External Effectiveness of Nursing Undergraduate Curriculum from the Viewpoint of Nursing Graduated Students and Nursing Managers: A Cross-sectional Study

Background and aim: Educational programs are considered as one of the main concerns of planners in each organization to find their impact on learners and making behavioral and functional changes in them. Given the professional status of nurses in community health, the current research was conducted to evaluate the external effectiveness of nursing undergraduate curriculum from the viewpoint of nursing graduated students and nursing managers based on the Kirkpatrick model.

Methods and materials: This cross-sectional research was carried out on 208 graduated nursing and nursing managers working in hospitals affiliated to Iranshahr University of Medical Siences, who were randomly selected. The tool used in this research was a researcher-developed questionnaire based on educational goals. Data were analyzed by SPSS v22 with independent t-test.

Result: Findings revealed that the knowledge created from the viewpoint of the graduated students is less than the desirable level, but it is at acceptable level. The skill acquired from the viewpoint of graduated students was at the desirable level and the attitude created by the graduated students was at acceptable level. Moreover, findings reflecting the managers' viewpoint showed the results similar to graduated students’ viewpoint. From the nursing viewpoint, the acquired skill was at desirable level and the knowledge and attitude of graduated students were at acceptable level.

Conclusion: Nursing undergraduate curriculum external effectveness has acceptale level.