OAR 851-021-0050
Standards for Approval: Curriculum
(1)
Curriculum must:(a) Prepare the student to achieve the nursing competencies necessary at the level of licensure for safe practice based on current standards of care;
(b) Reflect the identified mission, goals, and learning outcomes of the nursing education program; and,
(c) Be consistent with the law governing the practice of nursing.
(2) Student course syllabi must include:
(a) The course description;
(b) Course outcomes and content outline;
(c) The learning environments and activities;
(d) Allocation of clock hours for didactic content, direct-care clinicals, skills lab, moderate and high fidelity simulation for skills acquisition, and final practicum;
(e) In addition, allocation of simulation clock hours to replace direct patient care must be listed separately from simulation for skills acquisition;
(f) Both the number of clock hours and the percentage of direct patient care hours that are substituted with simulation must be listed, as well as the ratio of simulation to direct patient care used, as established in subsection 5(g) and,
(g) Methods and frequency of evaluation of student performance, including all evaluation tools used in the course.
(3) Patient care experiences must occur in a variety of clinical settings and must include:
(a) Integrating patient safety principles throughout the didactic and clinical coursework including the importance and process of error reporting;
(b) Implementing evidence-based practice to integrate best research with clinical expertise and patient values for optimal care, including skills to identify and apply best practices to nursing care;
(c) Providing patient-centered, culturally competent care that recognizes that the patient or designee is the source of control and full partner in providing coordinated care by:
(A) Respecting patient differences, values, preferences and expressed needs;
(B)
Involving patients or designees in decision-making and care management;(C) Coordinating and managing patient care across settings; and,
(D) Explaining appropriate and accessible interventions to patients and populations that may positively affect their ability to achieve healthy lifestyles.
(d) Collaborating with inter-professional teams to foster open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making in order to achieve quality patient care.
(4) Clinical Nurses and Clinical Preceptors:
(a) Must be licensed at or above the level of licensure that an assigned student is seeking;
(b)
Such license must be in the jurisdiction where he or she is mentoring students;(c) May serve as a teacher, mentor, and role model, in a clinical setting;
(d) May enhance faculty-directed clinical learning experiences after a student has received basic instruction for that specific learning experience from a faculty member;
(e) Must be provided with written information about student preparation and expected patient care experiences; and,
(f) Clinical Preceptors must be selected by nursing staff members in leadership roles in the facility who can confirm demonstrated competencies related to the area of assigned clinical teaching responsibilities and the choice must be approved by faculty.
(5) Programs may use only mid-fidelity or high-fidelity simulation as a component of direct patient care experiences. For all programs using simulation experiences as a component of direct patient care experience, the nursing education program must:
(a) Request board approval initially, as established in OAR 851-021-0025 (Reports and Approvals)(4)(b);
(b) Demonstrate meeting NCLEX pass rate standards as established in OAR 851-021-0018 (NCLEX® Standards);
(c) Create a framework that provides adequate resources (fiscal, human, and material) to support the simulation;
(d) Designate a nursing faculty member as simulation coordinator of the simulation team to ensure simulation quality and integrity;
(e) Provide evidence that the simulation coordinator obtained national certification in simulation within one year of employment if hired after January 1, 2024, or within three years of employment if hired before that time;
(f) Incorporate national professional simulation standards;
(g) Demonstrate that the ratio of simulation to clinical hours does not exceed one hour of simulation to replace two hours of clinical practice or current national simulation guidelines.
(h) Provide evidence that the simulation component does not exceed 49% of total clinical practice hours in a program with a nationally certified simulation coordinator; 20% of total clinical practice hours if the simulation coordinator is not nationally certified as established in subsection (6)(b)(C) and (D);
(i) Skills lab experiences using low fidelity simulation must not be counted as simulated clinical practice to replace direct patient care hours.
(j) Demonstrate that policies and procedures are in place to ensure quality-consistent simulation experiences for students. These policies and procedures must include:
(A) Simulation experiences relate to program and course level outcomes;
(B) The requirement of measureable outcomes for each simulation-based experience;
(C) Job descriptions for simulation faculty members/facilitators; and,
(D) Evidence of a plan for orienting simulation faculty members to their roles;
(k) Demonstrate that the simulation program has an adequate number of trained simulation faculty members to support the learners in simulation-based experiences;
(l) Show evidence of appropriate, designated physical space for education, storage, and debriefing;
(m)
Demonstrate that the simulation program utilizes a method to debrief the observed simulations that is consistent with current national simulation guidelines.(n) Collect and retain evaluation data regarding the effectiveness of the facilitator;
(o) Collect and retain evaluation data regarding the effectiveness of the simulation experience; and,
(p) Provide a means for faculty members to participate in simulation-related professional development and certifications.
(6) Curriculum plan must identify:
(a) Learning outcomes at the program and course level that serve as unified scaffolds that support each other;
(b) Learning activities to develop identified competencies. Courses, learning activities and clinicals must be organized in such a manner to have sufficient proximity in time to allow the student to form necessary links of theoretical knowledge, clinical reasoning, and deliberate practice:
(A) Clinicals may include simulated experiences and must include sufficient direct patient care hoursto achieve identified competencies, course and program outcomes;
(B) All clinicals must include at least 51% of actual patient care hours;
(C) If simulation coordinator is nationally certified, both mid and high fidelity simulation may be used to satisfy up to 49% of clinicals.This does not include final clinical practicum hours;
(D) If simulation coordinator is not nationally certified, simulation experiences may replace only up to 20% of direct patient care hours; and,
(E) All programs must include no less than six (6) contact hours of learning activities related to pain management.
