Lessons Learned: Implementation of a Concept-Based Curriculum in the Development of a New Prelicensure Nursing Program

Abstract

Nursing programs throughout the United States are making changes to curricula to decrease content overload, increase critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills of graduates, and prepare students to care for the complex needs of today's health care consumer. In a student-centered approach, students are no longer passive recipients in the classroom but active learners. A concept-based curriculum is a design focused on a student-centered learning approach. This article provides lessons learned throughout the development and implementation of a concept-based curriculum in a new prelicensure nursing program.