STATISTICS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
3 credits
This course is an introduction to statistical concepts and data analysis. The elements of statistical thinking as a means of using data for problem solving are presented. Students apply statistical concepts to elementary data analysis using the statistical methods commonly used in health-care research. Students are introduced to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE AND HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS
3 credits
This course examines professional nursing practice and clinical practice competencies specified by professional nursing organizations, nursing accrediting agencies, and private foundation and federal reports. Students expand knowledge of workforce issues and informatics to enhance patient and health care provider safety, evidence-based practice, and patient-centered care. Professional writing, electronic portfolio development, and informatics skills are emphasized
HEALTH ASSESSMENT
3 credits
The purpose of this course is to refine and expand the skills of history and taking and physical assessment of the human system in health. Students analyze qualitative and quantitative data to determine health deviations from the normal healthy state. They collect data systematically using appropriate assessment techniques and tools to complete a physical assessment. The course stresses the documentation of findings using appropriate terminology for each system. There is emphasis on the communication of findings to both the client and other health-care professionals. Course objectives and clinical evaluations are based on ANA Standards of Practice. Prerequisite: NUR 301
DEVELOPMENTS AND CONTROVERSIES IN PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
3 credits
Controversies and knowledge development in pathophysiology and pharmacology are investigated and their impact on nursing care through the lifespan are examined. Factors influencing health and illness, such as genetics, ethnicity, and environment, are discussed in relation to disease occurrence and treatment. Relationships among disease states and varying approaches to drug therapies are examined using evidence-based approaches. Technology at point-of-care nursing practice is used, including personal digital assistants (PDAs) and clinical data repositories (CDRs), to develop competencies responding to just-in-time critical values and knowledge for patient-centered care. Prerequisite: NUR 301
EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
3 credits
This course focuses on the integration of evidence into clinical nursing practice. Sources of evidence will include nursing research, integrative reviews, practice guidelines, quality improvement data, and case studies. Students will have the opportunity to critically evaluate evidence for its validity and applicability to nursing practice. Historical perspectives of evidence-based nursing practice also will be explored.
INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING
3 credits
This course expands the theoretical and experiential base gained in prior nursing and non-nursing courses by introducing students to population-based nursing with a special focus on global and international health issues.
Emphasis is placed on identifying trends in the health and health care of populations as well as exploring strategies to address health promotion, primary, secondary and tertiary disease prevention, and protection goals for particular at-risk and high-risk population groups throughout the world. The course orients the student to health-care needs and interests of families, aggregates, communities, and nations as a whole, rather than solely focusing on needs and interests of individual clients. Health-care strategies, population-level interventions, community resources, and opportunities for interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration are identified. Relevant political, economic, social, and ethical implications of particular health-care strategies are examined. Specific countries and public health issues will be selected to compare and contrast with the U.S. healthcare delivery system. Students reflect upon contemporary literature related to national and international public health issues. Prerequisite: NUR 301
NURSING LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS
3 credits
Students explore the political, organizational, social, cultural, and economic factors affecting nursing practice. Acute care, long-term care, and community-based settings are examined regarding their organizational structures, health-care financing, and reimbursement challengers. Budgeting principles are analyzed with an emphasis on creating a budget on a spreadsheet for a program of nursing services. Clinical data repositories and interdisciplinary efforts are scrutinized within the context of patient-centered, safe care, and process improvement initiatives. Prerequisite: NUR 301
SAFETY STRATEGIES FOR HEALTHCARE DELIVERY SYSTEMS
3 credits
This course explores medication and other health-care errors that threaten patient safety. The impact of health-care errors is examined from the perspectives of consumers, health-care providers, professional organizations, legislators, hospitals, and health-care delivery agencies. Systems improvement initiatives are investigated with the goal of preventing health-care errors. Interdisciplinary and collaborative roles of consumers, legal counsel, and health-care providers, including nurses, pharmacists, and physicians, are emphasized. Prerequisite: NUR 301
NURSING ELECTIVES
ETHICS IN NURSING
3 credits
This course is designed to provide the foundations for critically analyzing ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. Ethical theories will be explored and critically examined, with a focus on application to nursing practice. Moral developmental theories will be discussed in light of the current debate regarding gender and racial disparities in decisions for ethical practice from a systems theory perspective. The course will draw on students' clinical experiences to promote moral reflection and personal values clarifications with regard to contemporary health-care challenges. The course will examine emerging issues as influenced by emerging technological, clinical, political, legal, socio-economic, and fiscal factors.
THE PERIOPERATIVE NURSING SYSTEM
3 credits
NUR 462, an elective clinical course, explores the concepts and processes of health care delivery for clients in the perioperative environment. The nursing process will be directed toward clients requiring significant nursing interventions for the promotion and restoration of health. The course provides an introduction to the diversified role of the professional nurse in the operating room and post anesthesia recovery room. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on the following dimensions of professional perioperative nursing: client/family teaching/learning activities, technical skill development, nurse/client/family communication, priority determination/resource management, and health-care trends. Registration by course faculty only.
