NURSING (NUR)

Dr. Sara E. Barger, Dean
Office: 455 Russell Hall

All references to freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior standing refer to student's standing in the prescribed nursing curriculum. EORN refers to the Capstone College of Nursing's Educational Opportunities for Registered Nurses.

NUR 231 Abusive Behavior in Families. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.

Focus on abusive behaviors, including abuse of the child, spouse, sibling, and elderly. Emphasis is placed on legal responsibilities of health professionals in cases of abuse. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors. Lecture.

NUR 233 Health Care of Women. Three hours.

Prerequisite: NUR 256 or permission of the instructor.

Exploration of common health problems of women in contemporary society. Emphasis is placed on developmental concerns, preventive health needs, and common illnesses of women. Trends and issues that influence women's health are also discussed. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors. Lecture and lab.

NUR 235 Spiritual Health: A Multicultural Perspective. Three hours.

Opportunity for students to understand spirituality as a universal human dimension by developing an awareness of spiritual health in self and others. Particular emphasis is given to the relationship between spiritual health and physical health. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors. Lecture.

NUR 283 AIDS: A Caring Response. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.

Opportunity to increase knowledge of all aspects of AIDS as a catastrophic illness affecting individuals, families, and society. Emphasis on prevention and detection of AIDS and associated multidimensional well-being requirements. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors. Lecture.

NUR 287 Death and Dying: A Personal Perspective. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.

Biopsychosocial components of death, dying, and bereavement from philosophical and scientific points of view. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors. Lecture.

NUR 301 Human Pathology and Pharmacologic Intervention. Six hours.

Prerequisites: BSC 215, BSC 216, BSC 252, and CH 105.

This course examines adaptation to selected physical and psychological disorders. The pathophysiology, symptomology, and potential outcomes are stressed. Pharmaceutical agents used to assist the person in adapting to these stressors are presented. Classification of pharmaceutical agents are discussed with regard to mechanism of action, adverse effects, and nursing implications.

NUR 302 Concepts and Issues in Professional Nursing. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Promotion to upper division.

This course focuses on concepts and issues relevant to professional nursing practice. Content related to values of professional nursing and issues affecting practice will be examined. Students are introduced to concepts from the CCN philosophy and conceptual framework. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course.

NUR 303 Health Assessment across the Life Span. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Promotion to upper division.

This course focuses on developing assessment skills necessary for critical thinking in professional nursing of persons across the life span. Skills for health assessment include health history and physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and developmental assessment. This course includes class and clinical practice laboratory.

NUR 304 Professional Nursing Practice: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Prevention. Six hours.

Prerequisite: Promotion to upper division.

Integration of knowledge, theories, and skills from the humanities, arts, and sciences serve as the foundation for this introductory clinical course. The nursing process will be presented as a framework for critical thinking, decision making, and nursing practice. Levels of prevention will be introduced as a model for health care. This course also includes calculation of medication dosages.

NUR 317 Independent Study: Special Topics. One to four hours.

Prerequisite: Junior standing.

Individual independent study of a selected topic under the sponsorship of a nursing faculty member with relevant expertise. Prior approval of proposal by faculty sponsor and associate dean required. Elective.

NUR 318 Nursing Research Practicum. One to three hours.

Prerequisite: NUR 304.

The student collaborates on an individual basis in faculty research activities such as review of the literature, development and testing of tools, data collection, and data analysis. Prior approval of proposal by faculty sponsor and associate dean required. Elective.

NUR 330 Creative Problem Solving in Nursing Practice. Three hours.

Focuses on attributes of creative problem solving, such as intuition, ethics, creativity, self-awareness, analytical and conceptual skills, and change. Elective. Open to non-nursing majors with approval of instructor. Lecture.

NUR 336 Cardiac Electrophysiology in Nursing. Three hours.

Prerequisites: NUR 301 and NUR 304.

Opportunity to expand knowledge of cardiac arrhythmias and dysrhythmias and to identify basic deviations from the normal 12-lead EKG. Discussions directed toward application of knowledge gained from hypothetical case situations. Elective. Lecture.

NUR 340 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care. Three hours.

Prerequisite: NUR 304 or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on students' legal rights and ethical obligations in various health care settings. Included are legal system, risk management, protecting rights of others, and asserting rights as plaintiff and defendant. Students are guided in analyzing ethical and legal issues. Seminar.

