HealthSoft, Inc.,in collaboration with the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association (DDNA), proposes to develop a comprehensive computer-assisted (CAI) curriculum in developmental disabilities (DD) nursing that can be used in varied educational and practice settings.
The aims of Phase I are to determine the receptivity of DD nurses to using CAI, assess their access to requisite technology, and evaluate attainment of learner outcomes and level of satisfaction when CAI is used to teach DD content. The methodology for Phase I includes: 1) surveying a random sample of DDNA members to determine attitudes toward using a computerized curriculum and access to needed hardware, and 2) developing a pilot CAI on care of clients with Down syndrome for use in measuring learning gains and evaluating learner satisfaction when it is used in eight varied DD nursing practice and education settings, Innovations include: 1) expert collaborative development of a computerized curriculum in nursing, 2) content emphasis on family- centered care across the lifespan, 3) provision f inexpensive just in time education for geographically-dispersed nurses in varied settings, 4) multimedia delivery on CD-ROM, and 5) use of an embedded hybrid media interface that connects the curriculum seamlessly through the internet to a DDNA website.
A computerized developmental disability nursing curriculum is marketable to schools of nursing, acute care facilities, residential and long term care facilities, home health care agencies, correctional facilities, managed care organizational, primary health providers, school health and public health agencies, and is accessible through the Internet, or on software disks and/or CD-ROM.
| Hahn, Joan Earle (2003) Addressing the need for education: curriculum development for nurses about intellectual and developmental disabilities. Nurs Clin North Am 38:185-204 |
