Quantitative Research Draft: Nursing Education and Curriculum Design

This report presents a draft of a quantitative research study focusing on the development of a Masters of Science curriculum at the UI School of Nursing. The research aims to gather insights from a clinical expert panel to identify key content areas and competencies essential for future postgraduate nursing students. The study utilizes a non-experimental approach, specifically the Delphi method, involving electronic surveys to collect data from clinical experts across different healthcare agencies. The research questions the essential content focus areas and requisite competencies of nursing professionals. The data analysis will involve both qualitative and quantitative techniques, including thematic analysis and statistical methods. The study acknowledges the importance of higher education levels for nurses to meet the demands of the profession and references relevant literature, including the Affordable Care Act and recommendations from the IOM regarding the need for BSN graduates in advanced programs. The research aims to contribute to the enhancement of nursing education and patient health outcomes.

Running head: DRAFT
Draft for a quantitative research
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The Affordable Care Act was enforced in 2010 with the aim of making health
insurances available to more number of service users. It also had the objective of covering all
adults who had an income below an estimated 138% of the federal poverty levels and
designing innovative healthcare delivery methods in lower costs (Rak & Janis Coffin DO,
2013). The old systems of nursing education have now been considered redundant and fail to
meet the standards of the practical and theoretical training provided to nurses for enhancing
patient health outcomes in challenging environment. This calls for the need of building the
capacities of nurses.
Literature review
Nurses have been found to play an integral role in the healthcare industry, while
providing care services to the patients and filling in a range of leadership roles. During the
past decades, several changes have been observed in nursing education that have resulted in
the successful replacement of the older systems (White et al., 2015). Current systems of nurse
trainings are more practically oriented and integrate a greater awareness of allied medical
disciplines, thereby incorporating aspects of inter-professional education. The current
influence of nurse education is to advance confident and inquisitive graduates, who will
positively contribute to the care team as a responsible health professional (Titzer & Shirey,
2013).
Nurses are now also being contact for filling in the expanded roles of leaders and
mastering a set of information management systems and technical tools, while developing an
effective collaboration with multidisciplinary professionals (Abe et al., 2013). Inadequate
staffing also threatens safety of the service users and leads to increased complexity of care,
thereby creating an impact on nurse’s health. Thus, nursing professionals should attain higher

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education levels in order to meet the new demands of this challenging profession.
Furthermore, recommendations from the IOM also illustrate the need of having a minimum
of 10% BSN graduates in doctoral or masters programs, within five years of their
baccalaureate nursing education (IOM (Institute of Medicine, 2011).
Framework
The study will aim to retrieve information from a clinical expert panel regarding
advices that might enhance the learning of future postgraduate nursing students. The research
question is as follows:
What content focus areas and requisite competencies of nursing professionals should
underpin the future Masters of Science curriculum at the UI School of Nursing?
Methods and Procedures
The research will be a non-experimental approach. The research design utilise the
Delphi method of survey (Habibi, Sarafrazi & Izadyar, 2014). Following recruitment of
clinical experts from different healthcare agencies in western US, electronic surveys be sent
with the use of Qualtrics. 10 participants will be the lowest limit for the rounds. Round 1 will
encompass open-ended questions. The responses shall be reviewed and categorised, followed
by development of round 2. Responses to likert scale and structured questions in this round
will be developed to round 3 that will inform the participants of their responses.
Collective responses shall be gathered and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively
with the use of standard techniques. Thematic analysis and statistical methods will be adopted
for data analysis. Parametric statistical methods shall be used for instances where there are
more than 30 members in the panel. Collected data will be kept anonymous and the
participants will be given the opportunity to withdraw at any time of the research.

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References
Abe, Y., Kawahara, C., Yamashina, A., & Tsuboi, R. (2013). Repeated scenario simulation to
improve competency in critical care: A new approach for nursing
education. American Journal of Critical Care, 22(1), 33-40.
Habibi, A., Sarafrazi, A., & Izadyar, S. (2014). Delphi technique theoretical framework in
qualitative research. The International Journal of Engineering and Science, 3(4), 8-
13.
IOM (Institute of Medicine). (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing
Health. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Rak, S., & Janis Coffin DO, F. A. A. F. P. (2013). Affordable care act. The Journal of
medical practice management: MPM, 28(5), 317.
Titzer, J. L., & Shirey, M. R. (2013, July). Nurse manager succession planning: a concept
analysis. In Nursing Forum(Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 155-164).
White, D. E., Jackson, K., Besner, J., & Norris, J. M. (2015). The examination of nursing
work through a role accountability framework. Journal of nursing
management, 23(5), 604-612.