environments…considering factors such as age and background” (Pratt, 2021). In order to

achieve this, the student must have and be able to use prior knowledge from science, math and

humanities courses which are part of the liberal arts and sciences foundation.

An assignment that demonstrates student achievement of this learning outcome could be

any assignment that contains aspects of the sciences, arts, working with diverse groups, tolerance

or globalization (AACN, 2008). A specific assignment could be a discussion on the definition of

health promotion, factors influencing health promotion and how culture affects health promotion.

This assignment will achieve the program outcome of integrating knowledge from liberal arts

and sciences as it relates to health promotion in nursing foundation.

This PLO and correlating SLOs related to Essential I from the AACN Essentials for

Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. The Essential I topic is the Liberal

Education for Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing Practice (AACN, 2008). This essential correlates

with the PLO because they both state liberal education as a component for nursing practice.
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Program Learning Outcome 2

The next program learning outcome of SUNY Delhi’s RN-BSN program that will be

examined is the use of “theory, research findings, and evidence to support nursing practice

related to disease prevention, health promotion, illness, and restoration of health” (Pratt, 2021).

The student learning outcomes that relate to this PLO are: 1) applying theoretical and conceptual

models of health-related behavior, risk factors, health promotion, and illness prevention, 2)

examining empirical basis for selected complementary (non-pharmacological) therapeutics and

application in Western medicine and medical treatment, 3) evaluating appropriateness of

complementary therapeutics for assisting clients to achieve goals of health promotion and/or

symptom attenuation 4) developing appropriate plans of health promotion and clinical preventive

care education and 5) designing outcome measures appropriate for selected evidence-based

therapeutic interventions related to healthy lifestyles (Pratt, 2021). This PLO aligns with all of

the SLOs of NURS 303 because the PLO states the student will be able to use theory research

findings and evidence related to health promotion and SLOs state the student will apply

theoretical models of health promotion, examine evidence, evaluate appropriate therapeutics,

develop plans for health promotion and design evaluation methods of evidenced based

interventions (SUNY Delhi, 2022). All of these outcomes require the application of theory,

research and evidence to support health promotion.

An activity that might demonstrate student achievement of the PLO of using theory,

research findings, and evidence to support nursing practice related to disease prevention, health

promotion, illness and restoration of health is an evidenced based practice project. For example,

students could be presented a patient and they must develop a health promotion plan for the

patient using current best practice research. Horntvedt et al. (2018) conducted a literature review
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of teaching strategies for evidence-based practice one theme that emerged was learning

outcomes. Students stated writing assignments helped them understand the research process and

helped them understand the role of research in the nursing profession. Learning outcomes related

to analytical skills and using research were identified as subthemes related to evidence-based

practice assignments (Horntvedt et al., 2018). Findings from this literature review demonstrate

that evidence-based research projects are activities that are effective in achieving the learning

outcomes related to research and evidence to support nursing practice.

Lastly, this PLO correlates with the practice essential III from the AACN Essentials for

Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. Essential III is Scholarship for

Evidence Based Practice. The rationale for this essential is that nursing is based on applying

current research into practice and baccalaureate programs should prepare students to explain the

relationship between theory, practice and research (AACN, 2008). This correlates with the PLO

and SLO because they all relate to using theory and evidence in nursing.

Program Learning Outcome 4

The next program learning outcome of the RN-BSN program that will be discussed is that

of “developing interventions to meet the healthcare, safety, education, and counseling needs of

diverse client groups” (SUNY Delhi, 2022). This PLO correlates with the SLOs of 1) applying

theoretical and conceptual knowledge…throughout the life span, considering factors such as age

and cultural background, 3) evaluating appropriateness of therapeutics for assisting clients to

meet goals of health promotion, 4) developing plans of health promotions for diverse groups of

clients and 5) designing outcomes measures for interventions related to healthy lifestyles (Pratt,
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2021). These SLOs connect to the PLO because they all relate to developing and evaluating

interventions for diverse groups of clients/patients.

This program outcome mentions meeting the needs of diverse client groups. An activity

that would demonstrate the achievement of developing interventions to meet the healthcare,

safety, education and counseling needs of diverse client groups could be a skills simulation. For

example, the LGBTI+ is a group that faces discrimination and health inequities (McCann &

Brown, 2020). Creating a simulation that incorporates diverse groups of people, such as the

LGBTI+ group is one way to incorporate education related to developing interventions and

meeting the safety, education and counseling needs of different groups. This assignment is

congruent with the program outcome because it is a life like experience of meeting the needs of

diverse groups. Though the RN-BSN program is exclusively online, this simulation could be

replicated through discussion or an online simulation platform to achieve the program learning

outcome of meeting the needs of diverse groups.

This PLO and related SLOs aligns with Essential VII: Clinical Prevention and Population

health of the AACN Essentials for Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice.

