Nursing (NU)
The course is a broad overview of the nursing experience, including the philosophy of the nursing program; hallmarks of the profession; nursing theory, history and educational paths; scope of nursing practice; health promotion, disease prevention, and models of determinants of health and illness; theories of stress, coping, grief, and loss; professional and therapeutic communication; cultural diversity; and health care law and ethics. 3 hours lecture.
This course is an in-depth exploration of material related to knowledge translation into practice; particularly the processes and relationships among research, evidence-based practice, quality assurance, and performance improvement. Using the ACE Star Model of Knowledge Transformation Into Practice as a foundation, this course presents the cycle of the knowledge translation process and offers students guided experience in such key activities as formulating PICO(T) questions, performing a literature search, evaluating research studies and systematic reviews, and assessing clinical guidelines for applicability in clinical nursing practice. Strategies for implementing evidence-based practice and evaluating outcomes will also be discussed. 3 hours lecture.
In this course, students will learn the varied skills and roles necessary for professional practice. The student will utilize effective communication principles, nursing process, critical thinking, clients’ rights, and nursing standards and integrate evidence-based practice to provide a foundation for further study. Clinical practice issues integrate asepsis, client safety, documentation, health promotion, disease prevention strategies, and health education. Selected clinical skills and medication calculations are course components. 3 hours lecture, 3 hours lab/clinical.
Corequisite(s): NU500
In this course, students are introduced to the fundamental knowledge and clinical skills needed to practice as a professional nurse. Adult and child health history, assessment, and physical examination are presented and demonstrated. Students are guided in differentiating between wellness and illness by conducting thorough and systematic physical, psychosocial, nutritional, and cultural assessments of individuals across the lifespan. Application of the nursing process in beginning clinical practice will be highlighted. Skills relative to the practice of nursing will be practiced in the clinical laboratory through simulated experiences and in selected settings. Students will perform health histories, practice basic assessment skills and therapeutic communication techniques, and perform review of systems in the simulation laboratory. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours lab/clinical.
This course introduces students to basic concepts in pathophysiology as applied in current nursing practice. It builds on previous foundations in the biological sciences and focuses on the integration of pathophysiological with the principles of the nursing process. It also introduces students to pathophysiological disturbances to normal body functions, emphasizing differences in etiology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and treatments in individuals across the lifespan. Students will analyze objective and subjective manifestations of common health problems resulting from environmental, genetic, and stress-related conditions. Diagnostic testing, interventions and pharmacological treatments, and related nursing implications will be discussed as they relate to specific health problems. 3 hours lecture.
This pharmacology course, taken concurrently with clinical courses, is designed to enhance the knowledge and skills necessary for students to administer and evaluate pharmacological therapies to patients safely and effectively. This course will supplement the drug-specific information that is threaded through each of the clinical courses and will emphasize basic and advanced principles of pharmacotherapy as it relates to patient care across the lifespan. Students will learn to use the nursing process in medication administration within the context of psychosocial, gender, and cultural influences on pharmacotherapy. Case studies and clinical simulations will be heavily utilized to promote patient safety as it relates to drug therapy. 3 hours lecture.
This course prepares students to use the nursing process to plan, implement, and evaluate effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate evidence-based plans of care that meet the bio/psycho/social needs for adult patients. This course builds on previous foundations of nursing practice with a focus on integrating pathophysiologic and pharmacologic concepts with the principles of nursing process, health promotion, risk reduction, clinical decision making, and collaborative management of care for adults experiencing mild to moderate health alterations. Theoretical foundations are reinforced as the nursing process is applied to adult patients within the context of patient- and family-centered care. The clinical experience focuses on the application of pathophysiologic and pharmacologic knowledge within the context of professional nursing practice in the nursing care of adult patients. It also focuses on the application of the clinical reasoning process, nursing diagnoses, nursing interventions, and patient outcomes in the care of patients across the adult lifespan and continuum of care. Clinical sites support students' developing responsibility for collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary team. 3 hours lecture, 9 hours lab/clinical.
This course presents the principles, knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to provide patient centered, evidence-based nursing care for the aging population. Students will explore the unique physiological, developmental, and psychosocial aspects that impact the older adult. Developmental theories and theories of aging, normal age-related changes and health deviations, socioeconomic and cultural influences and other issues that may impact on the care of this population will be explored. Students will discuss appropriate strategies to provide effective, collaborative, equitable and culturally appropriate patient-centered care with a focus on health promotion, risk reduction, and illness and disease prevention, management, and health restoration. Students will explore multiple facets of the aging process through a variety of experiential learning modalities including field experiences and simulation. 2 hours lecture.
