The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) publication, The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021a), hereafter referred to as the New Essentials, mandates a transformative shift in nursing education toward a competency-based education (CBE) model. This transition aims to bridge the gap between traditional classroom instruction and the increasingly complex demands of modern healthcare environments. Furthermore, the New Essentials address persistent concerns regarding inconsistencies in the knowledge, skills, and clinical competencies of nursing graduates (AACN, 2021b). The New Essentials are built upon foundational concepts that integrate across 10 domains. These include 45 competencies categorized into two distinct tiers: Level 1 (Entry-into-Practice) and Level 2 (Advanced Practice). Transitioning existing nursing programs to the New Essentials is an intensive undertaking, potentially requiring three years or more for full implementation (AACN, 2021b).

A critical initial step in transitioning to the New Essentials is the systematic mapping of existing program curricula against the domains, concepts, and competencies. These “crosswalks” are vital for identifying alignment, gaps, and redundancies at both the course and program levels. Consequently, the data gleaned from curriculum mapping serves as an essential foundation for revision, determining whether a program requires minor modifications or a comprehensive curricular overhaul. Despite its importance, the mapping process is often perceived by faculty as daunting and overwhelming. The purpose of this project was to develop a collaborative mapping process that engaged all faculty members to provide a comprehensive review of the current curriculum's alignment with CBE and the New Essentials.

This process began one year after the program completed the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) reaccreditation process, thus mapping of all programs to the former AACN Essential series was completed. The previous mapping process utilized Microsoft Excel (Version 2021) and was completed by nursing school administration, with subsequent faculty review and verification. This process proved challenging. Integrating the complex material into a holistic “big picture” for faculty, stakeholders, and the accreditation team members was difficult and required extensive formatting. This method took approximately nine months and required several cycles of faculty validation as courses were updated. This experience underscored the need for a more efficient and technology-driven approach to curriculum mapping.

With three entry-to-practice programs and multiple MSN and DNP advanced specialty tracks, the task ahead was daunting. To manage this, a transition team was formed, consisting of an accreditation coordinator, the current associate dean, and the graduate program director. This team of experienced academicians brought expertise in accreditation, curriculum mapping, and curriculum design across all program levels and tracks. The leader of the team was the designated “New Essentials Champion” and had previous experience as an associate dean.

Mapping the existing curriculum to the New Essentials was identified as a priority next step in the transition process. To accomplish this effectively, the search for a successful evidence-based curriculum mapping approach began. Prior experience with manual mapping showed how time-consuming and complex this process could be, prompting the incorporation of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the process and outputs. Instead of relying on expensive programs and consultants, a literature search for ways to leverage technology to create a cost-efficient, faculty-involved process was conducted.

Curriculum maps have long been used as a quality improvement tool (Harden, 2001). Curriculum maps can create a visual representation of the concepts and provide an opportunity to reflect and benchmark curriculum (Harden, 2001; Mueller-Burke, Bindon, Akintade, & Idzik, 2024). Recent advances in technology, particularly artificial intelligence, have the potential to transform a once manual process into a technology-driven and collaborative activity. An upward approach starts at the course level and uses faculty experts to map the individual courses to the New Essentials concepts, competencies, sub-competencies, and spheres of care (Lucey, Sipe, & Hoyt, 2024; Stephens, 2022). Using an individual survey on course content and competencies completed by faculty experts provided the involvement and ownership in the curriculum revision process to all faculty (Lucey et al., 2024). Survey platforms like RedCap, SurveyMonkey, Microsoft Forms, and Qualtrics are often utilized by universities and nursing programs for data collection. Leveraging existing licenses and survey platforms faculty are familiar with can make the adaptation for curriculum mapping purposes easier.

Applications and AI can simplify data management and analysis. Casey, Joseph, and Michael (2023) explored using AI like Google Bard and OpenAI ChatGPT-4 for curriculum mapping for a DNP program. While results were often accurate, human oversight remained essential. The importance of clear, reproducible prompts while using AI was noted to be very important to the quality of results. Gaudino-Goering (2021) identified heatmaps as powerful tools for visualizing curriculum alignment, specifically to pinpoint zones where standards are either oversaturated or inadequately addressed. Data visualizations provide an easy-to-use visual that facilitate quick assessment of competency gaps, oversaturation, and repetition of skills (Lucey et al., 2024). Recent advances in AI-powered software platforms, particularly with natural language processing models, have made querying and visualizations easier for end users.

Leveraging the upward approach to curriculum mapping, the emphasis on starting with the faculty and incorporating faculty validation was a goal set by the team. A framework, see Table 1, naturally formed as the team increased their familiarity with the available technology to support the process. Boundaries were set that while AI would be used to create efficient workflows and visualizations, it would ultimately be the faculty who would lead the curriculum change.