| Course | NUR 645 Curriculum Design in Nursing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 8 |
| Paper type | paper on auditing a nursing curriculum for equity |
| Length | About 1,020 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 645 Module 8
Auditing a Nursing Curriculum for Equity: Content, Cases and Images
[Student Name]
Southern New Hampshire University
NUR 645: Curriculum Design in Nursing
Module Eight Equity Paper
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Auditing a Nursing Curriculum for Equity: Content, Cases and Images
A curriculum can teach inequity without anyone intending it. A lecture that lists race as a risk factor without explanation teaches students to see biology where the evidence points to racism and unequal conditions. A bank of cases in which certain patients are always the ones who miss appointments teaches a stereotype. Slides that show pressure injuries and rashes only on light skin leave graduates less able to assess patients with darker skin. In Cedar Valley's composite program, students raised all three concerns in a letter to the dean. This paper describes the structured audit faculty conducted in response. It argues that equity in a curriculum is best pursued through a defined process with specific criteria, evidence and follow-through rather than through general statements of commitment.
Lens One: How Race and Identity Are Used in Content
Amutah et al. (2021) examined how race was presented in the preclinical curriculum at one medical school and found that race was often presented as a biological risk factor for disease without discussion of racism, social conditions or the weak correspondence between racial categories and genetic ancestry. They argued that this teaching can reinforce biased clinical decisions and recommended that curricula distinguish race from ancestry, name racism rather than race as a risk factor where the evidence supports that, and teach students to question race-based clinical tools. A concrete example is kidney function estimation. For years, the most widely used equations for estimated glomerular filtration rate included a race coefficient that produced higher estimates for Black patients, potentially delaying diagnosis and referral. In 2021 the two leading kidney organizations in the United States convened a task force, which advised replacing the old formula with one that omits race and making greater use of cystatin C testing (Delgado et al., 2022).
Using these sources, the audit tool asked of every lecture and reading: Is race or ethnicity mentioned as a risk factor? If so, is the mechanism explained, and does the explanation include social and structural factors? Are any race-based clinical tools taught, and are current recommendations used? The audit found race presented as a risk factor without explanation in seven of twelve courses, and the pathophysiology course still taught the older kidney function equation.
Lens Two: Who Appears in Cases and How
The second lens examined the 140 written cases and simulation scenarios used across the curriculum. For each case, reviewers recorded the patient's name, age, gender, apparent race or ethnicity, language, insurance and any described behavior, such as nonadherence, substance use or hostility. They then looked for patterns. The audit found that patients with Spanish surnames made up 18% of cases but 41% of those described as nonadherent, and that the only cases featuring patients with disabilities concerned pressure injuries. No case included a patient identified as transgender, although such patients are admitted to the program's clinical sites. Individually, each case could be defended. Taken together, they taught patterns that no faculty member intended.
Lens Three: Whose Skin Appears in Images
Louie and Wilkes (2018) analyzed images in widely used medical textbooks and found that darker skin tones were underrepresented, including in chapters on skin conditions, where the appearance of disease differs by skin tone. For nursing, the consequence is practical: early pressure injury, cyanosis, jaundice and many rashes look different on darker skin, and nurses who have seen them only on light skin may miss them. The audit counted images of skin findings in lecture slides for the health assessment and adult health courses and classified skin tone with a simple scale. Of 212 images, 19 showed darker skin tones, and none of the images of stage 1 pressure injury did.
Changes Made
Findings were shared with each course coordinator privately first, then in summary with the full faculty, so that the audit felt like shared work rather than an accusation. Each course produced a revision plan. Race-as-risk-factor statements were rewritten with mechanisms that include social and structural causes, and the kidney function content was updated to the race-free equation. Cases were revised so that behaviors such as nonadherence are distributed without regard to ethnicity and are accompanied by the context that often explains them, such as cost or work schedules. Six new cases were written featuring disabled and transgender patients with ordinary medical problems. The skills lab purchased images and simulation materials showing findings across skin tones, and the health assessment course added a session on assessing skin in patients with darker skin.
Keeping the Work Going
A single audit becomes outdated as new materials enter courses. Cedar Valley will repeat the audit every three years and will add three questions to the course approval form: whether race or identity is used in content and how, whether cases have been reviewed for patterns and whether images represent a range of skin tones. A standing group of two faculty and two students will review new cases before they are added to the case bank. Students will be invited to report concerns through a simple online form that goes to this group, not to the course instructor, so they can raise issues without worrying about their grade. Faculty development will include a yearly session on the evidence behind race-based tools, since clinical recommendations continue to change.
Limitations
The audit relied on reviewers' judgments of apparent race and skin tone, which are imperfect. It covered written materials and slides but not what faculty say in class or in clinical settings, which the hidden curriculum discussion in Module One showed can matter as much. And changing materials does not by itself change attitudes or clinical decisions, so the program will also examine whether graduates' assessment skills on darker skin improve, using simulation results.
