NURS - Nursing

NURS 1205. Foundations of Nursing (5-8-7) Prerequisites: CHEM 1151, CHEM 1151L, MATH 1111, and Admission to the nursing program. This course is designed to introduce the nursing student to the wellness-illness continuum throughout the lifespan with emphasis on caring for adults and children in acute, sub-acute, and community settings. Students are expected to gain competency in basic physiological assessment, communication, and critical thinking skills through the use of the nursing process. Content areas include basic nursing care, communicable disease, growth and development, normal nutrition, and alterations in musculoskeletal and sensory function. Course content is enhanced through critical thinking exercises, computer assisted instruction, and multimedia library resources. Clinical laboratory experiences are provided in campus lab, various health-care facilities, and selected community settings.

NURS 1206. Pharmacology (2-1-2) Prerequisite: Admission to the Nursing program; Co-requisite: NURS 1205. This course serves as a foundation for students to use in calculating, administering and assessing patient’s response to medications. Basic principles of dosage calculation are introduced. Metric and apothecary systems with conversion from one to the other are emphasized. All routes of drug administration are explored and dosage calculation for various types of administration is stressed. Major drug classifications, actions, side effects, etc., and the regulation of drugs is covered. College laboratory is utilized for practice in calculating and administering medications.

NURS 1207. Medical-Surgical Nursing (5-16-9) Prerequisites: NURS 1205, NURS 1206, and BIOL 2221. This course is designed to prepare the nursing student to care for the ill adult and child in a variety of health care settings which include hospitals, outpatient clinics, home health and referral agencies. Students are expected to demonstrate critical thinking skills in the practice of more advanced nursing care. Emphasis is placed on health restoration, health maintenance, and prevention of illness. Knowledge is gained from the study of prototype illnesses related to common health disorders of: diabetes mellitus, basic fluid and electrolyte and acid-base balance, and respiratory, neoplastic, integumentary, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary systems. Computer assisted instruction and multimedia library resources enhance student learning.

NURS 2205. Nursing Issues and Trends (1-1-1) Prerequisites: NURS 1205 and BIOL 2222. This course allows students to explore the role of nursing in society. The history of nursing, professional roles and organizations, and nursing’s current status in education and practice are examined. Issues and trends in contemporary health care delivery, the political process, and change theory are included. The role of the nurse as manager of health care within an ethical and legal framework is explored. By studying management styles, conflict resolution and various legal and ethical issues, the process of transition from student to graduate nurse is facilitated.

NURS 2206. Psychiatric Nursing (5-16-5) Prerequisite: NURS 1205. This course teaches the students to apply mental health concepts and assessment and interpersonal skills in the nurse-patient relationship through theory-based instruction, multimedia library resources, critical thinking activities, computer-assisted instruction, and self-directed learning experiences. The course assists students to understand and use appropriate nursing interventions to help individuals maximize their mental health and prevent/resolve emotional problems. Emphasis is placed on the dignity and worth of the individual, the significance of life problems, human coping skills, and the value of self-understanding. Clinical experience with adolescent and adult populations in chemical dependency and psychiatric areas occurs in inpatient and residential treatment facilities and community-based programs.

NURS 2207. Maternal-Infant Nursing (5-16-5) Prerequisite: NURS 1205. A study of maternal-infant health designed to help the nursing student achieve competency in maternity nursing and recognize the childbearing period as a natural physical, emotional, and social experience in a complex technological setting. Major emphasis is on the nurse’s role in meeting identifiable needs of the low-risk family for the planning of pregnancy through the infant’s first few months. Medical conditions or circumstances that place a family at risk are incorporated in the course. Concepts of gynecological problems of the reproductive and lactation systems are also included. Course content is enhanced by the use of critical thinking exercises, computer-assisted instruction and multimedia library resources. Clinical experience is provided during the labor, delivery, and recovery process and mother/baby care during the postpartum period. Learning opportunities are also provided in the high risk nursery, antenatal unit and prenatal testing, and selected community agencies. Appropriate technology in the neonatal intensive care and labor and delivery areas is incorporated into the learning experience.

NURS 2208. Advanced Medical-Surgical Nursing (5-16-9) Prerequisite: NURS 1205. This course is designed to prepare the nursing student to care for adults with severe health problems related to multiple and/or complex disorders. The use of advanced nursing technology is an integral part of the clinical experience. A variety of health care settings which include college lab, acute care settings, intensive care areas and community agencies reinforce the learning process. The student’s knowledge base is expanded by the study of cardiovascular and peripheral vessel alterations, blood dyscrasias, endocrine crises, neurological alterations, respiratory, liver and renal failure, and SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome). Critical thinking exercises, case discussion, and computer-assisted instruction are used to enhance the learning process. Development of the student’s leadership and management skills is incorporated into the clinical experience.

