Formulating priorities for research in nursing education: a consensus-building approach.

To expand the scientific foundation for nursing education, the National League for Nursing is establishing a national agenda for research in nursing education. This groundbreaking effort will define research priorities that can serve as a rallying point for education researchers across the nation. The goal of this consensus-building effort is to focus nursing education research efforts on discovering the core of knowledge needed to bridge education and practice as we move into the 21st century. This article describes the process being used in this historic dialogue.

Creative educational strategies for health promotion.

The dramatic changes in health care delivery present challenges to nurses in practice and to the educators who must prepare professional nurses for the uncertain world of tomorrow's managed care environment. In light of the increased emphasis on health promotion occurring with current changes in health care, the article proposes numerous creative strategies that nurse educators can use to prepare students to fulfill their health promotion responsibilities effectively. The concepts of health promotion and creativity are examined, and teaching approaches needed to facilitate community-based, health promotion-focused activities are presented. Specific strategies, particularly clinical teaching/learning opportunities, are suggested.

Promoting the cognitive development of freshman nursing students.

One of the goals of baccalaureate nursing education is to facilitate students' cognitive development, that is, their ability to employ reason, manage diversity, and engage in contextual decision-making. Despite this goal, however, studies indicate that the majority of nursing students tend to be at the lower levels of development, rather than at more advanced levels. The purpose of the study reported here was to describe the cognitive development of one university's nursing student population at the beginning and end of the freshman year, investigate the effects of planned developmental instruction strategies on cognitive growth, and investigate the relationship among cognitive development, GPA, and SAT scores. While subjects evidenced some cognitive growth, the mean level of cognitive development for all subjects was at the lower end of the scale. Specific instructional strategies are described, statistical and qualitative analyses of groups are reported, and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Leadership for the future.

Leaders are responsible for guiding others through a future that may be anticipated but is ultimately unknown. In addition, leaders are responsible for creating a positive future. If nurse leaders are to be successful in this process, they would benefit from knowing trends that are projected for the future, reflecting on the kinds of skills that are needed to meet the challenges presented by those trends, and proposing strategies that can be used for effective leadership in our uncertain future.

Concepts included in and critical to nursing curricula: an analysis.

This study was designed as a first step toward concept clarification in nursing education, to stimulate educators' thinking about the clarity of the concepts critical to nursing curricula. The sample included 70 baccalaureate and 67 associate degree programs randomly selected from each of the six regional accrediting areas. Respondents to a mailed questionnaire identified concepts included in their curricula and those they viewed as critical to a nursing curriculum. Results suggest that (a) BSN program faculty agree on concepts included in and critical to nursing curricula, (b) ADN program faculty agree on critical concepts but agree less about concepts included in their curricula, and (c) both groups noted that process-oriented concepts were included in their curricula more frequently than were content-oriented concepts. The variability of responses raises questions about the clarity of concepts used in nursing curricula and the meaning behind those concepts. We recommend further research related to the meaning, nature, and use of concepts in nursing curricula.

Doctoral programs in nursing: philosophy, curricula, and program requirements.

This study examined the philosophy, curricula, and program requirements of doctoral nursing programs in the United States. Forty-four doctoral nursing programs were solicited by mail and information about doctoral nursing programs was obtained. Of the programs, 31 offer the doctor of philosophy degree, 11 the doctor of nursing science degree, and 1 the doctor of education degree. Program philosophies could not be distinguished from one another. Eighteen doctoral programs offered advanced clinical courses and 22 programs focused on role preparation; 16 offered both clinical and role preparation. There was much variation in credit requirements, but the standard program was 60 credits in length, with 48 credits in nursing and 12 credits in cognates and electives. Approximately half the required credits focused on research. The similarity in the curricula of doctoral programs is striking. Discipline-specific values may be strong and account for the congruence in the types of curricula found in this study. Continued focus on research preparation, with varying degrees of emphasis on clinical or role development, is expected. The dominance of the doctoral degree as the terminal degree for nursing is likely to continue.

How are we preparing nurse leaders? A study of baccalaureate curricula.

What is leadership? Is it different from management? If so, how is it different? This study was designed to achieve several purposes: to clarify the conceptual differences between leadership and management; to identify the leadership/management concept included in baccalaureate programs in nursing; and compare and contrast the program content with the conceptual definitions. A review of eight program components contained in the National League for Nursing Self-Study Reports of 10 accredited programs in the mid-Atlantic region was conducted to achieve these purposes. This analysis revealed that despite their conceptual differences, nursing faculty generally use leadership and management interchangeably, and the emphasis in most programs is on management training rather than leadership development.