title: The impact of curricular changes on BSCN students' clinical learning outcomes.
abstract: Ongoing curricular renewal is a necessary phenomenon in nursing education to align learning with ever-changing professional practice demands. The McMaster Mohawk Conestoga BScN Program in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada recently engaged in a comprehensive curriculum renewal. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of curricular changes on students' deep learning. Faculty perceptions about student learning outcomes during final year clinical placements were gathered through a combination of individual interviews and focus groups using Interpretive Descriptive qualitative research methodology. Twenty five faculty members who supervised BScN students in clinical placements before and after curriculum renewal shared perceptions of changes in students' overall performance. The chosen clinical learning outcomes were: changes in students' performance related to person-centred care, clinical reasoning and judgment, pathophysiology, and evidence-informed decision-making. Faculty described three major themes in students' performance 1) pulling it all together, 2) seeing the whole person, and 3) finding their nursing voices. This reflected a shift to person-centred care, increasing professional confidence, and improved clinical reasoning and judgment and no changes to integrating pathophysiology or evidence-informed decision-making. In this study curriculum renewal provided an excellent starting point for the scholarship of teaching and learning within nursing education.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: landeen@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Landeen
authors.affiliation: BScN Program, Conestoga College, 299 Doon Valley Drive, Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4M4, Canada. Electronic address: Dcarr@conestogac.on.ca.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: culverk@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Culver
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: martl@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: BScN Program, Mohawk College, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, 1400 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 1C7, Canada. Electronic address: nancy.maich@mohawkcollege.ca.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matthew-Maich
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: noesgaar@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Noesgaard
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: beneyln@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Larissa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beney-Gadsby
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003479:Curriculum / Q000639:trends*; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D059032:Learning Curve; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Curriculum change; Curriculum evaluation; Qualitative research