The Effects of a Concept-Based Curriculum on Nursing Students' NCLEX-RN Exam Scores

The Effects of a Concept-Based Curriculum on Nursing Students' NCLEX-RN Exam Scores

Section 1: The Problem Introduction In the past decade, an increasing number of nursing programs have rejected traditional content-based nursing curriculum in favor of concept-based curricula (Brady, 2011; Giddens, 2007; Giddens & Brady, 2007; Hardin & Richardson, 2012). With this shift in curriculum, nursing educators will close the education-to-practice gap allowing the emerging workforce of nurses to think critically which is necessary to provide quality patient care (Colucciello, 1997; Herinckx, Munkvold, & Tanner, 2014; Kantor, 2010; McNiesh, Benner & Chesla, 2010). Yet, there has been little research demonstrating the effects of concept-based curriculum on academic performance measures such as first-try pass rates on the National Counsel of Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). I found results for measuring outcomes of concept-based curricula to be diverse at the local level. At a local nursing school in Orlando, Florida, nursing programs must transition from a traditional content-based curriculum to a concept-based curriculum while maintaining high NCLEX-RN first-try pass rates. Giddens and Morton (2010) wrote that concept-based curricula may improve critical thinking skills and help prepare nursing students for practice, yet this type of curricula have not been validated by NCLEX-RN pass rates (Herinckx et al., 2014; Lewis, 2014). The NCLEX-RN is a content-driven test, which may not have a one-to-one correlation with the concepts taught in concept-based curricula that typically cover less content (Kantor, 2010; Nielsen, 2009). To gauge student preparation before NCLEX-RN attempts, the school under review had administered the NCLEX-RN Readiness and Diagnostic Exams, which demonstrated a