TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive Competence and Curriculum Development in Nurse Anesthesia Education
T2 - A Pilot Study
AU - Swerdlow, Barry
AU - Osborne-Smith, Lisa
AU - Arditti, Douglas
AU - Hatfield, Lisa J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Swerdlow et al. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: Advanced practice nursing in the United States is shifting toward doctoral certification, most commonly a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. However, there is limited evidence that this transition improves clinical competence. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether modifications in a nurse anesthesia curriculum that transitioned from a Master of Nursing to a Doctor of Nursing Practice program were associated with improved cognitive performance using an oral examination. Design: A prospective, comparative observational study of students from a single, university-based nurse anesthesia program. Methods: This study was a small-scale investigation (n = 22) that used a quantitative method to compare the performances of consecutive cohorts of Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse anesthesia students as rated by oral examinations designed to evaluate critical thinking skills and previously shown to demonstrate internal consistency and reliability. Results: After completing an expanded curriculum, Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse anesthesia students performed significantly better than Master of Nursing students on oral examination, with improvements in cognitive domains previously identified as areas of underperformance by Master of Nursing students. Conclusion: Targeted curricular additions in a Doctor of Nursing Practice program correlated with improvements in nurse anesthesia student cognitive competence as measured by oral examination.
AB - Background: Advanced practice nursing in the United States is shifting toward doctoral certification, most commonly a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. However, there is limited evidence that this transition improves clinical competence. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether modifications in a nurse anesthesia curriculum that transitioned from a Master of Nursing to a Doctor of Nursing Practice program were associated with improved cognitive performance using an oral examination. Design: A prospective, comparative observational study of students from a single, university-based nurse anesthesia program. Methods: This study was a small-scale investigation (n = 22) that used a quantitative method to compare the performances of consecutive cohorts of Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse anesthesia students as rated by oral examinations designed to evaluate critical thinking skills and previously shown to demonstrate internal consistency and reliability. Results: After completing an expanded curriculum, Doctor of Nursing Practice nurse anesthesia students performed significantly better than Master of Nursing students on oral examination, with improvements in cognitive domains previously identified as areas of underperformance by Master of Nursing students. Conclusion: Targeted curricular additions in a Doctor of Nursing Practice program correlated with improvements in nurse anesthesia student cognitive competence as measured by oral examination.
KW - Doctor of Nursing Practice
KW - advanced practice nursing education
KW - cognitive competence
KW - graduate nursing education
KW - nurse anesthesia
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U2 - 10.2147/AMEP.S407737
DO - 10.2147/AMEP.S407737
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85163309785
SN - 1179-7258
VL - 14
SP - 627
EP - 635
JO - Advances in Medical Education and Practice
JF - Advances in Medical Education and Practice
ER -