Dakota Nursing Program

As part of the Dakota Nursing Program consortium, first year Practical Nursing students are required to take 3 nursing classes. The first course is known as Foundations of Nursing. This is a 3 credit hour, multidimensional lecture course where students learn the nursing process, nursing judgment, health promotion and disease prevention. They also gain an understanding of how the practical nurse functions within the interdisciplinary team (BSC Catalog, 2017).
Practical Nursing I is another 3 credit hour lecture class that covers several core concepts including health assessment, nutrition, and mental health (BSC, 2017). Currently, this course is divided into 3 independent sections; Health Assessment is taught for 8 weeks and Nutrition and
62). In order to better describe the scope and reach potential of this project, this section of the paper will thoroughly describe the project setting and potential number of persons that will be affected.
The Dakota Nursing program is a collaborative effort among four community colleges around the state of North Dakota. Bismarck State College, Dakota College at Bottineau, Lake Region State College, and Williston State College share resources to deliver affordable nursing education to both urban and rural communities around the state. Currently these 4 primary sites share curriculum among each other and with the 6 satellite sites. In the Fall of 2018, 2 additional satellite sites are set to join the consortium. The entire Dakota Nursing Program delivers content suitable for students to earn 2 different levels of nursing education. The Practical Nursing Program is an 11 month course of study that prepares students to graduate with a certificate in Practical Nursing. This also allows students to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-PN). During the 2017-2018 school year, 161 students began studying at one of the sites around the
Applications for this class are beginning to come in so there is no specific data on the number of students who will matriculate into this class. Specifically, the Clinical Practice I course will be the focus of the project. This class has one lead instructor and one additional instructor who helps prepare lectures, lessons, and activities. This class will be offered at 11 sites. Each site has their own faculty to teach clinical skills and facilitate learning activities. The number of faculty involved at each site varies by site and week. Generally, approximately 15 faculty members are involved in the laboratory portion of this class on a weekly