Nursing

Fundamental skills are essential to the profession of nursing based on the metaparadigm of person, health, environment, and nursing.  Students will focus on health promotion for individuals with altered health patterns, including skills required in providing competent and compassionate person-centered/family care. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Increasing life expectancy leads to the rapid aging of populations around the world. By 2050, approximately 16% of the global population will be 65 years or older. Older adults have self-care needs related to health promotion, disease prevention, and assistance in maintaining independence increase with advancing age. Focus on improving care for this population is vital to support independent living and quality of life. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Political and economic factors as well as the cultural processes of globalization significantly impacts population health, healthcare systems and global health. A global perspective will be used to examine varying meanings of health as well as the range of factors that encourage the health of some and exclude it from others.  Specific emphasis on ethical frameworks based on human rights, cultural diversity, and social justice to enhance understanding of the global dimensions of health and disease, various strategic health initiatives, and correlating healthcare interventions. Additional focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, infectious diseases, health in reproduction, social determinants of health will be explored. This courses satisfies the CORE 300 requirement.   

Culture and care are crucial for human survival. Understanding the cultural diversity and its components, such as distinct practices, beliefs and values, communication patterns, mental process, behaviors, traditions, and philosophy of clients can assist healthcare providers to respond in a culturally sensitive manner. Cultural diversity is used to implement healthcare services and programs. Students will explore the meaning of being human, caring, empathetic, and understanding of the healthcare needs of a multi-cultural society and review care processes to provide culturally diverse nursing care. This course satisfies the CORE 200 requirement. 

Ethical issues related to nursing practice profoundly impacts healthcare delivery in today’s society.  Students will explore foundational theories, concepts and professional issues and will transition into ethical issues across the lifespan and will conclude with special issues and specific populations.  Students will apply scholarly inquiry of ethical issues and the impact in current nursing practice.

Pharmacology I introduces the science of pharmacology within the domain of the nurse in the preparation, administration, and management of medications. This course focuses on the basic drug classifications, principles of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and safe medication practices to prevent and reduce errors including competency in drug calculations. The course approach encompasses a comprehensive approach using the nursing process to provide a foundation for the nurse in health promotion, disease prevention, and management through the provision of safe and effective medication therapy.

Pharmacology II extends the core pharmacological principles presented in Pharmacology I. This course allows for the learner to build upon and apply previous gained knowledge and skills with the continuation of safe medication practice including a further immersion into the basic drug classifications, principles of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, error prevention and reduction, and competency in drug calculations. The course encompasses a comprehensive approach of the nursing process to provide a foundation for the nurse in health promotion, disease prevention, and management through the provision of safe and effective medication therapy including considerations such as complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies.

Medical- surgical nursing involves the management of patients with a variety of medical (nonsurgical) issues and the care of patients preparing for or recovering from surgery. Content includes a focus on the different body systems and disease processes, signs and symptoms, testing, and nursing interventions. Students will focus on utilizing the nursing process to deliver evidence based patient care. Integrating knowledge and skill, students will have the opportunity to develop clinical reasoning skills necessary to coordinate and prioritize patient care while emphasizing patient safety at all times. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Psychiatric-mental health nursing requires a wide range of nursing, psychosocial, and neurobiological expertise. Psychiatric-mental health nurses promote well-being through prevention and education, in addition to the assessment, diagnosis, care, and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Students will focus on the integration professional mental health roles for the nurse through the constructs of caring, communication skills, and in management of the therapeutic milieu.  This course has didactic and clinical components.

Maternal-child nursing is a specialty focused on the care of women throughout their pregnancy and childbirth and the care of their newborn children.  Focus is on the reduction of maternal, perinatal, infant and childhood mortality and morbidity and the promotion of reproductive health and the physical and psychosocial development of the child and adolescent within the family. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Pediatrics is a specialty focused on patients from infancy to adolescents with an emphasis on promoting, maintaining, and restoring health of the child as a member of the family unit. Students build fundamental nursing skills for maternal-newborn and pediatric care, including clinical reasoning, cultural competence, and evidence-based practice. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Study of selected topics in nursing.  Includes areas of knowledge and skills not covered in the core curriculum.  The subject matter will vary given the interest of the students and the expertise of the professor teaching the course.  The exact topic will be indicated on the student transcript.  This course may be repeated for credit. 

