Aim(s): The majority of nurses in the Kyrgyz Republic had secondary vocational education, which limited their career growth and further professional development. In the current nursing policy report, nursing education reform was recommended. The study aims to develop and validate a leadership-intensive educational program for nursing Bachelor program.
Method(s): This program development, methodological study started with an job function assessment of nurses through focus group interviews from 54 nurses and a survey from 227 nurses. An integrative analysis delineated nursing professional competencies. A working group with faculty members from a public university, nurses, and international experts determined the objectives, list of competencies, learning outcomes, required staffing, material-technical resources for education, and assessment. The developed program was validated by internal committees’ audit process and by a group of nurses’ and experts’ content validity.
Result(s): The developed program included the requirements for program completion, curriculum, competency matrix, and the state final exam. The curriculum consisted of disciplines from the humanities, natural sciences and mathematics, professional cycle, and nursing practicum. The entire subjects were categorized with the specified competencies in the competency matrix. The state final exam includes testing, objective structured clinical examination, and an exit interview, as well as the completion and defense of the final qualifying work. After reviewing the developed program, practicing nurses and seven international experts gave their agreement on the program components as well as recommendations. According to the experts’ recommendations, the program was modified and finalized with strengthening interprofessional preparation for nurses, training students in digital literacy, and enhancing the leadership approaching of the program.
Conclusion(s): The developed and validated educational program for nursing Bachelor program alignswith international standards and can contribute in more qualified nurses, resulting in better patient outcomes as well as improved healthcare in the Kyrgyz Republic.
Keyword(s): Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; Education program; Nursing education; Validation
* Funding statement
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (Ministry of Education) (No. NRF-2022H1A7A2A02000010, NRF-2022H1A7A2A02000011).