NURS 2275. Introduction to Professional Nursing (2-3-3) Co-requisite: BIOL 2222. Examination of the theoretical concepts of professional nursing and nursing practice with a focus on individual, environment, health and nursing as described by nursing theorists and applied in current practice by nurses in the resolution of client problems. Focus on nursing process including basic skills in communication, data gathering, observation/process recording, conclusions about assessment data and required interventions.

NURS 3175. Pharmacology in Nursing (2-0-2) Prerequisite: Admission to upper division nursing. This course provides an introduction to major drug classifications, principles of drug mechanism, distribution and absorption of drugs, actions, toxicity, and regulation of drugs. Knowledge gained in this course serves as a foundation to build upon in the clinical nursing courses where students calculate, administer, and assess the client’s response to medications.

NURS 3176. Basic and Therapeutic Nutrition (2-0-2) Prerequisite: Admission to upper division nursing. Basic science of human nutrition and its role in health promotion and maintenance across the life cycle. Includes dietary management of common health problems.

NURS 3275. Foundations of Nursing Practice (6-9-9) Prerequisite: NURS 2275. Focuses on nursing process as a systematic, problem-solving, interactional process. Students apply principles from the liberal arts and sciences and nursing theory within the framework of the nursing process while providing nursing care to clients. Application of the nursing process as applied to the client experiencing health problems across the life span. Selected mental health concepts are integrated throughout. Clinical practice in a variety of settings will provide opportunities to assess growth and development and risk factors of selected clients.

NURS 3276. Introduction to Health Assessment and Wellness (1-3-2) Prerequisite: Admission to upper division nursing courses. Provide knowledge and psychomotor skills necessary for assessing the health of clients throughout the life span with a focus on wellness. Students will use the nursing process to develop competence in eliciting a health history, conducting a physical examination, establishing data base and integrating basic techniques of systems assessment into the care of clients in varied settings.

NURS 3277. Advanced Nursing Practice (7-12-11) Prerequisites: NURS 3175, 3176, 3275, and 3276; Co-requisite: NURS 3279. Application of the nursing process, refinement of health assessment and psychomotor skills in the care of adults and children. Selected mental and community concepts are integrated throughout. Critical thinking is applied as students explore theories relating to etiology pathogenesis and clinical manifestations found in common disease processes. Previous knowledge acquired from anatomy and physiology provide the foundation for exploring human dysfunction. Clinical experiences will be provided in acute care and community settings.

NURS 3278. Conceptual Bases of Professional Nursing Practice (3-0-3) Prerequisite: Admission to upper division nursing; Co-requisite: NURS 3279 Designed for registered nurses seeking a B.S.N. degree. Synthesis of concepts, principles, theories and roles undergirding professional nursing practice including health promotion, prevention and wellness. Group dynamics/collaboration, written communications and principles of community health nursing practice are emphasized. Upon successful completion of the course, RN students are eligible to receive credit for NURS 3175, NURS 3176, NURS 3277, and NURS 4275.

NURS 3279. Applied Pathophysiology (3-3-4) Prerequisites: NURS 3175, NURS 3176, NURS 3275, and NURS 3276; Co-requisite: NURS 3277. Application and refinement of health assessment skills in the care of adults and children. Selected pathophysiological conditions are assessed relating to etiology, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of potentially life threatening disease processes. Application of lab techniques will be applied and analyzed with clients in the clinical settings.

NURS 4175. Nursing Research (2-0-2) Prerequisites: MATH 1127 and Admission to upper division nursing. Introduction to basic research methodology and process. Includes research design, critique of nursing studies, identification of research problems,. Development of a research proposal and application to practice.

NURS 4275. Parent-Infant Nursing (3-9-6) Prerequisites: NURS 3277 and NURS 3279. Application of the nursing process with families in the childbearing and child rearing phase of family development. Nursing intervention with well childbearing and child rearing families assists students to acquire skills to help families at high risk. Health problems of the reproductive and lactation systems are also included. Selected mental health concepts are integrated throughout. Clinical experiences are provided in a variety of settings.

NURS 4276. Family and Community Nursing (2-9-5) Prerequisite: NURS 4275. Utilization of the nursing process with families, aggregates and communities to promote wellness, prevent illness and maintain health. Course content includes the concepts of epidemiology, levels of prevention, ecology and theoretical frameworks applicable to working in community settings.

NURS 4277. Application of Professionalism in Nursing (6-15-11) Prerequisite: NURS 4276. Application of theories and concepts related to leadership and management skills in the professional nurse role within selected health care systems. Focuses on contemporary trends that influence health care delivery and nursing practice.

NURS 4279. Critical Care Nursing (4-9-7) Prerequisites:NURS4175, NURS 4176, and NURS 4276. Application of the nursing process, refinement of health assessment, and psychomotor skills with adult and child clients experiencing acute health problems with multisystem involvement in critical care settings. Selected mental health concepts are integrated throughout.