Course descriptions

NR 800 Scientific Inquiry for Nursing Practice. Three Credits. This course explores the theoretical underpinnings of the science of nursing. Integration of nursing science with knowledge from the disciplines of the biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, and organizational sciences will be used to evaluate practice. Theoretical advances in the foundational and nursing sciences will be analyzed and applied to complex health situations.

NR 801 Biostatistical Methods for Evidence Based Practice. Three Credits. This course is designed to prepare students to use biostatistics to evaluate population health and inform advanced practice nursing. Emphasis is placed on hypothesis testing, experimental design, and the statistical treatment of biological information.

NR 802 Ethical Issues in Health Care and Research. Three Credits. This course explores the philosophical study of morality as it applies to biomedical ethics in current health care dilemmas as well as disasters on a national and international level. Prerequisites: NR 805 and NR806

NR 803 Clinical Scholarship for Evidence Based Practice and Translational Research. Three Credits. This course synthesizes concepts from nursing science and other related sciences to prepare students for doctoral level evidence-based practice. Emphasis is placed on utilizing critical appraisal and analysis to evaluate practice patterns against national benchmarks and develop clinical practice solutions to improve health outcomes through the translation and dissemination of research. Prerequisites: NR 800 and NR 801.

NR 804 Clinical Prevention and Population Health with a Focus on the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Public Health Threats. Three Credits. This course focuses on health promotion and risk/reduction/illness prevention for individuals, aggregates, and communities. Through the analysis of epidemiological, biostatistical, occupational, and environmental data the student will develop, implement, and evaluate clinical prevention and population health. Emphasis will be placed on infectious diseases and public health threats, including bioterrorism. Epidemiological theories will be applied to infectious diseases as well as disaster preparedness. Health care delivery models and strategies will be evaluated as they relate to environmental and public health as well as the cultural and socioeconomic dimensions of health. Reducing health threats through community preparedness will be emphasized. Prerequisites: NR800 and NR801.

NR 805 Improving Health Outcomes through Organizational and Systems Collaborative Leadership. Three Credits. This course provides the DNP graduate with the skills to develop and evaluate care delivery approaches that meet current and future needs of patient populations, nationally and internationally. Emphasis is placed on developing collaborative skills to effect change that will lead to improved quality of health care. Prerequisite/Corequisite: NR803 and NR804

NR 806 Information Systems and Technology for Health Care Transformation. Three Credits. This course prepares the DNP graduate to use information systems/technology to support and improve patient care and health care systems and provide leadership within healthcare systems and/or academic settings. Prerequisites: NR 803 and NR 804.

NR 807 Clinical Scholarly Project I (Development). One Credit. This course will provide students with support to develop a problem statement for an evidence-based (EB) focused project, conduct a literature review and background study, and develop a project plan in consultation with a faculty member who will oversee the project. (Examples can be design of systems, analysis and development of policy, or technologies that change practice outcomes or quality assurance/community enhancement projects or similar ideas that change the health of populations).
Prerequisites:NR805 and NR806.

NR 808 Systems Approach to Disaster Preparedness at Home and Abroad. Three Credits. This course will focus on the leadership role of the DNP in natural and manmade disasters. Students will be versed in the mission areas of emergency preparedness including: planning, mitigation, response, protection and recovery with emphasis placed on public health risks. Students will participate in simulated disaster scenarios, utilize systems analysis to promote effective collaboration during disasters. The Incident Command System (ICS) and Hazardous Material Awareness course will be included and upon completion, the student will obtain certifications from the Federal Management Agency (FEMA) (Clinical Hours 100). Prerequisites: NR805 and NR806

NR 809 Clinical Scholarly Project II (Implementation). Two Credits. This course provides students with support in implementation of their Evidence Based Project in a clinical setting. This is done with collaboration between the student and their faculty or project mentor to best meet the student’s goals and the stated project objectives. There must be a clear timeline, budget (if applicable), evaluative methods, and regular reflective practice reporting established during this phase of the project (Clinical Hours 100). Prerequisites: NR807.

NR 810 Promoting Health, Healing and Hope in Response to a Chaotic human condition: trauma. Traumatic stress assessment and treatment. Three Credits. This course introduces the student to the core values of caring, holism, spirituality, diversity, ethics and client centeredness as it applies to learning the standard of care for treatment in the field of disaster response traumatic stress intervention. Guides for spiritual care in times of disaster along with prevalent psychosocial models used for maintenance of safety and stabilization will be explored. Students will be presented with techniques to care for the care giver as they mobilize their skills to provide compassionate nursing intervention before, during and after disasters. Prerequisites: NR802, NR807, and NR808.

NR 811 Policy and Finance for Complex Health Care Systems. Three Credits. This course explores economics and its application to health care financing and policy development from regional, state, national and global perspectives. A focus is placed on designing and implementing effective culturally sensitive health care policy initiatives to reduce health care disparities. Prerequisites: NR 802, NR807, and NR 808.

NR 812 Global Nursing Practice and Policy Development. Three Credits. This course responds to the global need for Nursing to expand its borders. Cultural dimensions of health and its meanings throughout the world with regard to prevention, promotion and disease will be considered. Developing nations, global environmental issues and public health are considered in this clinical and theory course with experiential learning with various national and international partners (Clinical Hours 100). Prerequisites: NR 809, NR 810, and NR 811.

NR 813 Clinical Capstone Scholarly Project III. (Evaluation and Dissemination). Three Credits.
This final component of the clinical capstone scholarly project will result in a product that facilitates improved health outcomes for a specific population and can be generalizable to broader populations. It will demonstrate the interface between advanced practice nursing and research. Evaluation of the project will be an integral component. The dissemination of the clinical capstone scholarly project through submission to regional and/or national conferences will be included. A successful oral defense of the clinical capstone scholarly project before a Defense Committee comprised of nursing faculty is required (Clinical Hours 100). Prerequisite: NR 809

Doctoral Nursing Student Handbook 2023-2024 Edition