Family Nursing Curriculum, a Step toward the Development of Nurse's Role in Iran

Introduction: The discipline of family nursing is a specialty in nursing is designed to provide preventive services. Despite the emphasis on family nursing, this curriculum has not been designed in Iran. This study aimed to develop a task-based family nursing curriculum in Iran. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in 2010 – 2011 in Iran. Curriculum planning was done using need-assessment, regular focus groups, discussion with nursing educators, medical education and curriculum planning specialists, nurses and postgraduate nursing students and medical education students. Results: A task-based curriculum was developed based on the structure of the curriculum, which is recommended in the ministry of health and medical education in four seasons. Its courses were health status, chronic illness, family crisis and mental health, family health, geriatric nursing, research methods and statistics, nurse management, information systems, family and patient education, and family's thesis. Conclusion: This study provided a task-based family nurse curriculum that can be used to run this course in Iran. It is hoped that its implementation can decrease some problems resulting from the prevalence of chronic disease and its complications