Moving toward a model for nursing education and practice

Economic pressures have created the need for an educational system that prepares nurses to work in increasingly complex environments. Nursing leaders from one baccalaureate program and five community colleges in a rural area have worked cooperatively to examine external demands on nursing education. Their efforts culminated in the development of a shared philosophy, curricular design, and a model for nursing education and practice that is responsive to the ever-changing health care delivery system. This model focuses on a client's life-changing transitions and incorporates the professional nurse's role within the framework of the RN-NCLEX test plan blueprint.