Health policy in nursing curriculum.

This article presents the findings of a study on how health policy is integrated into the nursing curriculum at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, with particular emphasis on type of coursework, faculty preparation, and teaching strategies. The sample for the study included 210 randomly selected schools of nursing: 150 with undergraduate programs only and 60 with both graduate and undergraduate programs. The findings indicate that health policy has not yet received optimal placement in the curriculum at either the undergraduate or graduate level of nursing preparation. Recommendations are made based upon the findings of the study, a review of the literature, and the collective experience of the authors.