Curriculum: PHSON Courses

NURSING 100

Principles of Nursing - 160 class hours - 70 lab hours - 70 clinical hours - 10 credits
Nursing 100 is a fundamental nursing course that introduces the student to the profession of nursing. Basic nursing concepts are presented with emphasis on the Nursing Process. Essential nursing and communication skills are developed to meet patients' basic human needs and to provide a therapeutic environment in a medical-surgical setting. Opportunities for implementation of these skills are provided in concurrent laboratory and clinical experiences.

NURSING 101

Medical-Surgical Nursing I - 180 class hours - 210 clinical hours - 13 credits
Medical-Surgical Nursing I is built on the knowledge and basic nursing skills required in the course taught during the previous semester.  Emphasis is placed upon increasing the student's depth of understanding and skill in utilizing the nursing process to meet the varying needs of patients with deficits of oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange; endocrine, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary dysfunction; deficits of sensory-motor function; and oncological disorders.  Students receive concurrent clinical practice.  Observational experiences are provided in various health services both in the hospital and the community.

NURSING 200

Medical-Surgical Nursing II - 180 class hours - 202 clinical hours - 8 lab hours - 13 credits
Medical-Surgical Nursing II emphasizes advanced medical-surgical nursing concepts in the management of complex health care situations.  The nursing process is utilized as the basis for planning and implementing patient care in critical, emergency/trauma, geriatric, and selected perioperative situations. Physical assessment skills are developed and implemented in all aspects of patient care.  Concurrent clinical practice experiences are provided in the emergency, intensive/coronary care, outpatient services, ambulatory surgical unit, and post anesthesia care units of the hospital.  A community cardiac rehabilitation program, an adult day program center, and long-term care facilities are also utilized.  Opportunities are provided for the student to observe selected surgical procedures as they relate to patient care assignments.  The course also focuses on the importance of adjunctive health/nursing care services as an integral part of patient care.  Observational experiences at a renal dialysis center, Level I trauma center, and a flight nursing service are incorporated into the course.

Time is assigned at a local soup kitchen as part of the School's community outreach program.  The student will provide blood pressure and glucose level screening as well as teaching and referral services.

NURSING 201

Psychosocial Nursing - 180 class hours - 210 clinical hours - 13 credits
Nursing 201 (Psychosocial Nursing) introduces the student to the therapeutic aspects of one-to-one relationships with patients and families. This occurs through interactions with individual patients and groups of patients in acute psychiatric settings and patients and family members requiring group therapy, crisis intervention, stress management, health education, health promotion, and death and dying support. The course also focuses on the role of the nurse in community settings in helping people adapt to variances in mental and physical wellness. Clinical practice is provided on the inpatient adult and adolescent psychiatric units of the Hospital. Students are actively involved in working with patients in outpatient psychiatric programs. Through the use of home health agencies in the community, the student has the opportunity to plan and care for patients/family members in their own homes. Students are also actively involved in working with Hospice patients and their families. An educational field trip is made to a community clinic caring for STD/HIV/HCV patients. A community outreach experience is provided in a transitional housing service in the community.

NURSING 202

Maternal-Child Health Nursing - 180 class hours - 210 clinical hours - 13 credits
The Course is concerned with the childbearing family, its needs during health and illness, and progresses through the normal sequence of family development. The theory and clinical experience is concurrent. Clinical practice is delivered in the Hospital Maternity and Pediatric Units incorporating all present standards of care. Additional experiences which are aimed at wellness, health maintenance, and preventive care are provided in a variety of community settings such as: Childbirth Education Classes; Day Care Centers; Special Care Clinics; Physician's Offices; and School Health Programs. Also included is an experience in a community outreach education program. Course content focuses upon the assessment of needs of the mother, child, and/or family unit during the pregnancy phase of family development--from the planning of pregnancy, through the birth of the child, infancy, early childhood, through adolescence. In addition, the implications of illness patterns and behavior problems of each stage of child development are presented. Included are not only the physiologic and psychologic adjustments to the reproductive cycle, but also the study of human growth and development, presented as theory and concepts with clinical application. The maternal/child nursing course is a study of the emerging family as well as the developing family.

NURSING 300

Transition to Professional Practice - 120 hours - 270 clinical hours - 13 credits
Transition to Professional Practice provides the student with learning experiences that simulate the future role of the staff nurse. The emphasis is placed on complex nursing situations and the responsibilities of the nurse leader in a health care facility and in the community. This includes class hours which are scheduled for simulation exercises and comprehensive standardized testing. Students receive concurrent clinical practice.

NURSING 301

Issues and Trends in Nursing - 30 class hours - 1 credit
Nursing 301 explores current developments in professional nursing and their impact on health care delivery, the community, and the practice of nursing. Emphasis is placed on preparing the new graduate to meet the challenges of licensure examination, role transition, and career management in a complex and changing health care delivery system. Professional growth and commitment to learning through formal and informal continuing education are stressed. Students are exposed to local/state leaders in nursing education, health care, nursing organizations, and the political process. They are encouraged to critically examine a variety of challenges affecting professional nursing and to formulate a personal position, conclusion, and/or course of action. All learning activities emphasize the importance of personal informed decision-making, critical thinking, ongoing accountability and responsibility to self, professional nursing, and the community.