Student Experiences With a Newly Developed Concept-Based Curriculum

Curriculum change is a constant in nursing education. Little is known about the impact of curricular change on nursing students. To determine the overall impact of the change to the concept-based curriculum on the students, we conducted a survey and focus groups. The students were satisfied with the new curriculum but identified barriers to their learning. Faculty implementing a curriculum revision should consider the impact of the changes on the students. •A need to improve critical thinking skills prompted a change to a concept-based curriculum.•Faculty were interested in understanding the impact of the change in curriculum on students.•Three themes emerged: Facilitating Learning, Dissatisfiers and Mixed Feelings.•Student satisfaction was decreased when course had redundant material and was disorganized.•Students found that they could apply concepts to real-life situations.