Fundamentals of care in pre-registration nursing curricula: Results of a national survey

Abstract
The Fundamentals of Care is a conceptual framework, grounded on the nurse establishing a relationship with the patient to enable the integration of physical, psychological, and relational aspects of nursing to deliver essential patient care. There is an imperative on schools of nursing to teach and assess nursing students to achieve clinical competency. The Nursing Council of New Zealand provide schools of nursing with an educational framework to guide how nursing students are educated. However, curricular content specific to fundamentals of care (FoC) is minimally researched, making areas of strength or gaps in curricula unclear. This paper provides a national overview of undergraduate pre-registration nursing curricula in Aotearoa New Zealand exploring what and how schools of nursing teach and assess FoC. This was achieved using a cross-sectional descriptive survey. Survey responses were received from 17 course coordinators and involved completing an online anonymous questionnaire. Data was collected between July 2019 and February 2020 and analysed using descriptive statistics. Data analysis revealed variations in how FoC is taught and suggests that the FoC curriculum is non-standardised. Schools appear to design their own curricula and individually decide the educational approaches they use to teach and assess FoC. Furthermore, while mouth and general skin care are commonly featured across FoC teaching, there was a limited focus on eye and perineal care. This study highlights the variance in how FoC is taught and the non-standardised design approach used by schools of nursing in Aotearoa New Zealand. Knowing this, provides schools of nursing and the Nursing Council of New Zealand with an opportunity to discuss and potentially develop a national evidenced-based FoC education strategy. Collaborating with international nursing councils could enhance the development of such a strategy.

Ngā ariā matua
He anga ariā Ngā Akoranga Taketake o te Taurima (Fundamentals of Care), i poua ki runga i te whakaaro kia mātua whakahoa atu te tapuhi ki te tūroro, e taea ai te haumi ngā āhuatanga kikokiko, hinengaro, hononga tangata hoki o te mahi tapuhi, hei hora i ngā taurima tūroro taketake. He mea hira kia whakaako ngā kura tapuhi i ngā ākonga tapuhi, kia aromatawaia hoki, kia eke ki te toi o ngā pūkenga tiaki tūroro. Ko tā te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa he hora anga akoranga ki ngā kura hei arataki i te akoranga o ngā tapuhi. Ahakoa tērā, kāore i te tino rangahaua ngā kai marautanga hāngai tika ki ngā akoranga taketake o te taurima, (FoC) nā konei kāore i tino kitea ngā wāhi pakari, ngā āputa rānei, i te marautanga. Tā tēnei tuhinga he hora aronga whānui ki ngā marautanga tapuhi tau whakangungu tuatahi i mua i te rēhita i Aotearoa, e tūhura ana i ngā mea kei roto, he pēhea hoki te whakaako a ngā kura tapuhi i ngā akoranga taketake o te taurima. (FoC). Nā te whakamahi uiuinga whakawhiti-wāhanga tēnei i tutuki ai. I tae mai he whakautu uiuinga i ētahi kairuruku kaupapa ako āhuatanga taketake 17, ko te mahi mā rātou, he whakakī i tētahi rārangi pātai ingoa-huna tuihono. I kohia ngā raraunga mai i Hūrae 2019 me Pēpuere 2020, ā, i whakamahia ngā tauanga whakamārama. Nā te tātari raraunga i kitea ai he pēhea te whakaako o ngā āhuatanga taketake o te taurima, me te mōhio iho, kāore i whakapaerewatia te marautanga āhuatanga taketake mō te katoa. Te āhua nei, kua tahuri ia kura ki te hoahoa i tāna ake marautanga me te whiriwhiri ko ēhea tikanga mātauranga ka whakamahia e rātou hei whakaako, hei aromatawai hoki i ngā āhuatanga taketake nei. Waihoki, ahakoa i kōrerotia nuitia te taurima waha, kiri whānui hoki puta noa i ngā akoranga āhuatanga taketake, he iti noa te arotahi atu ki ngā taurimatanga karu, huinga (a muri i te kiritore) hoki. Ko tā tēnei rangahau he whakakite i ngā rerekētanga o te whakaako āhuatanga taurima taketake, me te kore i whakapaerewatia ngā ara hoahoa kaupapa ako o ngā kura tapuhi i Aotearoa. Nā tēnei mōhiotanga hou, kua wātea te ara ki ngā kura tapuhi me te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa ki te whakawhiti kōrero, ki te hanga pea i tētahi rautaki akoranga āhuatanga taurima taketake ā-motu. Mā te mahi tahi me ngā kaunihera tapuhi o tāwāhi pea ka pai ake ai pea tētahi rautaki pērā.

Keywords / Ngā kupu matua
Aotearoa New Zealand; fundamentals of care / ngā akoranga taketake o te taurima; nursing curricula / ngā marautanga tapuhi; teaching and assessment / te whakaako me te armoatawai; undergraduate nursing / te tapuhi paetahi