Curriculum

NURSING CURRICULUM OVERVIEW

The nursing curriculum is currently based on the Nursing Process and the Roy Adaptation Model. The Nursing Process provides the framework for the application of the Roy Adaptation Model. The Roy Adaptation Model for Nursing was adopted by the Cerritos College nursing faculty in 1981. Currently, the program utilizes essential elements of the Roy Model to describe our beliefs about man, the environment, health and illness and to design the goals of nursing care and to organize the collection of assessment data related to the patient’s health status.

Cerritos College faculty use the Educational Competencies for Graduates of Associate Degree Nursing Programs, as identified by the National Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force in 2000, as the reference to guide and to structure curriculum development, define and level competencies within the Major Requirements and to identify competencies expected at graduation. There are five steps to the Nursing Process: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. The Cerritos College nursing student utilizes the Roy Model to collect and organize patient data during the assessment stage of the Nursing Process. 

The Roy Adaptation Model views the person/patient/client as a biopsychosocial being in constant interaction with the environment. As an adaptive organism, the person copes with changes in the internal and external environments. In this model, the person is also perceived as having four adaptive modes that identify patient behavior in response to illness or wellness. Behavior is assessed in each of the four modes: the Physiologic Mode, Self-Concept Mode, Role Function Mode and Interdependence Mode. The latter three modes are referred to as the Psychosocial Mode. The underlying needs of the Physiologic Mode is physiological integrity. Components/Concepts of this mode are: Oxygenation, Nutrition, Elimination, Activity and Rest, Protection, Senses, Fluid and Electrolytes, Neurological Function, and Endocrine Function. The curriculum addresses normal (adaptive/effective) and abnormal (maladaptive/ineffective) behaviors in each of these Physiologic Mode components, including wellness and disease prevention elements along with disease processes. The goal of nursing, as expressed in the Roy Adaptation Model, is to promote adaptation. Once a comprehensive, holistic assessment is completed, the nurse identifies actual and potential health alternations and designs a nursing diagnosis. A plan to treat the nursing diagnosis is developed by establishing patient outcomes which are measurable and based on patient behaviors. Nursing interventions are formulated and implemented so that the outcomes can be accomplished. The nursing plan of care is aligned with the medical plan of care. Evaluation of effectiveness of the plan is determined by whether the outcomes have or have not been achieved. If outcomes have not been met, reassessment occurs to determine whether outcomes and/or interventions must be modified.

To develop the cognitive, psychomotor and affective abilities necessary to function as a competent caregiver, the nursing student gains knowledge in nursing concepts, principles, processes, and skills. To support acquisition of this knowledge, the Cerritos College curriculum includes understanding of health, acute and chronic health deviations, nutrition, pharmacology, communication, human development, teaching-learning principles, current technology, humanities, and biological, social and behavioral sciences. Anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and English are prerequisite to the core nursing courses.

MAJOR CURRICULUM REVISION: 

The Nursing Program is currently enduring a major Curriculum Revision centered on Concept Based Learning and Clinical Judgment Model. A concept-based curriculum embraces core curriculum concepts that are centered on biophysical and psychosocial foundations, professional nursing concepts, health care system concepts, Quality Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) standards, and National Patient Safety Goals.    During the course of study, students focus on key, prevalent exemplars of these concepts and delve into their interconnected relationships.   Students learn to recognize significant features of a condition and begin to apply what they have learned to a variety of clinical situations. Concept based curriculum challenges students to think more critically, apply prior and current knowledge and experiences, identify patterns across concepts, draw on conceptual significance and relevance, and transfer concepts from one patient’s bedside to the next.   By doing this, the student will facilitate early identification of risk potential to patients and will take active measures to reduce these risks, improving patient outcomes. This revised curriculum is moving through approval process and will be implemented in FALL 2024. 

 

Updated July 2023