Course descriptions

NR 609 Management of Common 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 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. / NR616L Advanced Health Assessment Lab. 0 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 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 631 Evaluation and Instrumentation in Nursing. 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.

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 611, 615, 616, 617, 623, Prerequisite or Co requisite NR 609 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. Students must see the professor prior to registration to arrange clinical experiences. Offered fall and spring semesters.

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. Students must see the professor prior to registration to arrange clinical experiences. Offered fall and spring semesters.

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. Students must see the professor prior to registration to arrange clinical experiences Offered fall and spring semesters.

NR 661 Holistic and Complementary Healthcare Strategies. 3 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 course uses the parameters of the scientific process to investigate mind/body/spirit health related problems found in communities. Students participate in an intellectual process that culminates in community civic engagement health promotion project development. Through project development, students function as advocates for venerable populations. The theoretical frameworks used to organize the project are the National League for Nursing’s Core concepts and the Precede Framework for health promotion. Students organize their work within a series of phases that consider epidemiological, social, behavioral, educational and administrative components of the problems of interest. This course is taken in the last academic year before graduation. NR631 Prerequisite or Co-requisite. Offered fall and spring semesters.

NR 699 Summer Practicum Supervision. 0 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)

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. Prerequisites NR 645, NR 793

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. Patient population data will be analyzed using bio-statistical methods. The DNP student will interpret and use health indicators such as mortality rates, morbidity rates, disease incidence and prevalence as well as perform secondary analysis of data sets to evaluate health outcomes. Prerequisites NR 645, NR793

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 645, NR793

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, 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 NR 803

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 800 and NR 801

NR 807 Clinical Scholarly Project I. 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 NR 804 and NR 805

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 prepared in emergency preparedness including, planning, response, mitigation, and remediation. Emphasis will be placed on public health risks. Students will participate in a simulated disaster scenario. DNP students will utilize systems analysis to promote effective collaboration in disasters. The Incident Command System for Healthcare/Hospitals will be presented and students will obtain a certificate of completion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (Clinical Hours 100) Prerequisites NR802, NR804, NR805

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, NR805, 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. Prerequisite NR 805 and NR 806

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 Nr 811

NR 813 Clinical Capstone Scholarly Project III. Three Credits (Evaluation and Dissemination). This final component of the clinical scholarly project will result in a product that facilitates improved health outcomes for a specified 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 Capstone Scholarly Project will include preparing an article for publication in a peer reviewed journal and an open oral defense of the Project. (Clinical Hours 100) Prerequisites NR 809

 

Doctoral Nursing Student Handbook 2020-2021 Edition