Students will learn to provide effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate psychiatric nursing care as they continue to develop in their roles of clinical practitioners, patient educators, and patient advocates, with a specific focus on health promotion, risk reduction, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the nursing management of psychiatric illness in contemporary society. The clinical experience focuses on the application of communication, developmental, and behavioral theories to the nursing diagnoses, intervention, and outcomes management in the care of psychiatric patients. 3 hours lecture, 6 hours lab/clinical.
This course prepares students to provide family-centered, evidence-based nursing care using concepts associated with the unique responses of families during childbearing, including normal and high-risk pregnancies, as well as the unique responses of neonates and their families to acute and chronic illness. Students will learn to integrate family, cultural, and developmental theories into evidence-based nursing practice with childbearing families in a variety of settings. Students will learn to provide effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate family-centered care while they continue to develop in their roles of clinical practitioners, patient educators, and patient advocates as they increase their knowledge related to health promotion, risk reduction, and illness and disease management in contemporary society. The clinical experience focuses on the application of family and developmental theory to the diagnosis, intervention, and outcomes management in the care of childbearing families. As such, the clinical experience is based in a variety of settings, allowing focus on the application of the clinical reasoning process, including formulation of nursing diagnoses, delivery of nursing interventions, and evaluation of patient outcomes in the care of childbearing families across the continuum of health. The clinical sites also support students’ developing responsibilities for collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary team. 2 hours lecture, 6 hours lab/clinical.
This is an advanced course that builds on the fundamental and clinical skills needed to practice as a professional nurse. Students will utilize techniques and equipment to perform comprehensive examination and therapeutic communication and obtain and assess diagnostic data for clients across the lifespan. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours lab/clinical.
Prerequisite(s): NU503.
This is an advanced course that builds on previous foundations in pathophysiology and emphasizes the pathophysiological disturbances to normal body functions. This course focuses on differences in etiology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and treatments in individuals across the lifespan. Students will analyze objective and subjective manifestations of common health problems resulting from environmental, genetic, and stress-related conditions. The emphasis will be on diagnostic testing, interventions, and pharmacological treatments as they relate to specific health problems. 3 hours lecture.
Prerequisite(s): NU504.
This is an advanced course to prepare students in pharmacological principles. Students will analyze patient assessment data to determine the most appropriate pharmacotherapeutic regimens for optimal patient outcomes. The principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are covered in detail. Numerous drug types used in the treatment of conditions affecting physiological systems are emphasized. Analyses of federal regulations and organizational prescribing guidelines are included to encourage safe and informed prescribing practices. Learning how to prevent medication interactions, select the right medications, and know what to monitor will provide patients better outcomes. 3 hours lecture.
Prerequisite(s): NU505.
This course continues preparation of students to use the nursing process to plan, implement, and evaluate effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate evidence-based plans of care that meet the bio/psycho/social needs for adult patients with multisystem dysfunction. This course builds on previous foundations of nursing practice of the adult patient and continues the focus of integrating pathophysiologic and pharmacologic concepts with the principles of nursing process, health promotion, risk reduction, clinical decision making, and collaborative management of care for adults experiencing acute and chronic multisystem dysfunctions across the continuum of care. Theoretical foundations are reinforced as the nursing process is applied to adult patients within the context of evidence-based patient and family-centered care. The clinical experience allows students the opportunity to apply pathophysiologic and pharmacologic principles in the nursing care of adult patients with emergent and/or major alterations in health within the context of professional nursing practice. Clinical experiential learning takes place in settings that allow focus on the application of the clinical reasoning process, nursing diagnoses, implementation of nursing interventions, and evaluation of patient outcomes across the adult lifespan along the continuum of care. The clinical learning experience also supports students’ developing responsibilities for collaboration and an interdisciplinary team approach to patient care. 3 hours lecture, 15 hours lab/clinical.
Prerequisite(s): NU506.
This course prepares students to provide family-centered, evidence-based nursing care using concepts associated with the unique responses of families during childrearing, including the unique responses of infants, young and school-aged children, and adolescents and their families, to acute and chronic illness. Students will learn to integrate family, cultural, and developmental theories into evidence-based nursing practice with childrearing families in a variety of settings. Students will learn to provide effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate family-centered care while they continue to develop in their roles of clinical practitioners, patient educators, and patient advocates while focusing on health promotion, risk reduction, and illness and disease management in contemporary society. The clinical experience focuses on the application of family and developmental theory to diagnosis, intervention, and outcomes management in the care of childrearing families. As such, the clinical experience is based in a variety of settings, allowing focus on the application of the clinical reasoning process, including formulation of nursing diagnoses, delivery of nursing interventions, and evaluation of patient outcomes in the care of childrearing families across the continuum of health. The clinical sites also support students’ developing responsibilities for collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary team. 2 hours lecture, 6 hours lab/clinical.
