Comparing Student Role Perceptions: Traditional to Community-Based Curriculum

Abstract

This phenomenological study explored role perceptions of senior baccalaureate nursing students in a traditional curriculum (TC) and a community-based curriculum (CBC) following one U.S. school’s curriculum revision. Researchers inquired into that moment when students intervened like a nurse. Results were analyzed by groups and then compared. The assumptions and style of the Dutch school of phenomenology guided the collection and analysis of data. Among identified themes were traditional nursing role functions. Students from the CBC perceived a comparatively broader scope for nursing practice, broader definition of client, and a more nuanced description of the nurse’s role. Seniors from the TC described a developmental trajectory which culminated in being able to intervene like a nurse. Responses from both participant groups confirm the importance of nurse-client and nurse-nurse proximities for the development of professional nursing in both structured and unstructured settings.