MSN APA format 3 references 1 from Walden University Library, 

Due 3/14/19 7pm EST 

Needs Assessment: External Factors that Impact Curriculum and Program Development

            When a potential student is deciding on attending a new college or university, there are many factors that could change that decision.  The desire to attend a nationally accredited school can play a large part in the decision-making process.  Potential employers know that accredited institutions undergo rigorous processes to achieve and maintain the high quality standards set by accrediting bodies that looks great on a student’s resume.  During this weeks post, I will post a brief description of the setting my team selected for the course project.  I will explain which accrediting body or agency they have accreditation from and why.  Then I will identify the standards I selected and explain if the setting meets the outlined expectations.

Accrediting Body

            The northeast region team has selected Seton Hall University for this course’s project.  The main campus of Seton Hall is located in South Orange, New Jersey with their health and sciences campus in Clifton and Nutley, New Jersey.  This university has accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, or CCNE.  This agency is the national voice for academic nursing education and works to, influence the nursing profession to improve healthcare, establish quality standards for nursing education while assisting schools in implementing them, and promotes public support for research, practice, and professional nursing education (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012).  It is the responsibility of the educators in the facility to make sure that the curriculum components such as the mission, vision, philosophy, organizational framework, student-learning outcomes, and the program of study are well outlined and taught appropriately (Keating & DeBoor, 2018).  Seton Hall continues to use this accrediting agency to make sure that their education is up to date and they are preparing students for the world of nursing. 

Standards

            The CCNE accreditation process is based on core values, I will discuss a few of them in this post and describe if Seton Hall meets the expectations.  The first is to foster an educational climate that supports program students, graduates, and faculty in their pursuit of lifelong learning (Billings & Halstead, 2016).  According to the Seton Hall University website (2019), students and faculty are encouraged to pursue their education and continue learning with multiple graduate nursing programs, graduate courses, doctoral programs, and certificate courses.  The second standard is to encourage programs to develop graduates who are effective professionals and socially responsible citizens (Billings & Halstead, 2016).  Seton Hall University obliges with this standard in a few different ways.  They offer multiple clinical settings to allow the student to become an effective professional, and they have classes discussing legal issues, research, leadership, and management.  Giving a student these tools will provide them with the skills to be socially responsible citizens as well as effective professionals.  The final standard is to facilitate and engage is self-assessment.  The University has a department whose sole focus is on self-assessment.  They consistently perform assessments on programs in the university and recommend improvements that should be made within each program (Seton Hall University, 2019).  As we continue to explore this university’s curriculum, I will continue to evaluate how Seton Hall is doing as a nursing program, and see what changes need to be made.  The CCNE standards discussed are currently being met, but there is much more to explore, and there are always improvements that could be made.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2012). CCNE accreditation. Retrieved

            from http:// D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2016). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5th

            ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Keating, S. B., & DeBoor, S. S.  (Ed.). (2018). Curriculum development and evaluation

            in nursing (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Seton Hall University. (2019). Retrieved from http://