2007-08 Undergraduate Catalog
Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705
Nursing (NURS)
Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions
College of Health and Human Services
Credit designation below each title is expressed in (c) class hours per week, (l) lab or (d) discussion section hours per week, and (cr) credits per semester.
NURS 101 Disaster Awareness
1c-0l-1cr
Provides a basic understanding of the essentials of disaster planning, responding to mass casualty incidents, and postdisaster restoration of basic public health. Introduces a basic overview of health issues caused by biological, chemical, explosive, and natural disasters.
3c-0l-3cr
Advances knowledge of health promotion and illness prevention concepts and examines health disparities across segments of the population. The determinants of health, health status assessment, and the nation’s leading health indicators will be emphasized. Students will be guided in the development of a personal wellness program. Successful completion of NURS 143 fulfills the Liberal Studies Health and Wellness requirement. HPED 143 and FDNT 143 also fulfill this requirement, and any of these courses may be substituted for each other and may be used interchangeably for D or F repeats but may not be counted for duplicate credit.
NURS 202 Foundations of Child Health
3c-0l-3cr
Focuses on conditions that affect the health of children. Provides an overview of the structure and function of selected body systems. Emphasizes the development of each system during infancy and childhood. The impact of common acute and chronic diseases on children is incorporated. Health promotion concepts are addressed.
0c-3l-1cr
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Prerequisites or Corequisites: BIOL 105, 150 or 151
The first of two clinical courses that present the concepts and abilities fundamental to the practice of professional nursing and provide a foundation on which students can build their professional knowledge base as well as their interpersonal and psychomotor skills. Clinical assignments in a variety of settings provide opportunities for students to develop basic clinical practice skills.
NURS 212 Professional Nursing I
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
Introduces the discipline of nursing and values that are fundamental to practice. Caring as a concept central to the practice of professional nursing provides the framework for examining the values of the profession. Human diversity and the effects that culture, socioeconomics, ethnicity, and religion have on health status and response to health care are studied. An overview of the healthcare system in the United States and an examination of access issues. As a foundation for client contact in subsequent courses, students learn therapeutic communication skills and theory related to teaching and learning. Service/learning and team-building experiences are an integral component.
0c-3l-1cr
Builds on Nursing Practice I and provides opportunities to continue to build professional knowledge and skills with diverse individuals and families in a variety of settings. Emphasizes developing ability to perform health assessments, using therapeutic communication, and executing basic nursing skills while promoting healthy behaviors.
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisites: BIOL 150 or 151, NURS 211, or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite: BIOL 150 or 151
Corequisite: NURS 213, 236, or permission
Introduces basic health assessment, which is a systematic method of data collection, organization, and validation for the purpose of determining a client’s health status. Involves assessment of clients across the life span. Emphasizes assessment of client needs that affect the total person, which is consistent with nursing’s holistic approach to client care. Methods of data collection used for health assessments include observing, interviewing, and examination. Students learn to apply these methods effectively in order to gather accurate and complete assessments.
NURS 236 Foundations of Nursing
3c-0l-3cr
Prerequisites: CHEM 102, NURS 212
Introduces fundamental nursing concepts that apply to the practice of professional nursing with individuals. Topics include nursing theories related to professional practice, elements of holistic care, promotion of psychosocial and physiologic health, and application of pharmacology in nursing practice.
var-1-3cr
Prerequisite: As appropriate to course content
Offered on an experimental or temporary basis to explore topics not included in the established curriculum. A given topic may be offered under any special topic identity no more than three times. Special topics numbered 281 are offered primarily for lower-level undergraduate students.
NURS 306 Problem Solving in Nursing
3c-0l-3cr
Provides opportunities to recognize and develop intervention strategies for problem solving in clinical nursing situations. Emphasizes developing application and analysis skills required for success in the nursing program.
NURS 312 Professional Nursing II
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisite: NURS 212 or permission
Corequisite: NURS 337 or 339 or permission
Provides a working knowledge of the values, code of ethics, ethical principles, professional standards, and legal framework that govern clinical decisions, determine professional conduct, and guide interactions with clients, families, colleagues, and other health care providers. Students formulate an ethical decision-making framework that, by incorporating personal values, professional values, moral concepts, and legal mandates, serves as a guide to professional practice. Using a problem-based approach, they study legal and ethical frameworks that guide professional practice and relate/apply these to actual clinical situations.
