Nursing  

NURS 501 - Introduction to Nursing
Credits: 4.00
Examines the values and philosophy of the Department of Nursing. Explores the four domain concepts of nursing: health and how it is defined, the diverse clients served by nursing, nursing as a profession, and the complex environment within which nursing is practiced. The nature of nurse-client encounters is explored with an emphasis on teaching students the skills to interact in a caring, facilitative manner. Prereq: permission.

NURS 502 - Concepts of Pathophysiology/Pharmacology
Credits: 4.00
Focuses on concepts of pathophysiology/pharmacology relevant to nursing practice. The physiologic response and manifestations of alterations in normal body functioning are analyzed and the effects of pharmacological agents on these alterations are examined. Prereq: ZOOL 507-508; MICR 501; majors only.

NURS 508 - Foundations of Nursing Judgment
Credits: 4.00
Focuses on the knowledge and analytical skills required to adequately assess the health status of individuals. Students learn how to collect data using an assessment framework, analyze the data, and identify client resources and problems. Emphasizes the implications of the individual's developmental status, culture, and biologic variations at all points in the assessment process. Prereq: ZOOL 507-508; NUTR 400; MICR 501; PSYC 401; NURS 501; majors only.
Co-requisites: NURS 502, NURS 514

NURS 514 - Techniques of Clinical Nursing
Credits: 4.00
Focuses on the acquisition of psychomotor and assessment skills required for the delivery of safe nursing care. Students begin by learning clinical skills in the simulation setting and then using those skills with supervision in the clinical setting. An additional focus of this course is understanding fundamental nursing concepts as they pertain to providing safe, effective care. Prereq: ZOOL 507-508; NURS 501; majors only. Lab. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 508

NURS 535 - Death and Dying
Credits: 4.00
Course encompasses peoples' responses to death throughout the lifecycle. Theories of death, dying, and grieving discussed. Students explore cultural influences, legal, and ethical dilemmas; the biopsychosocial needs of people facing life threatening situations; resources for care of the dying; death rituals; and surviving a major loss. Writing intensive.

NURS 595 - Women's Health
Credits: 4.00
Examines women's health and women's health care from historical, political, and social perspectives. Discussion of societal and health-care constraints that hinder women from achieving their full health potential. Also presents information on women's health care practices, including the concept of self-care, and relates this to development of educated consumerism in the health-care system.

NURS 606 - Seminar on Professional Nursing
Credits: 7.00
The role of health professionals from historical, social, political, economic and technical view points. Individual student examinations of values, attitudes and beliefs regarding professional role in relation to current nursing theory and practice. Open to RN students only by permission. Prereq: NURS 646. Special fee. Writing intensive.

NURS 615 - Care of the Adult
Credits: 8.00
Addresses the professional nursing practice, decision making processes, strategies and interventions as they relate to the care of adults who are experiencing chronic illnesses, acute illnesses, or impending death. The perspective adopted emphasizes the functional issues of daily living that these illnesses impose and the meanings these illnesses have for adults and their families within cultural, socioeconomic, sociopolitical, physical, and personal contexts. Prereq: first semester junior nursing major. Coreq: NURS 619, 645. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 619, NURS 645

NURS 617 - Nursing and Healthcare Policy
Credits: 3.00
Examination of the nature and quality of health care delivery systems and health related social programs from a nursing perspective. Critical thinking skills and strategies needed by professional nurses to participate in health care planning and health care consumer advocacy for improved health services emphasized. Prereq: for R.N.s with at least one year of clinical experience or permission.

NURS 618 - Caring for People with Alterations in Mental Health
Credits: 2.00
Provides an understanding of the concepts of mental health and major factors affecting human behavior and interaction. Specific theoretical concepts guiding nurse-client interactions are used as a vehicle for supporting the person's and family's optimum state of well-being. Prereq: NURS 622.
Co-requisites: NURS 618C

NURS 618C - Caring for People with Alterations in Mental Health
Credits: 2.00
Emphasis on the practice of psychiatric nursing as being grounded on certain empirical, aesthetic, personal, and ethical knowledge. Nursing process and a situation-based interpretive approach serve as a framework for professional action. Through a variety of clinical experiences, the student applies mental health concepts/principles of interaction. Prereq: NURS 622. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 618

NURS 619 - Clinical Decision Making I
Credits: 4.00
To practice effectively nurses must be able to gather data, interpret its meaning, take actions based on an understanding of the data, and evaluate outcomes. They also must be aware of the processes used to reach conclusions and be prepared to revise, adapt, or reject them. The course focuses on teaching learning theory, ethical decision making, and helping clients and families deal with situational and maturational crises, using a critical thinking framework. Prereq: first-semester junior Nursing majors; NURS 501; 502; 508; 514 Writing intensive.
Co-requisites: NURS 615

NURS 620 - Caring for the Childbearing and Childrearing Family
Credits: 4.00
This course has family as the focus for nursing practice, introducing the student to the care of young families throughout pregnancy, birth and child-rearing periods. Healthy transitions and physical alterations occurring from conception through adolescence are examined. The health needs of the family are discussed in terms of major morbidity/mortality and contemporary issues. Experience in various clinical settings will provide opportunities for the development of professional practice roles. Prereq: second semester junior nursing major.
Co-requisites: NURS 620C

NURS 620C - Caring for the Childbearing and Childrearing Family
Credits: 4.00
Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 620

NURS 622 - Clinical Decision Making II
Credits: 4.00
Emphasizes the clinical decision making process in the nursing care of individuals, families, and communities across the lifespan and from diverse backgrounds. Builds upon the theoretical foundation developed in 619, Clinical Decision Making I. Students strengthen expertise in developing clinical judgments, interventions, and outcome evaluations. Skills predicated upon attending to and processing relevant information from clinical situations. Students apply knowledge from clinical nursing courses in a variety of ways. Prereq: second-semester junior Nursing majors; NURS 619; or RN student.