Essential VII states health promotion is across the lifespan are important aspects of baccalaureate

nursing graduates. Factors that influence population health are lifestyle, environment and genetic

factors (AACN, 2008). This essential relates to the outcomes of developing interventions related

to healthcare needs, safety, education and counseling for diverse groups because population

health incorporates many different people and many different groups.

Failure to Achieve Learning Outcome

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A student learning outcome not being met is cause for concern. Possible causes of

students not meeting a passing grade for an assignment could be a poorly development

assignment. An example of a poorly development assignment or activity would equate to it not

correlating the with the student learning outcome. The student cannot reach the learning outcome

if the assignment doesn’t effectively allow for the outcome to be meet by the requirements. Other

possible causes could be a reading assignment that doesn’t correlate with the assignment or the

teaching strategy (lecture, flipped classroom, etc.). In addition to the SLO not being met, the

correlating standard aligned in the crosswalk would not be met because the SLOs are aligned

with the standards. For example, if the student didn’t do well on the evidenced based practice

assignment that relates to the second program outcome, students are in danger of not meeting

essential III: Scholarship for Evidence Based Practice.

Solutions for addressing the unmet learning outcome would be re-evaluating the

assignment, the student learning outcomes related to the class, class text, teaching strategy or

faculty member teaching the content. Re-evaluation could help determine where the curriculum

has inconstancies or needs improvement.

Curriculum Evaluation

Curriculum development is an important role of the nurse educator. In addition to the

curriculum needing to be congruent with the mission, values and philosophy of the school, it

must prepare graduates to meet the program outcomes and to pass licensure exams (Ellis, 2020;

Ard et al., 2019). Evaluation of curriculum is required to determine if the curriculum is meeting

the chosen outcomes, evaluate the program effectiveness and identify resources to improve

program quality and success (Ellis, 2020). One way to evaluate curriculum is to compare it
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standards of accrediting bodies standards. The ACCN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for

Professional Nursing Practice is a tool that educators can use to guide their curriculum. The

manual provides a list of nine expected outcomes for baccalaureate nursing graduates. Some of

outcomes include liberal education, basic organizational and systems leadership, health care

policy and finance and interprofessional communication (AACN, 2008).

Elements of curriculum evaluation include congruency of the mission, goals and expected

program outcomes, assessment activities, responsible parties, time frames, resources and

accreditation standards. Stakeholders involved in the development, implementation and

evaluation of nursing program curriculum are local health care agencies that provide clinical or

employment for students. It is valuable to determine the skills and competencies that future

employers would want new graduate nurses to have. Other stakeholders are faculty and

leadership in the nursing program (Ellis, 2020).

The data in the crosswalk developed in the beginning of this paper shows an intertwined

relationship between the program outcomes for SUNY Delhi’s RN-BSN program, the student

learning outcomes for NURS 303: Health Promotion and the essentials of baccalaureate

education for professional nursing practice as described by the AACN. This relationship meets

the curriculum criteria of the ACEN based off the evidence that the student learning outcomes

help the student achieve program outcomes and the curriculum follows current healthcare trends.

As mentioned in the crosswalk, the standard that is being met for accreditation is the curriculum

standard. Additionally, the sub-standards being met are using program outcomes to organize the

curriculum, guide the delivery of instruction, and direct learning activities as well as including

general education courses that enhance professional nursing knowledge and practice (ACEN,
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2020). This crosswalk and curriculum evaluation provide confirmation of using the program

outcomes to organize and guide instruction while including general education courses to further

professional nursing knowledge.

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References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2008). The essentials of baccalaureate education

for professional nursing practice. Washington, DC

ACEN. (2020). ACEN Accreditation Manual – Standards and Criteria – Baccalaureate.

https://www.acenursing.org/acen-accreditation-manual-standards-b/

Ard, N., Farmer, S., Beasley, S., & Nunn-Ellison, K. (2019). Using the ACEN standards in

curriculum development. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 14(2).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2018.10.001

Ellis, P. (2020). Systematic program evaluation. In D. M. Billings, & J. A. Halstead

(Eds.), Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty, (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Horntvedt, Nordsteien, A., Fermann, T., & Severinsson, E. (2018). Strategies for teaching

evidence-based practice in nursing education: a thematic literature review. BMC Medical

Education, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1278-z

McCann, & Brown, M. (2020). The needs of LGBTI+ people within student nurse education

programmes: A new conceptualisation. Nurse Education in Practice, 47.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102828
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Pratt, E. (2021). NURS-303 Health Promotion. [Syllabus] Delhi, NY: Nursing Department,

SUNY Delhi.

SUNY Delhi. (2022). Nursing: Online- RN-to-BSN.

https://catalog.delhi.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=6&poid=588&returnto=89