NURS 316 Research Utilization in Nursing
3c-0l-3cr
Prerequisite: NURS 236 or permission
Prerequisites or Corequisites: ENGL 202, MATH 217
Focuses on understanding and critiquing nursing research. Emphasizes understanding the research process and applying research findings to practice. Students describe the various stages of the research process and apply these steps to evaluate clinical nursing research problems. Focuses on developing the necessary skills to engage in scholarly research writing.
NURS 334 Transitions in Professional Nursing
3c-0l-3cr
Prerequisite or Corequisite: ENGL 202
Corequisite: Licensed Practical Nurse or Registered Nurse
Explores the dynamic nature of health and its impact on the practice of nursing. Nursing theories, concepts, and issues related to nursing practice are analyzed. Linkages among theory, research, and practice are explored for relevance and utility. (Writing-intensive course)
4c-0l-4cr
Prerequisites:
FDNT
212,
NURS 236, or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 316
Corequisite:
NURS 337
Introduces disease processes and treatment regimens and examines their impact on adults throughout their life span. Emphasizes increasing student knowledge about assessing human responses to changes in health, determining appropriate nursing interventions, and identifying the physiological and psychosocial basis for nursing actions.
NURS 337 Adult Health Clinical I
0c-15l-5cr
Prerequisites:
FDNT
212,
NURS 236, or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 316
Corequisite:
NURS 336
0c-15l-5cr
Provides opportunities to apply the nursing process with adults and aging families in a variety of settings. Emphasizes increasing the ability to perform comprehensive health assessments and to use assessment data to identify problems, intervene, and evaluate care. Students learn to function as members of the health care team, identify discharge-planning needs, and differentiate between collaborative and independent nursing activities. Service learning is a component of the course.
NURS 338 Maternal-Child Health
4c-0l-4cr
Prerequisites:
FDNT
212,
NURS 236,
PSYC 310, or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 316
Corequisite:
NURS 339
Focuses on knowledge essential to provide nursing care for pregnant women and their children within a family context. The first half of the course emphasizes the changes experienced by the woman and family during normal and complicated pregnancy as well as those of the developing fetus and neonate. The second half focuses on acute and chronic health problems of infants, children, and adolescents.
NURS 339 Maternal-Child Health Clinical
0c-15l-5cr
Prerequisites:
FDNT
212,
NURS 236,
PSYC 310, or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 316
Corequisite:
NURS 338
Provides clinical learning experiences designed to enable students to provide nursing care for primary prevention/intervention with child-bearing families and with children and secondary prevention with women, children, and their families. These experiences are planned in a variety of ambulatory, community, and acute-care settings to enable the student to develop core values, knowledge, competencies, and skills associated with nursing care of mothers, children, and their families.
NURS 407 Skills for Professional Success
1c-0l-1cr
Prerequisite: Must be enrolled in senior-level nursing courses
A 1cr elective for senior nursing majors designed to help foster clinical judgment skills by focusing on critical thinking and test-taking. Emphasizes preparing students with the skills that are essential for success on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).
NURS 411 Advanced Health Assessment
2c-3l-3cr
Prerequisites: Registered Nurse or permission
This clinical course builds upon the basic assessment techniques of the registered nurse. Provides the student with the ability to assess the health status of adults. Enables the student to collect a comprehensive health history and perform complete physical examination on adults from various backgrounds. Focuses on examination techniques and identification of deviations from normal.
NURS 412 Professional Nursing III
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 312,
337,
339 or permission
Corequisites:
NURS 432,
434,
and
435 or
436
and
437, or permission
The professional nurse is expected to use clinical, managerial, and personal leadership skills to ensure the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care in divergent health care delivery systems. The study of leadership and management skills and processes are approached as inherent elements for all levels of nursing practice. The role of designer/manager/coordinator of care in professional nursing is examined in depth.
NURS 432 Psychiatric/Mental Health
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 336,
337,
338,
339 or permission
Prerequisites or Corequisites:
NURS 412,
434,
435
Focuses on the principles and concepts that guide nursing practice in a variety of psychiatric/mental health settings. The role of the nurse in primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention/intervention is addressed as it relates to individuals, families, and aggregates.
2c-0l-2cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 336,
337,
338,
339 or permission
Prerequisites or Corequisites:
NURS 412,
432,
435 or permission
Focuses on nursing care that is population and community oriented. Emphasizes the community as a client, perspectives and influences of the health care delivery systems, theoretical frameworks applicable to community health, contemporary issues in community health nursing, and nursing roles as designers, managers, and coordinators of care in the community.
