Infusing Systems and Quality Improvement Throughout an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum.

Abstract

Nurse educators are constantly revising curricula to ensure that graduating nurses have the requisite skills for today's fast-paced, rapidly changing, nonlinear complex care environment. Key nursing education and practice organizations identify systems thinking and quality improvement as essential skills for nurses at the point of care. Systems thinking and quality improvement were embedded across a Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) curriculum in a manner that does not dislocate other, more traditional content. To date, approximately 500 students have been exposed to the new BSN curriculum. Sustainable approaches, preliminary results, lessons learned, and recommendations for sustainability and replication are discussed. Integrating systems thinking and quality improvement with traditional content across the entire undergraduate curriculum exposes students to increasingly sophisticated real-world experiences that highlight the relevance and significance of these skills in the health care context. Feedback from practice partners suggests this approach helps bridge the education and practice gap. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(12):752-757.].