Environments of Care: A Curriculum Model for Preparing a New Generation of Nurses

This article provides a perspective on the community-based curriculum model that has guided undergraduate education for the past decade, discusses some of the problems that have emerged with the community-based approach, and proposes an alternative approach for consideration and discussion. The community-based model is discussed in relation to three major areas of concern: faculty and preceptor implementation of the curriculum, entry into practice and hiring pattern disjunctions, and trends and unexpected consequences of changes in the health care system. The Environments of Care Model, proposed as an alternative curriculum approach, conveys a broad perspective on health and illness, based on a multiple determinants of health paradigm and a systems framework. AUTHORS Received: December 10, 2004 Accepted: April 1, 2005 At the time this article was written, Dr. Ervin was Assistant Dean, Family, Community, and Mental Health, and Associate Professor, Wayne State University College of Nursing. Currently, Ms. Bickes is Clinical Assistant Professor, and Dr. Schim is Assistant Professor, Wayne State University College of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan. Address correspondence to Naomi E. Ervin, PhD, APRN, BC, FAAN, 29580 Belfast Street, Farmington Hills, MI 48336; e-mail: neervin@hotmail.com.