NURS 624 - Nursing in the Community
Credits: 2.00
Explores the role of community health nursing in health promotion, disease prevention, and long-term care. Analyzes contemporary community health problems with implications for community health nursing. Explores a variety of clinical and population-focused roles in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of health problems. Prereq: second semester junior nursing major.
Co-requisites: NURS 624C

NURS 624C - Nursing in the Community
Credits: 2.00
Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 624

NURS 645 - Research
Credits: 4.00
Focuses on enhancing the student's ability to evaluate, read, comprehend, participate in, and apply research to the practice of nursing. Pre or Coreq: statistics.

NURS 645W - Research
Credits: 4.00
See description for NURS 645. Writing intensive.

NURS 655 - Community Health Nursing I
Credits: 3.00
Explores role of community health nursing in health promotion, disease prevention and long term care at the population level. Identifies population at risk and implications for aggregate level nursing care. Open to RN students only by permission. Prereq: NURS 606. Special fee.

NURS 656 - Community Health Nursing II: Individuals, Families, and Aggregates
Credits: 2.00
Explores a variety of contemporary topics relevant to community health and community health nursing practice at the individual, family, and aggregate levels. Students have the opportunity to the explore clinical focused roles of the community health in nurse in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of health problems in individuals, families, and aggregates at risk across the life span. Evolving roles and responsibilities of a variety of community health nurse specialists introduced. Students collaborate with multidisciplinary health professionals in planning, providing, and evaluating health services to these specific at risk populations. May be repeated. Prereq: registered nurses only; NURS 606; permission. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 656C

NURS 656C - Community Health Nursing II/Clinical
Credits: 1.00
Experience in various clinical settings to provide opportunities for the development of the community health nursing role. Students collaborate with multidisciplinary health professionals in planning, providing, and evaluating health services to population at risk. Prereq: open to RN students only by permission.
Co-requisites: NURS 656

NURS 694 - Special Topics
Credits: 1.00 to 4.00
Specialized courses covering information not normally presented in regular course offerings. Description of topics will vary. May be repeated but not duplicate areas of content. Prereq: permission. (Not offered every year.)

NURS 695 - Independent Study
Credits: 2.00 to 4.00
In-depth study with faculty supervision. Prereq: junior standing and approval of adviser and faculty of the area concerned. May be repeated for different topics.

NURS 703 - Nursing Leadership/Management and the Organizational Context
Credits: 4.00
Focuses on understanding ways in which the nurse can affect the organizations in which practice occurs and ways in which the organizations affect the individual's practice. Emphasizes issues of leadership; management; power; change; motivation; and interfacing of autonomous, dependent, and interdependent nursing functions in current and future health care delivery systems. Prereq: first-semester senior nursing majors; NURS 622. RN students should take NURS 703W.

NURS 703W - Nursing Leadership/Management and the Organizational Context
Credits: 4.00
See description for NURS 703. Writing intensive.

NURS 710 - Families in Health and Illness
Credits: 4.00
Seminar focuses on the family environment as a context for the experience of health and illness. Current middle-range theories and research from nursing and other disciplines analyzed for their application to family health. Public policy initiatives related to family health explored.

NURS 719 - Professional Nursing Practice: Transitions
Credits: 7.00
Provides opportunity for students to refine and integrate previously learned knowledge and skills into professional practice through a cooperatively designed learning experience/environment. Open to R.N. students only, by permission. Prereq: NURS 606, 655, 656, 656C. Special fee.

NURS 720 - Clinical Decision-Making III
Credits: 6.00
Provides the student with the opportunity to integrate prior prior learning and experience, reflect on individual practice, and transition to professional practice in a career as a Registered Nurse. Emphasizes the refinement of professional skills related to leadership, management, problem solving, clinical and ethical decision-making, critical thinking, interpersonal communication, information management, and working as a productive team member. The weekly seminar provides an opportunity for the analysis, synthesis, refinement, and integration of nursing knowledge and practice. Regularly scheduled standardized tests are used to assess student progress and to provide timely feedback to facilitate the student's transition to professional practice. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 720C

NURS 720C - Clinical Decision-Making III Clinical
Credits: 6.00
Refine and integrate previously learned knowledge and skills into professional practice through a cooperatively designed learning experience/environment. Special fee.
Co-requisites: NURS 720

NURS #736 - Cardiac Arrhythmias
Credits: 4.00
Theory and practice of single-lead and 12-lead electrocardiography for the purposes of identification of disturbances of cardiac rhythm; designed to provide a firm foundation for the assessment and treatment of persons experiencing disturbances of the cardiac rhythm; includes field experience. Prereq: ZOOL 507-508 or permission.

NURS 794 - Special Topics
Credits: 1.00 to 4.00
Specialized courses covering information not normally presented in regular course offerings. Description of topics varies. May be repeated but not in duplicate areas of content. Prereq: permission.

NURS #796 - Assessment and Intervention of Addictive Behaviors
Credits: 4.00
Concepts related to addictions seen in common disorders such as alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, and codependency. Addresses assessment, treatment, and relapse prevention. Generic concepts are expanded through specific areas of addiction. Seminar format to facilitate class participation. Prereq: junior, senior, or graduate standing.

NURS 797 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 4.00
Honors seminar designed to expand the knowledge and skills presented in previous honors in major courses. Focus of course is a project relevant to the discipline of nursing under the direction of a faculty adviser. Pre- or Coreq: NURS 645; permission. Writing intensive.