Conclusion
The students who wrote to the dean identified real problems, and a structured audit confirmed and measured them. Examining content, cases and images with specific questions grounded in evidence, sharing findings carefully, making concrete changes and building mechanisms to repeat the work turned a broad commitment to equity into changes students will see in every course.
References
Amutah, C., Greenidge, K., Mante, A., Munyikwa, M., Surya, S. L., Higginbotham, E., Jones, D. S., Lavizzo-Mourey, R., Roberts, D., Tsai, J., & Aysola, J. (2021). Misrepresenting race: The role of medical schools in propagating physician bias. New England Journal of Medicine, 384(9), 872-878. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMms2025768
Delgado, C., Baweja, M., Crews, D. C., Eneanya, N. D., Gadegbeku, C. A., Inker, L. A., Mendu, M. L., Miller, W. G., Moxey-Mims, M. M., Roberts, G. V., St. Peter, W. L., Warfield, C., & Powe, N. R. (2022). A unifying approach for GFR estimation: Recommendations of the NKF-ASN Task Force on reassessing the inclusion of race in diagnosing kidney disease. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 79(2), 268-288. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2021.08.003
Louie, P., & Wilkes, R. (2018). Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery. Social Science & Medicine, 202, 38-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.02.023
What the NUR 645 Module 8 instructions ask for
Equity papers in NUR 645 usually ask you to examine how a curriculum addresses diversity, equity and inclusion and to propose improvements. Some prompts focus on content, others on teaching practices or student support. Expect four to six pages in APA 7. Rather than stating commitments, describe a process: the lenses you will use, the specific questions you will ask of each course, what the review found, with counts where possible, and the concrete changes that follow. Ground each lens in published evidence, share findings in a way faculty can accept, build mechanisms that keep the work going and acknowledge the limits of reviewing documents alone. Plan how students can raise concerns safely.
How this NUR 645 Module 8 equity paper example is built
This paper describes an audit at a composite baccalaureate school after students raised concerns. Using Amutah and colleagues on race in medical teaching and the Delgado task force on kidney function estimation, it finds race presented as a risk factor without explanation in seven of twelve courses. A review of 140 cases shows patients with Spanish surnames overrepresented among nonadherent patients. Drawing on Louie and Wilkes, it finds 19 of 212 skin images showing darker tones. Changes include rewritten content, revised and new cases and new images, with repeated audits, approval questions and a student reporting route. Findings go to coordinators privately before the full faculty sees a summary.
Where the NUR 645 Module 8 rubric puts the points
Grading of equity papers commonly weighs the clarity of the problem, use of evidence, the quality of the review process, the specificity of proposed changes, plans for sustaining the work, acknowledgment of limitations and APA 7 writing. Top-band papers translate evidence into concrete review questions and report findings with numbers rather than impressions. Graders reward changes matched to each finding, attention to how faculty will receive the results and mechanisms such as review groups and reporting routes that make the work continue. Recognizing that document review does not capture what happens in classrooms and clinical settings shows the balanced judgment reviewers look for. A safe route for student concerns strengthens the plan.
NUR 645 Module 8 help: the mistakes that cost points
Equity papers lose points when they rely on general statements of commitment, when the review has no defined questions, when findings are described without evidence or counts or when changes are vague. Another gap is a one-time effort with no way to keep it going. Define lenses, ground them in research, ask specific questions, count what you find, make concrete changes, share findings carefully and build lasting mechanisms. If your paper focuses on student recruitment and retention, accessible teaching for disabled students or faculty diversity instead, send the details with your NUR 645 prompt so the paper addresses that area. Share findings privately first. Then repeat the audit.
Get NUR 645 Module 8 written to your instructions
Send the NUR 645 prompt, what you know about your curriculum and the rubric. Your paper will define review lenses grounded in evidence, report findings with counts, make concrete changes and build ways to keep the work going, within 24 to 48 hours, free the first time. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
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NUR 645 Module 8 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 645 Module 8 Equity Paper sample?
This page carries the full paper: an audit of a nursing curriculum's content, cases and images for how race and identity are used and represented, with findings and changes.
How do you audit a nursing curriculum for equity?
Define lenses such as content, cases and images, ask specific questions of every course, count patterns, make concrete changes and repeat the review regularly.
Why was race removed from kidney function equations?
A national task force found the race coefficient could delay diagnosis and referral for Black patients and recommended an equation without it.
Why do skin tones in nursing images matter?
Findings such as early pressure injury and cyanosis look different on darker skin, and nurses who have seen them only on light skin may miss them.
How can case studies teach stereotypes?
When behaviors such as nonadherence are repeatedly assigned to patients of one group, the pattern teaches a stereotype even if no single case is biased.