RN-BS Nursing (NBC)

This course focuses on family and group dynamics. The application of the nursing process to promote holistic family health across the lifespan is addressed. Situational and contextual issues that impact family and group functioning are explored. Key issues related to crisis intervention with families and groups and the family¿s presence during critical experiences of health care are explored. The imperative need for ongoing research on caring for families and groups by nurses is identified.

Foundations for evidence-based practice in nursing. Specific elements of evidence-based practice include formulating the clinical question, conducting a search strategy, critically appraising the evidence, and implementation of evidence in the clinical environment. Basic concepts of the research process will form the foundation for assessing the quality of evidence. Explores the relationship between evidence-based findings and nursing practice to achieve favorable and cost-containing client outcomes. Must be taken in program sequence. This course is equivalent to NSG 348.

The purpose of this course is to assist the RN student to further refine and develop comprehensive and focused nursing assessment skills, clinical reasoning and judgment in clinical nursing practice. The collaborative role of the nurse to use critical thinking to assess, analyze, and recognize patients at risk for adverse health outcomes is examined. The nursing process will be used as framework to guide assessments, analysis, evidence-based interventions and to maximize safe outcomes for patients. Evidence-based early intervention strategies to promote safety and prevent critical incidents are discussed. A legal-ethical framework is used to examine a nurse's failure to intervene early with at risk patients.

This course explores essential concepts inherent in providing patient centered care. The meaning and essence of therapeutic caring as a foundational construct of the nurse-patient relationship is explored. Theories of caring will be examined within the professional nursing role and the value of relationship based patient centered care will be examined from an individual, unit, and organizational perspective. Evidence-based strategies to enhance relationship based patient centered care will be explored. The relationship among patients, families, colleagues, administrators, health care providers, and others will be analyzed in terms of providing patinent-centered care and achieving quality health outcomes. Legal and ethical issues will be examined.

This course explores concepts of public health and principles of population health within the context of the interdisciplinary public health system domestically and globally. Core functions of public health, principles of epidemiology, and public health nursing interventions will be used to examine population health problems and concerns. The use of evidence-based interventions and theories of behavior change will be analyzed as strategies to improve cost, access, and quality of population health. Within the public health nurse¿s role, the use of risk communication, informatics, and social interventions to implement public health laws, policies to effect change in population health will be explored. Public health disaster preparedness and response to natural disasters and terrorist threats will be emphasized.

The purpose of this course is to prepare the RN student for transition to practice as a baccalaureate prepared leader/manager. Organizational structures and processes of health care organizations as context for professional nursing practice are discussed. The collaborative roles of the nurse as leader and manager within the framework of legislative, economic, and regulated health care environments are analyzed. The legal and ethical parameters which influence the role of the nurse as leader/manager are explored. Strategies and processes for successful RN transition as baccalaureate prepared nursing practice are discussed. A personal career plan for ongoing professional development and life-long learning is developed.

This course is designed specifically for the registered nurse student completing the baccalaureate nursing program and focuses on nursing leadership in professional nursing practice. The student will integrate concepts of collaboration, safety, quality, leadership and management, patient-centered care, advocacy, ethics, legal implications, environmental and regulatory processes in the design and implementation of a nursing unit based synthesis project.