| The University of
California, San Francisco's project investigator, Lynda Mackin,
MS, APRN, BC, CNS, ANP reports that she learned several valuable
lessons regarding enhancement of her graduate GCNS/GNP programs,
while implementing the John A. Hartford funding. Program faculty
used this grant money to sponsor a project that allowed a restructuring
of the curriculum, with the ultimate aim of attracting diverse
students who otherwise would not have considered graduate education.
The curriculum was restructured to accommodate working nurses'
schedules, facilitate socialization into graduate study, and
increase the likelihood of program completion. To date, this
redesigned program has in fact been responsible for the graduation
of nine ethnically diverse master's level gerontological nursing
specialists. Ms. Mackin remains thrilled with the grant's successes,
while acknowledging that the curriculum redesign process posed
some challenges as well.
This curriculum restructuring which involved significant
altering of course sequencing, taught faculty several lessons:
- Clinicals and their corresponding coursework must take
place simultaneously, so that material is reinforced. In
the process of restructuring, some didactic courses were
separated from their corresponding clinical experiences.
The JAHF funding allowed UCSF to hire faculty to run
a parallel section of an already-in-place course, Health
Promotion/Health Protection Seminar, which includes the
following topics: geriatric assessment, health screening
of older adults, and cultural and ethnic issues of elder
abuse. The re-designed curriculum required this course
to be taken two quarters before its clinical practicum
component (in standard, two-year curriculum, didactic
course and clinical practica are taken simultaneously
with clinical). Students "learned" content that
first year, but had some difficulty recalling content
when they were asked to apply these concepts in the subsequent
clinical practica.
- When course restructuring necessitates the sequencing
of some courses to take place earlier in curriculum, plans
should be made to reinforce the course material in subsequent
classes. Without continued exposure to the material, students
had some difficulty in recalling content later in program.
Curriculum redesign forced earlier offerings of both
a general nursing research course and its compliment,
a nursing research utilization/critique course. Two years
later, when students attempted to write scholarly papers
(a requirement for graduation), their recollections of
research evaluation strategies and scholarly writing were
rusty. Faculty provided a great deal of one-to-one assistance
to help students develop their papers.
- In efforts to accommodate working graduate students,
classes should not take place exclusively on weekends.
The original project plan called for courses to be held
on weekends, in order to accommodate full-time working
students, However, after further consideration, the program
faculty instead re-sequenced the courses, thus allowing
student opportunity to interact with fellow graduate students
on UCSF's prestigious and diverse campus. While the re-sequencing
sacrificed curricular continuity, it assured student participation
in campus activities and course attendance outside of
the School of Nursing.
- Course attendance after hospital shift work is not
optimal.
With the intention of making class times more convenient
for this select group of GCNS and GNP students, the re-designed
curriculum (from a full-time two-year program to a three-year
part-time program) clustered classes, whenever possible,
one day/week. When a single required course fell mid-afternoon
on a day that students were absent from campus, it was
professionally video-taped and viewed by students at a
more convenient time (an arrangement made by the project
faculty). As a value added feature, staff hired a gerontological
clinical nurse specialist, who viewed the tapes with the
students and answered questions. The students chose to
watch the tapes on a work day, immediately following their
hospital shifts. Unfortunately, they were too fatigued
to pay full attention to the tapes or interact significantly
with the CNS. They actually voiced a preference to attend
the lectures "live," even if the course session
was inconveniently timed in terms of work schedules.
- Partnerships are vulnerable to forces outside nursing
school; must cultivate relationships with several at a time.
Prior to and during the grant implementation period,
the faculty cultivated a relationship with a large, public
long-term care facility. Unfortunately, due to budget
constraints and a significant change in nursing leadership
at the facility, the partnership no longer exists in its
original form. The faculty, now sobered regarding the
fragility of such arrangements, is working to forge new
partnerships.
-
To maximize their graduate school experiences, students
should make life/work/family changes whenever possible.
When counseling prospective students, Ms. Mackin recommends
frank conversations regarding the realities of juggling
school, job, home, family, and finances. The UCSF faculty
recommend students reduce their work effort to no more
than 60% or change their status to per diem.
Conclusion:
Ms. Mackin maintains that she and her colleagues learned
invaluable lessons during the JAHF project's implementation.
While the grant afforded them the opportunity to test various
teaching strategies, it also reinforced the wisdom behind
continued use of the standard curriculum. The UCSF gerontological
nursing faculty remain proud of their graduates, and indebted
to them for their participation in and application of learning
from this project.
Project Investigator Contact Information:
Lynda A. Mackin, RN, MS, NP
Associate Clinical Professor
Dept. of Physiological Nursing
UCSF School of Nursing
2 Koret Way, #N-611L
San Francisco, CA 94143-0610
Telephone: (415) 502-5696 Fax: (415) 476-8899
Email: lynda.mackin@nursing.ucsf.edu
|
