New Horizons in Learning

The motivation for this project stems from the rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, which requires nursing and midwifery graduates to be equipped with advanced interpersonal, clinical, and critical thinking skills. Evolving skills, such as digital literacy and sustainability competencies, are also paramount for new graduates. With the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) updating its standards (2025), there is a pressing need to develop a curriculum that is not only aligned with these requirements but also inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of learners. Additionally, the integration of innovative teaching and assessment methodologies is crucial to ensure academic integrity and prepare graduates for the complexities of modern healthcare. This project aims to create a forward-thinking, student-centered curriculum that fosters professional readiness, inclusivity, and adaptability, ensuring that graduates are well-prepared to meet the future needs of society and healthcare systems.

Objective 1: Develop a Modern, Sustainable and Inclusive Curriculum: Develop a philosophy statement that encapsulates the attributes of graduates from the programme. Analyse current best practice in equivalent leading-edge programmes. Develop a student-centred, accessible nursing and midwifery curriculum that aligns with the upcoming NMBI standards, incorporating Universal Design for Learning principles to cater to the diverse needs of learners. Ensure the inclusion of emerging new concepts, central to nursing and midwifery practice, including digital literacy and competencies in sustainability.

Objective 2: Enhance Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Strategies: Identify and integrate innovative, evidence-based, student-centred teaching methodologies, including technology-enhanced learning, problem-based learning, simulation, and diverse assessment approaches. Design appropriate and constructively aligned forms of assessment to ensure high standards of academic integrity in the era of generative AI.

Objective 3: Clinical Practice Placement and Professional Socialisation: Identify and integrate ways to enhance nursing and midwifery students' socialisation to practice. Develop guidelines and strategies to optimise clinical placements and professional identity formation in line with International best practices, including creating a handbook for Preceptors outlining the new curriculum.

Objective 4: Foster Stakeholder Engagement through Co-Design: Actively involve key stakeholders, including students, educators, clinical partners, and the public, in the co-creation/production process, utilising the ADDIE model to ensure the curriculum is relevant, responsive, and reflective of real-world needs. Generate a blueprint for future curriculum development, utilising this approach.

Phase 1: Planning and Stakeholder Engagement

• Start Date: October 1, 2025
• End Date: December 31, 2025
• Duration: 3 months

Key Activities:

• Seek ethical approval for research project
• Horizon Scanning the literature for best practices on co-design and ADDIE model for developing nursing curricula.  Recruitment and engagement of stakeholders (students, educators, clinical partners, public).
• Draft philosophy statement/graduate attributes.
• Begin alignment with NMBI standards and UDL principles.
• Identify best practices for clinical placements.

Deliverables:

• Ethical Approval granted
• Literature Review of available literature
• Stakeholder engagement plan.
• Draft philosophy statement.
• - Initial alignment with NMBI standards.

Phase 2: Curriculum Development

• Start Date: Jan 1, 2026
• End Date: March 31, 2026
• Duration: 3 months

Key Activities:

• Finalise philosophy statement.
• Develop student-centred curriculum aligned with NMBI standards and UDL.
• Integrate emerging concepts (digital literacy, sustainability).
• Identify innovative teaching methodologies.

Deliverables:

• Finalised philosophy statement.
• Draft curriculum framework.
• Initial teaching & assessment strategies.

Phase 3: Practice Placement 

• Start Date: March, 2026
• End Date: May, 2026
• Duration: 2 months

Key Activities:

• Develop clinical placement guidelines that outline the new curriculum.
• Finalise teaching and assessment strategies.

Deliverables:

• Clinical placement guidelines.
• Finalised teaching and assessment strategies.

Phase 4: Finalisation, Stakeholder Review, and Blueprint Creation

• Start Date: June 1, 2026
• End Date: August, 2026
• Duration: 3 months

Key Activities:

• Present final curriculum to stakeholders.
• Incorporate feedback.
• Generate blueprint for future curriculum development.
• Finalise clinical placement guidelines.

Deliverables:

• Finalised curriculum document.
• Blueprint for future curriculum development.
• Finalised guidelines.

Phase 5: Publication Outputs

• Start Date: Sept 2026
• End Date: Dec, 2026
• Duration: 5 months

Key Activities:

• Write and submit research publications.

1. Philosophy Statement and Graduate Attributes: A clear, concise statement outlining the attributes of graduates from the nursing and midwifery programme.
2. Curriculum Framework: A student-centered, accessible curriculum aligned with NMBI standards, incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and emerging concepts like digital literacy and sustainability.
3. Inclusive Teaching and Assessment Strategies: Innovative methodologies, including technology-enhanced learning and diverse assessment approaches, to ensure academic integrity and prepare graduates for future healthcare needs.
4. Clinical Placement Guidelines: Optimised guidelines for clinical placements and professional socialisation, including creating a handbook for Preceptors outlining the new curriculum.
5. Blueprint for Future Co-Design Curriculum Development: A co-produced framework for ongoing curriculum development, ensuring relevance and responsiveness to emerging societal and evolving healthcare needs.