NURS 435 Community and Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical
0c-15l-5cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 336,
337,
338,
339 or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 412,
432,
434
Focuses on community-based and community health nursing experiences to enable students to provide health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention in a wide variety of community settings and with diverse populations. Students will also have experiences within acute and community-based psychiatric care facilities, working as members of a multidisciplinary team to provide primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention/intervention. Emphases are also on nursing management and development of nursing strategies to assist at-risk families, aggregates, and groups, while considering health care on a continuum throughout the life span. Opportunities for individual mentoring in a clinical area are an integral part of the course.
4c-0l-4cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 336,
337,
338,
339 or permission
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 412
Corequisite:
NURS 437
Builds on Adult Health I, focusing on the adult/family coping with complex health problems. The relationships among disease states, treatment, and associated nursing responsibilities are emphasized as students build their knowledge base of pharmacology, therapeutic procedures, rehabilitation needs, and teaching-learning strategies. Principles underlying the use of technology in clinical practice provide a basis for the concurrent clinical course.
NURS 437 Adult Health Clinical II
0c-15l-5cr
Prerequisites:
NURS 336,
337,
338,
339 or permission
Corequisite:
NURS 436
Prerequisite or Corequisite:
NURS 412
Provides opportunities for clinical practice as a provider of care for complex, acutely ill clients in a variety of settings including intensive care unit, monitored units, medical-surgical units, and rehabilitation settings. Focuses on secondary prevention/intervention for long-term critically ill patients. Emphasizes the role of designer/manager/coordinator of care with opportunities to apply management principles and practice leadership skills in the acute care and rehabilitation setting. Opportunities to receive preceptoring with a Registered Nurse are an integral component.
NURS 450 A Cognitive Approach to Clinical Problem Solving
3c-0l-3cr
Focuses on advanced clinical problem-solving and decision-making skills needed by professional nurses. Factors that influence clinical problem solving are examined to facilitate higher-level thinking in simulated clinical situations.
NURS 454 Health Promotion of Families Across the Lifespan
3c-0l-3cr
Prerequisite: NURS 434
The first part focuses on the underlying theories and frameworks for family structure, function, and assessment. The second part focuses on application and evaluation of families in the context of health promotion. The family is studied across the life span. Emphasizes family assessment and cultural diversity and the stressors that impact families during the various stages of life. Required to conduct a family assessment in the community.
NURS 455 Introduction to Nursing Informatics
3c-0l-3cr
Prerequisite: Registered Nurse or instructor permission
An introduction and overview in the application of the disciplines of nursing science, computer science, and information science in collecting, processing, and managing information to promote decision making in nursing.
0c-6l-2cr
Prerequisite: NURS 434
Prerequisite or Corequisite: NURS 412
Focuses on role development in management and leadership for the Registered Nurse. Planned individualized experiences will afford opportunities to apply management and leadership theories in a workplace setting. Faculty members will guide the student in theory-based practice and synthesis of theory to practice experiences.
NURS 469 Community Health Practicum
0c-6l-2cr
Prerequisite: NURS 434
Prerequisite or Corequisite: NURS 434
Allows the Registered Nurse to apply knowledge to the practice of community-based and community health nursing. Emphasizes health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention in a wide variety of community settings and with diverse populations.
var-1-3cr
A seminar which provides a forum for the exploration and discussion of issues relevant to the professional nurse. Emphasizes the development of professional values, critical thinking, decision-making, and communication skills. A selection of topics on current issues and trends is offered; each focuses on a particular theme related to nursing practice.
var-1-3cr
Prerequisite: As appropriate to course content
Offered on an experimental or temporary basis to explore topics not included in the established curriculum. A given topic may be offered under any special topic identity no more than three times. Special topics numbered 481 are primarily for upper-level undergraduate students.
var-1-3cr
Prerequisite: Prior approval through advisor, faculty member, department chairperson, dean, and Provost’s Office
Students with interest in independent study of a topic not offered in the curriculum may propose a plan of study in conjunction with a faculty member. Approval is based on academic appropriateness and availability of resources.
var-1-12cr
Prerequisites: NURS 236 or Licensed Practical Nurse or Registered Nurse; 57cr completed; minimum 2.0 GPA
A supervised experience in a practice setting which extends and complements coursework in nursing. The types of practice settings may include acute care hospitals, outpatient health centers, and community agencies.
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