Graduate Course Descriptions:
NR 609 Management of Common Adult Conditions. Three credits. This course focuses on the management of common conditions encountered by the advanced practice nurse in primary care. Emphasis will be placed on developing diagnostic reasoning skills and utilizing a holistic evidenced approach to clinical care. Prerequisite: NR 615. Offered Spring semester.
NR 610 Management of Common Pediatric Conditions. Three credits. This course focuses on the management of common pediatric conditions encountered by the advanced practice nurse in primary care. Emphasis will be placed on developing diagnostic reasoning skills and utilizing holistic evidence-based approach to clinical care. A case-based approach is utilized to enhance student learning. The utilization of best practice interventions are stressed. Age and population specific primary care problems that include newborn, infants, children, and adolescents Prerequisite: NR 615. Offered fall semester.
NR 611 Theoretical Components of Nursing. Three credits. The purpose of this course is to explore, discuss, and formulate concepts of individuals, environment, health, and nursing as they relate to nursing theories. Philosophical inquiry and historical trends, as a basis for theory development, are examined. Students examine knowledge from the sciences, humanities, and nursing and how it can be applied to nursing in education, administration, and advanced practice. Offered fall semester.
NR 615 Advanced Pathophysiology. Three credits. This course focuses on the pathogenesis of common conditions affecting individuals and families as a basis for nursing primary care management. Offered fall semester.
NR 616 Advanced Health Assessment. Four credits. Students develop sophistication in the ability to assess and evaluate subtle diagnostic cues in client populations across the life span. Emphasis is placed on enhancing students’ clinical judgment. Required lab experience. Offered spring and summer semester.
NR 616C Advanced Health Assessment Lab. Zero credits. Required lab experience for NR616. Offered spring and summer semester.
NR 617 The Advanced Practice Nurse. Three credits. This course focuses on exploring issues relating to graduate nursing education and the advanced practice role. Contemporary concerns such as the politics of health care reform, the advanced practice nurse’s usefulness and marketability, and the legal responsibility and accountability of the professional nurse in advanced practice are analyzed. Offered spring semester.
NR 621 Dynamics of Family Health Nursing. Three credits. This course focuses on the primary care dynamics and needs of families. Psycho-socio-cultural, economic, spiritual, community, and educational paradigms are explored. Risk assessment and interventions are investigated and analyzed to promote the stability of a family’s health status. Offered fall semester.
NR 622 Health Care Policy, Organization, and Finance. Three credits. This course presents an overview of health care policy formulation, health care organization and financing. Nurses as health care providers, coordinators, and advocates will study the theories and competencies needed to function in a new and complex health care environment. Offered spring semester.
NR 623 Advanced Pharmacodynamics for Primary Care. Three credits. Course content will focus on the pharmacological management of self-limiting episodic complaints and stable chronic disease states commonly managed by advanced practice nurses. Offered fall semester.
NR 624 Advanced Research. Three credits. The components of research design, methodology, and statistical analysis are presented. The students develop the needed knowledge base to prepare them to conduct research studies. Prerequisite: NR 611. Offered spring semester.
NR 626 Teaching, Learning Methods for Nurse Educators. Three credits. This course prepares the student for the role as faculty/teacher in nursing education or in staff development. Standards and competencies needed by nurse educators will be discussed. Content will include educational teaching/learning theories, adult learning strategies, identification and evaluation of clinical competencies, test and measurements, cultural competencies, and leadership and management techniques. The impact of technological advances of nursing education will be explored. Outcomes as a measurement of student learning and the concept of continued competencies will be examined. Offered spring semester.
NR 631 Advancing Evidence Based Nursing in Practice and Education. Three credits. This course offers students the knowledge and skills needed to collect, critically appraise, integrate, generate, and evaluate evidence for nursing practice. Prerequisite: NR 624. Offered fall semester.
NR635 Curriculum Development. Three credits. Issues and trends, which influence curricular decisions and development, are examined. Students acquire the knowledge and skills to design, develop, and evaluate a curriculum. Prerequisite: NR 611 and NR626. Co-requisite NR626 with permission by instructor. Offered spring semester.
