ACCESSIBLE PRE-LICENSURE NURSING SCHOOL INFORMATION: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT USING KNOWLEDGE TO ACTION FRAMEWORK

Abstract

In response to the projected nursing shortage, Florida law makers made modifications to the law in 2009 that changed the Board of Nursing’s approval and monitoring process for nursing education programs. As a result, the number of approved nursing programs in Florida increased from 171 to 350 (105%) which resulted in the proliferation of poor nursing programs with low graduation and NCLEX pass rates. Prospective students are challenged to distinguish reputable nursing programs from problematic institutions. The purpose of this project was to create a centralized web-based platform and evaluate the ability of the platform to increase knowledge in prospective nursing students, regarding credible nursing programs. The project was implemented using the Knowledge to Action Frame Work. To test the effectiveness and knowledge gain, twenty seven prospective nursing students agreed to examine all components of the website. Based on the analysis, post questionnaire scores were overall higher than pre-questionnaire scores which showed an increase in knowledge. In the future, the project could expand to include free online classes such as, medical terminology, medical error, and staying healthy through nursing school.         

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