Educational Program

PURPOSE: This rule defines the educational program, curriculum plan and requirements, simulation, and distance education requirements for programs of practical nursing. (1) General Purpose. (A) The program shall have a philosophy and/or mission which guides the curriculum practices. (B) The curriculum incorporates established professional standards, guidelines, and competencies with clearly stated objectives, graduate competencies, and program outcomes. (C) The educational program shall provide planned learning experiences essential to the achievement of the stated philosophy and/or mission and graduate competencies of the program and demonstrate logical progression. (D) The educational program shall provide clinical education to facilitate transition to practice as a practical nurse, which includes clinical decision making, leadership, and management under the supervision of a registered nurse or a physician. (E) A nursing program that uses clinical simulation shall adhere to model standards of best practice. Mapping of clinical simulation experiences to course and clinical objectives as well as graduate competencies should be documented. (2) Curriculum Organization and Development. (A) The nursing faculty shall have the authority and the responsibility to develop, implement, and evaluate the curriculum. Student learning experiences shall be directed and evaluated by the faculty and be consistent with the curriculum plan. (B) There shall be a written curriculum plan that is logically structured to achieve expected individual and aggregate student outcomes. (C) Curriculum design of programs of practical nursing shall foster seamless academic articulation toward a program of professional nursing. (D) The curriculum shall be planned so that the number of hours/credits/units of instruction are distributed between theory, lab, and clinical. The curriculum plan shall indicate credit hours, if utilized, and clock hours allocated to theory, lab, and clinical instruction. (E) Curriculum shall be planned so that each division of the curriculum (whether it be a quarter, term, or semester) has a reasonably equal number of credit hours of instruction and has a beginning and ending date. (F) The number of credit or clock hours required for completion of the nursing program may not exceed the number of credit hours required for a comparable program. (3) Curriculum Requirements. Content may be developed as a separate course or integrated. Integrated concepts shall be evident in the course objectives. Instruction shall be provided in the following areas: (A) Biological and Physical Sciences. Content from these sciences shall include: 1. Anatomy and physiology; 2. Nutrition; and 3. Pharmacology; (B) Social and Behavioral Sciences. Content from these sciences shall include concepts of: 1. Communication; 2. Interpersonal relations; 3. Culturally and spiritually sensitive care; 4. Patient involvement in decision making and care management; and 5. Promotion of healthy lifestyles for patients and populations; (C) Growth and development/life span; (D) Nursing Science. Theory and clinical instruction in nursing shall be based on the nursing process and encompass the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of physical and mental health and the prevention of illness for individuals and groups throughout the life cycle. Content shall enable the student to develop competency in each of the following areas while preparing for safe and effective practice as a practical nurse: 1. Fundamentals of nursing; 2. Nursing of adults; 3. Nursing of children; 4. Nursing of the elderly; 5. Maternal and newborn nursing; 6. Mental health concepts; 7. Administration of medications; dosage calculation should be included; 8. IV therapy; 9. Leadership/management concepts, to include coordinating and managing continuous patient care; 10. Evidence-based practice; 11. Culturally sensitive care that is patient-centered, to include respect for patient differences, values, preferences, and expressed needs; 12. Patient safety; 13. Quality of care; 14. Use of information technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making; and 15. Measures to equip students to face unique psychosocial, spiritual, and physical stressors that healthcare professionals may encounter while carrying out their duties; (E) Personal and vocational concepts shall exist as a discrete course in the curriculum and include the following content: 1. Ethical and legal aspects of nursing; 2. Nursing history and trends; 3. Role of the practical and professional nurse; 4. Inter-professional approach to patient care; and 5. Quality improvement processes; and (F) External nursing examinations, if used, shall not be used solely for program progression or graduation. (4) Syllabus Construction. Syllabi shall be current and available to all faculty, students, and cooperating agencies. Each syllabus shall include: (A) Course title, current date and year the course is offered, and required pre-requisites; (B) Course description; (C) Course objectives; (D) Teaching or learning strategies; (E) Evaluation methodologies; (F) Grading scale; (G) Course policies; and (H) Clock hour requirements related to theory, lab, and clinical instruction. Each syllabus should reflect credit hour requirements for theory, lab, and clinical instruction, if used. (5) Distance Education Measures and Opportunities. (A) Nursing programs and courses delivered solely or in part through distance education technologies shall meet the same academic program and learning standards as programs provided in face-to-face format, to include the following: 1. Budgetary support specific to distance learning resources; 2. Course management/delivery platform(s) that are reliable and navigable for students and faculty including measures to ensure exam security shall be in place; 3. Sufficient technical support to assist students and faculty to consistently meet program outcomes including communication of available technical support should be provided to students; 4. Learning and technology resources, to include library resources, that are selected with input of the nursing faculty and are comprehensive, current, and accessible to students and faculty; 5. Student outcomes consistent with stated mission, goals, and objectives of the program; 6. Collaborative and interactive learning activities that assist students in achieving course objectives; 7. Planned, faculty-guided, clinical learning experiences that involve direct contact with patients; 8. Learning opportunities that facilitate development of students’ clinical competence and judgment, role socialization, and transition to nursing practice; 9. Evaluation of student outcomes at set intervals; 10. Tracking of student retention and completion rates on ongoing basis; 11. Faculty and student input into the evaluation process; and 12. Evidence that outcome data are consistently utilized to plan and improve distance learning. AUTHORITY: section 335.036, RSMo Supp. 2021, and section 335.071, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 200-3.100. Original rule filed Jan. 29, 1974, effective Feb. 8, 1974. Amended: Filed Dec. 12, 1975, effective Dec. 22, 1975. Rescinded and readopted: Filed Oct. 14, 1981, effective Jan. 14, 1982. Amended: Filed May 6, 1983, effective Aug. 11, 1983. Rescinded and readopted: Filed March 25, 1993, effective Dec. 9, 1993. Amended: Filed Aug. 6, 1998, effective Feb. 28, 1999. Moved to 20 CSR 2200-3.100, effective Aug. 28, 2006. Rescinded and readopted: Filed April 17, 2007, effective Dec. 30, 2007. Amended: Filed Jan. 11, 2013, effective July 30, 2013. Amended: Filed Feb. 9, 2018, effective Aug. 30, 2018. Amended: Filed Feb. 14, 2022, effective Aug. 30, 2022. *Original authority: 335.036, RSMo 1975, amended 1981, 1985, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2018, and 335.071, RSMo 1975, amended 1981, 1999.