(c) Requirements of the educational institution for graduation; and,
(d) Total units required for graduation.
(7) High-stakes, standardized examination scoring must not be used to determine a student’s graduation or progression in a nursing education program that prepares students for initial nurse licensure. The program shall have a process and procedure for remediation of students who do not pass the standardized examinations.
(8) The use of one internal, non-standardized assessment event that is the sole or primary determinant of progression or program completion is also not consistent with current evidence-based education practices.
(9) Practical Nurse Programs:
(a) As indicated in OAR 851-0045-0050, the Board recognizes that the LPN has a supervised practice that occurs at the clinical direction and under the clinical supervision of the RN or LIP who have authority to make changes in the plan of care.
(b) In practical nursing programs, the course content and clinical experience required must be a minimum of 42 quarter units or 28 semester units including:
(A) Biological, applied, social, and behavioral sciences and humanities: minimum of 18 quarter units or 12 semester units; and,
(B) Practical Nursing: minimum of 24 quarter units or 16 semester units of which no less than 12 quarter units (360 clock hours) or eight semester units (360 clock hours) must be clinical practicum as established in in OAR 851-021-0050 (Standards for Approval: Curriculum) (6)(b)(A)(B).
(c) The Practical Nurse program must provide theory and faculty-supervised clinical practice in nursing to achieve competencies within the practical nurse scope of practice, including those related to:
(A) Creating and maintaining a safe environment of care;
(B) Demonstrating professional, legal, and ethical behavior in nursing practice;
(C)
Collecting data and performing focused nursing assessments of the health status of an individual;(D) Participating in the planning of the nursing care needs of an individual;
(E) Participating in the development and modification of the nursing care plan;
(F) Providing safe, clinically competent, culturally sensitive, and client-centered care for the promotion, restoration and maintenance of wellness or for palliation across the lifespan and settings of care;
(G) Functioning as a member of the interdisciplinary healthcare team;
(H) Using technology to facilitate communication, manage information, and document care;
(I) Providing cost-effective nursing care and participating in quality improvement strategies;
(J) Participating in health teaching and counseling to promote, attain, and maintain the optimum health level of an individual; and,
(K) Assisting in the evaluation of an individual’s response to a nursing intervention and the identification of an individual’s needs.
(10) Registered Nurse Program:
(a) Registered nurse curricula must meet all institutional requirements for and culminate in the award of an associate, baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree.
(b) In registered nurse programs, the course content and clinical experience required must be a minimum of 84 quarter units or 56 semester units including:
(A) Physical, biological, social and behavioral sciences and humanities: minimum of 36 quarter units or 24 semester units; and,
(B) Nursing: minimum of 48 quarter units or 32 semester units of which no less than 24 quarter units (720 clock hours) or 16 semester units (720 clock hours)must be clinical practicum as established in in OAR 851-021-0050 (Standards for Approval: Curriculum) (6)(b)(A)(B).
(c) The Registered Nurse program must provide theory and faculty-supervised clinical practice in nursing to develop competencies at the registered nursing scope of practice related to:
(A) Creating and maintaining safe and effective environment of nursing care rendered directly or indirectly;
(B) Demonstrating professional, ethical and legal behavior in nursing practice;
(C) Using problem-solving skills, reflection, and clinical judgment in nursing practice to assess the health status of individuals and groups of individuals and to identify health care problems that are amenable to nursing intervention;
(D) Prescribing nursing interventions and assessing responses to those interventions in order to direct, manage, delegate, and supervise nursing care for individuals, families, or groups;
(E) Establishing goals to meet identified health care needs and provide safe, clinically competent, culturally sensitive, client-centered and evidence-based care to promote, restore and maintain wellness or for palliation across the lifespan and settings of care;
(F) Providing culturally sensitive and evidence-based teaching, counseling, and advocacy for individuals, families and groups;
(G) Participating within and providing leadership for an interdisciplinary team by implementing the strategy of care, including administering medications and treatments as prescribed by those health care providers authorized to prescribe medication;
(H) Applying leadership skills to identify the need for and to promote change;
(I)
Using communication and information technology effectively and appropriately to collaborate with other health professionals in the management of health care.(J) Applying and integrating principles of community health and community-based care into practice;
(K) Integrating concepts of resource utilization, quality improvement and systems to enhance care delivery;
(L) Delegating nursing interventions that may be performed by others per the OSBN-defined concept of Delegation in community-based care per OAR 851-045-0047; and,
(M) Baccalaureate and basic masters or doctoral programs must also include competencies related to:
(i) Applying epidemiological, social, and environmental data and principles to identify and implement health promotion goals and strategies for communities and populations;
(ii) Assuming leadership and effecting change through participation in teams and beginning application of management knowledge;
(iii) Identifying and implementing measures to improve access to healthcare for individuals and underserved groups;
(iv) Using the principles and practice of research to validate and improve nursing care for individuals, families, and groups; and,
(v) Using teaching-learning principles to assist colleagues and healthcare providers to improve nursing care quality.
(11) Programs providing distance nursing education must:
(a) Deliver the approved curriculum through learning activities designed to allow students to achieve stated learning outcomes or competencies;
(b) Provide learning activities that are sufficiently comprehensive to achieve stated program outcomes and competencies; and,
(c) Support instructor-student interaction and meaningful student interaction.
(12) Programs that provide for advanced placement of students must develop and use policies designed to assure that such students meet the equivalent of the program’s current curriculum and competencies.
Source:
Rule 851-021-0050 — Standards for Approval: Curriculum, https://secure.sos.state.or.us/oard/view.action?ruleNumber=851-021-0050.