| Course | NUR 654 Curriculum Foundations in Nursing Education |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | discussion post on the history of nursing education and curriculum |
| Length | About 390 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | MSN |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 654 Module 1
Module One Discussion
Why Do Experienced Nurses Need More School? A Hundred-Year-Old Answer
At our first planning meeting for Pine Ridge College's online RN to BSN program, a nurse executive from our hospital partner asked a fair question: her associate degree nurses are already licensed and skilled, so what will another degree give them that experience does not? I realized that nursing has been debating versions of that question for a century, and the history helps answer it.
A committee backed by Rockefeller money, with Josephine Goldmark directing its fieldwork, visited hospital training schools across the country and found that most students were used as the hospital's workforce, with instruction squeezed around long shifts of service. The committee recommended that nursing education be organized around students' learning rather than hospitals' staffing needs and that university schools of nursing be developed to prepare nurses for leadership, teaching and public health (Committee for the Study of Nursing Education, 1923).
Twenty-five years later, Brown (1948), in a study for the National Nursing Council, again found much nursing education tied to hospital service and recommended that basic professional nursing education move into colleges and universities, with a broader foundation in the sciences and humanities and preparation for community as well as hospital practice. Both reports argued that what nurses need is not only more technical skill but a broader base for judgment, which is exactly what our partner was asking about.
Benner et al. (2010) brought the argument into the present. After visiting schools nationwide, they urged teaching that weaves together classroom and clinical learning, shifts from critical thinking in the abstract to clinical reasoning in context and prepares nurses for leadership and changing practice. For an RN to BSN program, this means the curriculum should not repeat skills that working nurses already have. It should build what experience alone rarely supplies: population health, evidence appraisal, leadership, quality improvement and the ability to reason across the whole course of a patient's care.
So my answer to our partner is that the degree is meant to add a new layer, not repeat the old one, and our curriculum must prove it by building on what students bring from practice. My question for peers: how do you show experienced nurses, and their employers, that an RN to BSN program adds something their daily work does not?
References
Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V., & Day, L. (2010). Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation. Jossey-Bass.
Brown, E. L. (1948). Nursing for the future. Russell Sage Foundation.
Committee for the Study of Nursing Education. (1923). Nursing and nursing education in the United States. Macmillan.
What the NUR 654 Module 1 instructions ask for
The first NUR 654 discussion usually asks you to consider how historical events, reports or movements shaped nursing education and what they mean for curricula today. Some prompts name specific reports; others ask you to choose. Expect an initial post of a few hundred words drawing on two or three sources in APA 7, with replies to classmates later. Rather than listing dates, connect the history to a current decision in your own program or practice, explain what the historical sources argued and why, show how that argument still bears on a present question and end by asking peers something that invites examples from their own settings. Accuracy about what each report said matters more than coverage.
How this NUR 654 Module 1 discussion example is built
This post comes from an educator helping a composite college launch an online RN to BSN program after a hospital partner asks what another degree adds for licensed nurses. It summarizes the 1923 Goldmark Report on hospital schools that used students as a workforce and its call for university preparation, the 1948 Brown Report recommending that nursing education move into colleges and Benner and colleagues' 2010 call to integrate classroom and clinical learning and emphasize clinical reasoning. The writer concludes that an RN to BSN curriculum should add population health, evidence, leadership and quality rather than repeat skills. A hospital partner's challenge frames the whole post.
Where the NUR 654 Module 1 rubric puts the points
Grading of this discussion generally weighs historical accuracy, the connection between history and current practice, use of sources, clarity and engagement with peers. The strongest posts use history to answer a present question rather than summarizing events in order. Graders reward accurate descriptions of what landmark reports found and recommended, a clear line from those recommendations to a curriculum decision and attention to the learners the program serves. A closing question that asks classmates for practical approaches, rather than opinions, tends to generate the most useful replies and supports the engagement portion of the grade. Replies that add a source earn credit too. Precise dates help.
NUR 654 Module 1 help: the mistakes that cost points
History posts lose points when they list dates without explaining their significance, when reports are described inaccurately, when the connection to today's curricula is vague or when the post never addresses a real decision. Another gap is treating history as settled rather than as an argument still being made. Tie history to a current question, describe what the sources actually recommended, connect those recommendations to your program and close by asking something practical. If your prompt focuses on a different event, such as the growth of associate degree programs or the entry-into-practice debate, send it with your NUR 654 notes and the post will be built around it. Quote findings, not legends.
Get NUR 654 Module 1 written to your instructions
Send us the NUR 654 prompt and a sentence about your program, plus how it is graded. We will write a post that will connect nursing education history to a real curriculum decision, describe the sources accurately and end with a practical question, 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 654 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 654 Module 1 Discussion sample?
This page carries the full post: the Goldmark and Brown reports, the move of nursing education into colleges and what it means for an RN to BSN curriculum.
What was the Goldmark Report?
A 1923 study of nursing education funded by the Rockefeller Foundation that found hospital schools used students as labor and recommended university-based preparation.
What did the Brown Report recommend?
Published in 1948, it recommended that basic professional nursing education move into colleges and universities with a broader educational foundation.
What did Benner and colleagues call for in 2010?
Joining classroom and clinical learning, stressing reasoning about real patients and preparing nurses for leadership and changing practice.
What should an RN to BSN curriculum add for experienced nurses?
Population health, evidence appraisal, leadership, quality improvement and broader clinical reasoning, rather than repeating skills they already have.