Prerequisite(s): NU606.
This course prepares students to apply principles of evidence-based care to promote and preserve health and prevent illness in families, groups, and populations in the community setting in the face of changing social, economic, political, and environmental realities. This course integrates concepts and theories from epidemiology, public health, and nursing as well as knowledge gained from previous learning as they apply to the health of populations and communities. Students will evaluate the influence of culture, economics, health policy, and ethics as they impact community and population health nursing practice and adopt pro-active roles to improve patient outcomes and decrease health care costs. Concepts and principles of disaster planning are incorporated so that students will gain a broad perspective on nurses’ roles in supporting emergency preparedness and response. The clinical component focuses on the assessment of the health care needs of the community as client and the planning and implementation of strategies to promote and maintain health and wellness for communities and populations in a variety of settings. Students will conduct in-depth community assessment, employing basic epidemiological principles and data collection strategies and utilize the nursing process to plan and implement strategies for health promotion and disease prevention. 3 hours lecture, 6 hours lab/clinical.
Prerequisite(s): NU606.
This is an advanced course designed to prepare students in the fundamentals of patient safety, evaluation of quality, quality measures, and principles of quality improvement in health care organizations. The students will survey important topic areas in patient safety and health policy to explore the components of quality measures and their construction and evaluation in the current components in the current health care milieu. Students will be given opportunities to assess and evaluate the complexities of quality, including the scientific basis for understanding the measurement and improvement of quality. This includes the exposure to multiple measures from a variety of organizations and measure comparison sites. 3 hours lecture.
Corequisite(s): NU610.
This course prepares students to utilize health care technologies in the management of individuals, groups, and organizations to guide informed decision making in the improvement of patient outcomes. There is an emphasis on how nurses employ information technology within clinical practice, administration, education, and research settings to improve communication, collaboration, and the delivery of health care. Students will develop informatics skills and knowledge to address health policy issues facing the nursing profession. Students will apply informatics skills and knowledge to health-related problems and develop recommendations to drive care delivery, health policy, and health promotion activities. Application activities include data analysis and visualization of clinical data and answering clinical questions using information retrieval methods. 3 hours lecture.
Corequisite(s): NU609.
This course gives students the foundation upon which to build their professional leadership skills. It focuses on leadership and management principles, concepts, and theories, executive decision-making processes, and use of financial concepts and principles. Multidisciplinary communication, collaboration, and delegation are explored to promote positive working relationships. Principles related to public policy development and health care economics are also explored. This course gives students opportunities to explore various leadership roles and styles through both observational and participatory experiences. Students will utilize critical thinking skills to analyze contemporary global, national, local, and other demographic trends in nursing and health care and begin to develop the skills necessary to thrive in a turbulent health care environment. Students will acquire evidence-based practice and quality improvement skills to improve processes in health care and complete a capstone project using these skill sets. 2 hours lecture, 3 hours lab/clinical.
This course focuses on preparing the graduate nurse for professional licensure and practice. It allows students to explore the concepts of delegation, prioritization, and collaboration with other health care disciplines in the delivery of quality health care in a variety of commonly occurring patient scenarios throughout the continuum of care. Requirements for RN licensure will be reviewed, including Board of Nursing variations by state, the need for background investigations, licensure exam requirements, and initial and ongoing licensure requirements. A structured NCLEX RN review is provided to assist students with the licensure examination. Students will prepare for entry into professional practice with an emphasis on preparing for the first nursing position after graduation and orchestrating a nursing career path. Content on résumé preparation, portfolio development, residency programs, and the need for lifelong learning are presented. 3 hours lecture.
The nursing curriculum culminates in this course, which provides students with the opportunity to integrate knowledge from all previous courses to deliver evidence-based, patient- and family-centered nursing care to patients with complex health care issues across the adult lifespan. To aid in the transition into professional nursing practice, final-semester students will work one on one with a professional nurse preceptor under realistic shift and patient load conditions. The focus is on the delivery of effective, collaborative, and culturally appropriate patient- and family-centered nursing care to several patients who require complex health care. This intensive course allows students to examine their practice through reflective journaling and class discussion. 2 hours lecture, 12 hours lab/clinical.