NUR 341 Role Transition in Baccalaureate Nursing. Three hours.

This course is limited to registered nurse students and expands conceptual and practical knowledge learned in the previous nursing education program. This course has classroom and clinical components. Home care is the primary focus of clinical experiences. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course.

NUR 342 Health Assessment for Registered Nurses. Three hours.

This course is limited to registered nurse students and expands the conceptual and psychomotor skills of the student in assessment throughout the life span of individuals, groups, and families. Emphasis is placed on meeting the assessment needs of the individual student.

NUR 351 Nursing Informatics. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of NUR 304.

This course focuses on utilization of computers in health care education, practice, research, and administration. The lab component provides experience with a clinical information system, the Internet, word processing, databases, spreadsheets, and graphics programs.

NUR 352 Seminar in Nursing of the Family Experiencing Acute Complex Health Problems. Two hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first-semester upper-division courses.

This seminar focuses on the family experiencing acute complex health problems across the life span. Emphasis is on multisystem problems.

NUR 353 Seminar in Nursing of the Developing Family. Two hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first-semester upper-division courses.

This seminar focuses on the health of the developing family and the use of the nursing process for the family dealing with normal maturational processes and related acute health problems. Early detection and intervention strategies with actual or potential stressors that affect the adaptive processes in the developing family are discussed.

NUR 356 Professional Nursing Practice: Secondary Prevention. Nine hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first-semester upper-division courses.

This course focuses on actions designed to detect and intervene in actual or potential health problems and in early acute stages of disease. Clinical experiences are designed to develop skills for early detection, diagnosis, and prompt intervention to reduce the severity and duration of biopsychosocial pathological processes across the life span.

NUR 401 Introduction to Nursing Research. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first-semester upper-division courses and NUR 351 Nursing Informatics.

This course focuses on utilization of theory and scientific methodology in the review of research. It also provides an opportunity to critique current nursing research and requires the student to use critical inquiry methodology and to become a discriminating consumer of research. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course.

NUR 402 Seminar in Nursing of the Family Experiencing Chronic Health Problems. Four hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first- and second-semester upper-division courses.

This seminar focuses on the family with a chronically ill member. Emphasis is on long-term care and rehabilitation.

NUR 403 Professional Nursing Practice: Tertiary Prevention. Nine hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all first- and second-semester upper-division courses.

This course focuses on actions designed to ameliorate or reduce the consequences of clinically apparent disease through support or rehabilitation. Clinical experiences are designed to develop skills in tertiary prevention. Students work with persons across the life span who have a chronic or irreversible deficit or disability for the purpose of preventing further disability or reduced functioning in these persons.

NUR 421 Guatemala Health Care. Three hours.

Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a cross-cultural experience for three weeks in Guatemala learning about Guatemalan culture, language, health, and social welfare issues. Students who have not studied Spanish previously will be required to attend individualized Spanish classes. Students will observe a variety of health and educational programs, including a hospital for convalescents, a village health station, a school, a public health center, and the national hospital. Elective.

NUR 450 Primary Prevention and Community Health for Registered Nurses. Five hours.

Prerequisites: NUR 341 and NUR 342.

Prerequisite or corequisite: NUR 401.

This course for registered nurses focuses on actions that precede disease or dysfunction that are designed to reduce the incidence of disease by promoting health and preventing disease in aggregates and populations. Precepted clinical experiences are designed to develop skills in primary prevention.

NUR 451 Professional Nursing Practice: Primary Prevention and Community. Five hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all third-semester upper-division courses.

The focus of this course is on actions that precede disease or dysfunction and are designed to reduce the incidence of disease by promoting health and preventing disease in aggregates and populations. Clinical experiences are designed to develop skills in primary prevention.

NUR 452 Professional Nursing Practice: Leadership Practice. Nine hours.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of all third-semester upper-division courses.

This course focuses on leadership theory and management functions essential to professional nursing. Clinical experiences focus on enactment of the professional nurse role in a concentrated practicum. Leadership and management principles are applied as students enhance direct care delivery skills, critical thinking, and decision making.

NUR 453 Leadership and Management Roles in Baccalaureate Nursing. Seven hours.

Prerequisite: NUR 450.

This course focuses on leadership theory and management functions essential to professional nursing. Clinical experiences focus on enactment of the professional nurse role in a concentrated practicum. Leadership and management principles are applied as students enhance direct care delivery skills, critical thinking, and decision making.