National League for Nursing Releases Curriculum Toolkit for Nurse Educators

Critical Resource Helps Faculty Assess Curricula across the Spectrum of Higher Education in Nursing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY — February 21, 2012 — Nurse educators wondering how their schools of nursing stack up to others in terms of the excellence and innovation of their curriculum now have an easy way to find out: the NLN Faculty Toolkit for Innovation in Curriculum Design, based on work completed by the NLN curriculum innovation task group.

Composed of three sections — report card, resources, and exemplars in teaching strategy and curriculum — the toolkit offers a comprehensive approach to assess and strengthen curriculum across the spectrum of higher education in nursing. The report card is pegged to seven hallmarks of curriculum design and innovation found in the NLN Hallmarks of Excellence in Nursing Education. Nurse educators are encouraged to assign their school a grade, on a scale of 0 to 4, for each hallmark, with a lower score indicating room for improvement. Once they complete their evaluations, nurse educators may consult the resources section, pointing them to articles, books, and websites that address the specific hallmark. The exemplars at the end of the resources section represent general innovative ideas and do not correspond directly to a report card section.

"It is exciting to be able to provide nurse educators with this much-needed central document to facilitate curricular assessment, revision, and innovation," said NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone. Added Dr. Judith Halstead, NLN president, "The Faculty Toolkit for Innovation in Curriculum Design is an impressive achievement. The NLN is indebted to the members of the task group that took its mission to heart."

The NLN Task Group for Innovation in Curriculum Design, chaired by Linda Benedict, MA, RN, consisted of more than a dozen experts in nursing education, including: M. Sharon Boni, PhD, RN; Pat Bradley, PhD, RN, CNE; Linda Carpenter, PhD, RN, CNE; Jean Giddens, PhD, RN; Janet Grady, DrPH, RN, ANEF; Marian Kovatchitch, MS, RN; Lynne P. Lewallen, PhD, RN, CNE; Barbara McLaughlin, DNSc, RN, CNE; Janet Phillips, PhD, RN; Jerelyn Resnick, PhD, RN; Judith P. Ruland, PhD, RN, CNE; and Nancy Stuever, EdD, RN.

Divided into two working groups, one developed a repository of current curriculum innovations, while the other developed the toolkit which was written by Linda Carpenter, Marian Kovatchitch, Lynne Lewallen, and Jean Giddens.

The toolkit is available on the NLN website here.

For more information, please contact Dr. Elaine Tagliareni, NLN chief program officer at 212-812-0333 or etaglaireni@nln.org.

Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, please contact NLN chief communications officer, Karen R. Klestzick at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 35,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members. NLN members represent nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations and agencies.