College of the Redwoods – HEALTH OCCUPATIONS

Associate Degree, Nursing (ADN)

Registered Nursing Program

Curriculum Framework: The Cube

The College of the Redwoods Associate Degree Nursing Program curriculum framework is depicted as a three-dimensional cube; each side representing a primary element of the program’s organizational structure: nurse-client interactions, role competencies, and curricular threads. 

Nurse-Client Interactions and Role Competencies

Each semester the student nurse is introduced to an increasingly complex notion of client.  The student nurse also masters the skills needed to develop a caring collaborative relationship that moves these clients toward health.  Role competencies are organized into three major categories as defined by the National League for Nurses: provider of nursing care, manager of nursing care, and member within the discipline of nursing.

In the first semester, the student provides one-to-one care to individual clients, who have commonly occurring physiological conditions with predictable outcomes or who seek health promotion.  In the second semester, interactions are expanded to include care of the family as client, and care of two individual clients who have conditions resulting in unpredictable outcomes with less defined alternatives.  In the third semester, the student expands the caring collaborative relationship to include members of the health team.  The student provides care to three clients with more serious and complex conditions and those individuals or families who are dysfunctional and have long-term needs.  In the fourth and final semester, the student nurse-client interactions involve collaboration and coordination with community resources.  The student provides care to four clients with increasingly complicated and critical conditions, and develops the skills needed to manage a group of clients.

Curricular Threads

Six major curriculum threads are identified on the lateral surface of the cube.  These concepts are integrated into nurse-client interactions and role competencies, and are woven throughout coursework in each semester.   They are as follows: 1) human needs and health promotion, 2) uniqueness of client, 3) growth and development, 4) nursing theory, 5) critical thinking, and 6) nursing process.  The threads provide the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings for all coursework. 

To summarize, program content and clinical experiences progress from simple to complex, normal to abnormal, functional to dysfunctional nursing care situations.  Concurrently, the recipient of nursing care increases in complexity and number.  New knowledge and skills are continuously acquired while previous knowledge and skills are refined.  At completion of the nursing program, the successful student gains the knowledge, skills, and personal qualities necessary to be a competent, caring, and effective Registered Nurse.