NR 641 Family Health Nursing I. Two credits. This course is the first course in the supervised clinical experience for the family nurse practitioner role. The emphasis is on developing clinical judgment in the primary care setting through critical analysis of subjective and objective client data. The clinical experience consists of 200 hours plus a weekly seminar. Prerequisites: NR 609, 611, 615, 616, 617, and 623. Prerequisite or corequisites: NR 610 and NR 621. In addition, all students are required to show evidence of a current RN license, malpractice insurance, recent physical examination with titers, and proof of current health insurance. Offered fall semester.
NR 643 Family Health Nursing II. Three credits. This clinical course is a continuation of Family Health Nursing I. Students is afforded the opportunity to enhance clinical skills and judgments developed in the previous course. Supervised clinical practices in primary care settings with preceptors are maintained. The clinical experience consists of 200 hours plus a weekly seminar. Prerequisite NR 641.In addition all students are required to show evidence of a current RN license, malpractice insurance, recent physical examination with titers, and proof of current health insurance. Offered Spring Semester
NR 645 Family Health Nursing III. Three credits. This clinical course is a continuation of Family Health Nursing II. Students are afforded the opportunity to continue to enhance clinical skills and judgments developed in the previous courses. This is the last clinical course for the family nurse practitioner. At the end of this course students are expected to demonstrate competency in this role. Supervised clinical practice takes place in a variety of primary care settings with preceptors. The clinical experience consists of 200 hours plus a weekly seminar. Prerequisite: NR 643. In addition, all students are required to show evidence of a current RN license, malpractice insurance, recent physical examination with titers, and proof of current health insurance. Offered fall semester.
NR 653 Practicum in Teaching. Four credits. Students are provided opportunities for individualized teaching experiences in nursing education settings. Nurse educators precept students into the roles and responsibilities of their positions. The teaching practicum includes 90 hours of experience plus a weekly seminar. Prerequisites: NR 615,616, 626, 621, 623, 631, and 635. Offered fall semester.
NR 655 Advanced Community Health Nursing Three credits. This course focuses on advanced nursing practice with vulnerable individuals, families, and populations within the community. Emphasis is placed on interventions appropriate for health promotion, maintenance and restoration utilizing national objectives for healthy populations.
Students are provided with the opportunity to enhance their clinical skills and judgments within a population-based context. This course includes a weekly seminar and 60 hours of clinical practice. Prerequisites: NR 611, 615, 616, 621, and 623. In addition, all students are required to show evidence of a current RN license, malpractice insurance, recent physical examination with titers and proof of current health insurance. Students should see the professor prior to registration to arrange clinical experiences.
NR 661 Holistic and Complementary Healthcare Strategies. Three credits. Holistic integrative and complementary healthcare strategies are being sought by individuals to help manage or sometimes prevent the onset of chronic illness, increase longevity, improve cognitive function, or increase the sense of well-being and balance. This course covers information to enhance the masters level nurse’s understanding of the array of holistic complementary modalities offered in healthcare environments. It offers a study of a broad range of healing philosophies and interventions and encourages students to engage in a critical reflection of various methods of self-care and healing. Nursing elective. Offered periodically.
NR 691 Special Topics in Nursing. Three credits. Content varies to meet the special interests of graduate students and faculty. Offered periodically.
NR 693 Independent Study. One to four credits. Course designed for independent advanced level study on a topic of the student’s own choosing after advisement by sponsoring departmental faculty. Students may use this course to engage in collaborative research with faculty. Prerequisite: permission of advisor and of director of graduate nursing. Offered fall and spring semesters.
NR 793 Master’s Level Scholarly Project. Three credits. This capstone course is the required scholarly project for all Master’s degree Track students in the School of Nursing. A weekly 2- hour seminar focuses on aspects of a final practice or teaching project that is developed to promote health, prevent illness and disability, and alleviate health disparities to populations in either a clinical practice setting or an educational setting. Small groups or independent student projects are permitted. Students who are at the completion of the Master’s Degree are required to take this course. The final project is selected and planned by the student and the faculty and is implemented during this course. The student completes the project, evaluates the outcomes, proposes a plan to disseminate the findings, and makes a formal scholarly presentation to faculty and peers at the end of the semester. Prerequisite or Co-requisite NR 631. Offered fall and spring semesters.
NR 699 Summer Practicum Supervision. Zero credits. This practicum affords the nurse practitioner student an opportunity to complete up to 75 hours of clinical precepted practice under the guidance of faculty. The hours may be applied towards the required clinical hours for NR643 or NR645. Students must have completed NR641 in order to participate in this practicum (Fee applies).