Pathophysiology refers to the study of abnormal changes in body functions that are the causes, consequences, or concomitants of disease processes which may occur throughout the lifespan. Students will focus on the concepts of adaptation and homeostasis of the body systems and association to nursing practice.

Health assessment is the evaluation of the health status of an individual along the health continuum. The purpose of the assessment is to establish where on the health continuum the individual is because this guides how to approach and treat the individual. Physical assessment skills complement the health history. Students will learn skills necessary to perform a comprehensive health assessment utilizing the skills of history taking, inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation of individuals across the lifespan. Includes ways to integrate normal assessment findings, health literacy, social determinants of health as well as frequently seen variations from normal and cultural differences. Students practice health assessment skills in laboratory and simulation.

Data provides the scientific basis to make decisions to improve patient care. Explore ethical, legal, professional and social concerns related to healthcare informatics and technology.  Students will develop skills in utilizing technology including electronic health records (EHR), spreadsheets, database searches. Nurses with communication, technology, and information literacy skills can improve practice and patient outcomes and contribute to the scholarship of nursing.

Evidence Based Practice is a process used to review, analyze, and translate the latest scientific evidence and is the cornerstone of clinical practice. Integrating Evidence Based Practice into your nursing practice improves quality of care and patient outcomes. Students will identify the steps of evidence practice, appraising quantitative and qualitative evidence for clinical practice, and moving from evidence based practice to sustainable change in professional nursing practice.

A nurse leader oversees a team of nurses, making decisions and directing patient care initiatives. They apply advanced clinical knowledge and focus on improving patient health outcomes. Significant concepts include application of evidence to practice, skills of leadership and management, self-directed learning, interprofessional collaboration and teamwork, time management, and quality improvement.  Emphasis will be placed on social and environmental hazards for healthcare workers, such as bullying, harassing, conflict resolution and workplace violence.  This course has didactic and clinical components.

The amount and way healthcare delivery systems are paid for producing their services is constantly changing. Healthcare organizations are rewarded to demonstrate quality outcomes. Nurses need a foundational understanding of healthcare economics, financing, and policies which have a significant impact on the provision of care, nursing practice, and society implications. Students will examine how the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and how the allocation of resources impacts patients, laws shape payment and how to advocate for quality care.

A synthesis of the RN-BSN track, the capstone practicum serves as a culminating academic and intellectual experience for students.  The student participates in academic endeavors demonstrating application, synthesis and evaluation of nursing concepts and issues from knowledge gained throughout the program. Emphasis will be placed on the concentration to professional growth and impact to the nursing profession. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Medical-Surgical nursing II is an advanced continuation of Medical-Surgical I with an emphasis on providing care to patients with increasing complex acute and chronic issues. Broadening and building on their knowledge base and clinical skills, students will have the opportunity to deliver comprehensive nursing care, with an emphasis on patient safety. Students will be encouraged to consider how a patient’s underlying health issues could affect recovery from any medical/surgical procedure, and then implement the nursing process to make necessary revisions in plans of care to improve patient outcomes. Therapeutic communication skills will evolve and prepare the student to be an advocate for their patients and become leaders in coordinating care among the interprofessional health care team. This course has didactic and clinical components.

Population health is the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.  Basic epidemiology principles, concepts and procedures will be discussed in the relationship to population-based healthcare.  Health prevention (primary, secondary, and tertiary) and health promotion principles will be emphasized. 

Focus is on the application of theoretical and empirical knowledge in using the nursing process in rural community settings to promote, maintain and restore health. Focuses on trans-cultural nursing concepts, rural home health care delivery and population health. Students will engage in clinical experiences in rural and underserved communities. This practicum course requires co-enrollment NURS 412. 1 credit hour for RN-BSN - 2.0 credit hour for TBSN 

Professional leadership focuses on a culmination of knowledge obtained throughout the nursing program to prepare the individual for the transition to professional nursing practice.  The role of the professional nurse integrating professional values in the delivery of safe, culturally-sensitive quality care is explored.  Purposeful reflective journaling will be used to discover self-knowledge and insight by focusing on their nursing care experiences.  Review for the NCLEX-RN will include test taking skills, clinical reasoning and clinical judgement. This course has didactic and clinical components.