Preparing Nurse Educator Students for the New National Council of State Boards of Nursing NCLEX and AACN Essentials

Abstract

Background: Graduate nursing education students are required to complete essential core content (such as education theory, accreditation, evidence-based teaching strategies, and evaluation methods) to prepare them to transition into independent practice. The 2021–2022 academic year required a monumental change in the existing curriculum to incorporate the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials and the Next Gen National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) content. Method: An innovative, prioritized, learner-centered, backward design was used to update the existing curriculum to add the new core content to the nursing education student curriculum. Results: The end of program comprehensive exams revealed that the students were able to successfully develop a test blueprint, utilizing case studies with Next Gen NCLEX question types designed to measure clinical judgment, and map to the 2021 AACN Essentials . Conclusion: The timely implementation of the curriculum revisions resulted in the achievement of desired student learning outcomes. [ J Nurs Educ . 2023;62(XX):XXX–XXX.]