ADVANCED CONCEPTS IN PERIOPERATIVE NURSING
3 credits
NUR 463, an elective course, continues the exploration of concepts and processes of health care delivery for clients in the perioperative environment that commences in Nursing 462. Nursing 463, is designed to allow students interested in perioperative care to expand their knowledge of and develop their repertoire of skills for the surgical client. The course introduces students to more complex surgical nursing theory and permits students to have clinical contact with complicated surgical specialty interventions. Sample topics will include: Laser therapy, total joint replacement and internal/external fixation, advanced anesthetic concepts and monitoring, use of specialized surgical equipment (Ultrasonic, pulsavac, rapid infusion systems), pediatric surgery, ambulatory surgery, quality assurance and perioperative research and perioperative case management. Selected surgical procedures will be examined via a general systems theory and nursing process approach. Prerequisite: NUR 462. Registration by course faculty only.
GENETICS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
3 credits
In this course students explore the scientific advances in human genetics and their influence on health care services. Cellular events, fetal development, inheritance, and genetic conditions are evaluated. Students examine the Human Genome Project and review genetic health care services.
CARING THEORY, CARING PRACTICE
3 credits
This course examines human caring and nurses’ contributions to the health and healing of the people served. It emphasizes the history, research, and aesthetics of caring from the perspectives of nursing and other disciplines. Emphasis is placed on critique of caring research, scholarly and aesthetic writing on caring, and resources available to study caring. International caring and self-care are analyzed.
HEALTH SCIENCE MINOR COURSES
ESSENTIAL PHYSICS FOR HEALTH SCIENCE
1 credit
This course is a brief introduction to fundamental physics concepts necessary for understanding physical processes in human body systems. Topics include forces, motion, energy, waves, electrical circuits, and fluids as they pertain to the human body.
PLAGUES AND EPIDEMICS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
3 credits
This course traces the history and etiology of some of the world’s most famous plagues and epidemics. The effect of infectious diseases on human civilization are presented. Discussions chronicle the evolution of knowledge and treatment modalities of these diseases. The question of how to prevent plagues and epidemics in the future is addressed. The public health threats of bioterrorism are explained.
HEALTH COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION: A MULTIMEDIA APPROACH
3 credits
This course explores various media and technology resources available for health education. Utilizing models suitable for teaching and learning, the impact of technology and mass communication on health education is examined. Students evaluate health education modalities that are appropriate for diverse urban populations across the lifespan. They explore the effect of media in consumer attitudes and beliefs and collaborate with communication experts to plan and implement a specific media strategy. Service-learning projects emphasize the design of health education programs for urban populations.
RACE, ETHNICITY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH
3 credits
This course provides students with a basic understanding of racial and ethnic differences in health status and the factors that shape them. Students examine the concepts of race and ethnicity and distinguish between categories of biological and social constructionist perspectives. Students define and describe racial and ethnic health disparities, discuss mechanisms underlying disparities, and think critically about existing health research on health disparities. They also explore theoretical frameworks for interpreting disparities in health and examine approaches for elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.
STRESS AND HEALTH
3 credits
The focus of this course is to develop the theoretical and practice base necessary to care for human systems experiencing stress. Theories of stress and its relationship to disease onset, impaired healing and compromised wellness are examined with an emphasis on developing holistic plans for health promotion, health restoration, and health maintenance. Within the context of the course, the student will have the opportunity to critically examine the experience of a variety of non-invasive therapeutic modalities for promotion of wellness. A strong emphasis of the course is on the assessment of human systems under stress, and on the development of communication techniques that enhance students’ ability to understand the human condition. Reflection on personal experiences as a model for understanding self and others will be utilized.
URBAN HEALTH: FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN JEOPARDY
3 credits
The focus of this course is to develop the theoretical and practice base necessary to care for human systems experiencing stress. Theories of stress and its relationship to disease onset, impaired healing, and compromised wellness are examined with an emphasis on developing holistic plans for health promotion, health restoration, and health maintenance. Within the context of the course, the student will have the opportunity to critically examine the experience of a variety of non-invasive therapeutic modalities for promotion of wellness. A strong emphasis of the course is on the assessment of human systems under stress and on the development of communication techniques that enhance students’ ability to understand the human condition. Reflection on personal experiences as a model for understanding self and others will be utilized.
WOMEN'S HEALTH CONCERNS
3 credits
This course focuses on contemporary women’s health problems and concerns. Women’s health issues are explored. Health risk identification, health promotion, health maintenance, and intervention alternatives are examined from a holistic perspective.
URBAN MEN'S HEALTH
3 credits
This course explores the growing disparities among disenfranchised and vulnerable populations in our society. Students examine the predicaments of fragile populations with a focus on the unique health status of urban men. The course recognizes that masculinity, gender roles, employment, and other psychological and social factors influence the way men care for themselves and others. Students participate in health-promotion activities in environments in which the challenges that urban men face when seeking access to care are evident. A service-learning project for urban men is implemented.
HOLISTIC HEALTH APPROACHES I
3 credits
This course explores philosophical, theoretical, and practice of holistic health care. The foundations of holistic health care lie in the belief that healing interventions need to take into consideration the whole person with the goal of bringing about unity, harmony, and integrity of the individual with one’s internal and external environments. With focus on the needs of the total person, holistic health care is not considered an alternative to the familiar Western health care but a component that co-exists. The course is designed to introduce students to several approaches to health and healing, with a focus on the underlying history, theory, and principles. A focus for this course will be hands-on practice with each of these strategies with the intention that students will be able to integrate these holistic healing approaches into their practice. Strategies included in this course will be: relaxation techniques, guided imagery, foot reflexology, scuttering, meridian massage, introductory Reiki, and therapeutic touch.
