Masters Direct Entry Program For Non-Nurses

Utilizing a systems approach and a background in basic physical assessment, advanced physical assessment skills are studied. The identification and interpretation of abnormalities in the physical exam are emphasized in depth. The approach to the development of the differential diagnosis is introduced. The goal of this course is to provide the critical thinking necessary for the beginning advanced practice nursing student to analyze history and physical exam data.

The goals of this course are to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of the actions of drugs in order to enable them to use therapeutic agents in a rational and responsible manner in patients. Initially, basic principles of pharmacology will be reviewed (from N5375 course), including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs by the body. Drug-receptor interactions will also be presented and illustrated with appropriate examples. The focus of these lectures will be case-based whenever possible to demonstrate the therapeutic application of these pharmacologic principles and how this translates into efficacy and potential toxicity.

Part one of two. In this course we will examine the normal physiological function of organ systems, the mechanisms for the maintenance of health, and the pathophysiological alterations in body function that lead to disease. Each class will focus on a specific physiologic process or organ system. We will pay particular focus to diseases that commonly occur across the lifespan, examining common etiologies, pathogenic mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and common treatments of each.

Part two of two. In this course we will examine the normal physiological function of organ systems, the mechanisms for the maintenance of health, and the pathophysiological alterations in body function that lead to disease. Each class will focus on a specific physiologic process or organ system. We will pay particular focus to diseases that commonly occur across the lifespan, examining common etiologies, pathogenic mechanisms, clinical manifestations, and common treatments of each.

The care coordination course is designed to provide nursing students the skills to provide patient-centered care, deliberately organize patient care activities and share information among all of the participants concerned with a patient's care to achieve safer and more effective care. Reducing high rates of errors, reducing high rates of readmission, improving satisfaction with care, addressing unmet needs in health care and reducing cost burden will also be explored.

The pursuit of health equity for all in the 21st century is a global mandate and responsibility. This course is designed to provide an overview of critical health disparities within the global community and provide the student with a systematic approach to understanding them within the framework of human rights and social justice. The course will also explore the role and responsibility of the nursing profession to address these with both individual and cooperative strategies.

This core course examines contextual contributors to health status and the current social, legal, and political determinants of healthcare systems, emphasizing the U.S. system. Issues are explored to understand their impact on current and future delivery of health care, in particular on advanced practice nursing. The class focuses on how to bring the professional values of nursing to bear in policy debate and how nurses partner in the policy process to improve health outcomes of populations and quality of the healthcare delivery system.

This course is designed to provide the student with a systematic approach to the delivery of health promotion and disease prevention in primary health care to individuals, families, communities, and aggregate populations.

Nursing integration is the capstone immersion experience designed to provide the student with an opportunity to synthesize the knowledge and skills acquired during previous coursework. The student will build clinical reasoning and develop beginning proficiency in patient management and evaluation through assignments in increasingly complex patient care settings. Working closely with staff and faculty, the student will gain the confidence and skill needed to function as a novice nurse who is a designer, manager and coordinator of care.

This course is designed for graduate nurses to provide them with the skills to understand and utilize research evidence in decisions about clinical practice. The course is designed to help graduate nurses articulate relevant practice-based questions, search the literature to identify relevant evidence, evaluate the quality of research on which the evidence is based, and discuss the application of the evidence in clinical practice to improve quality of care.

The MDE e-Portfolio will be a multimedia collection for the individual student learning experiences. It will allow the student to take part in both summative and formative assessments on work done throughout the program while providing a vehicle for personal growth and development. Upon completion of the MDE Program, the e-Portfolio provides the graduating student with a showcase of acquired skills and knowledge to assist with the pursuit of further academic work and/or transition to professional life.

This course is designed to introduce concepts of leadership and management for entry-level professional nursing practice. The course addresses building cultures of quality and safety in complex health care delivery systems and introduces management theories and concepts including interprofessional communication, teamwork, delegation, and supervision.  

This course is designed to provide the student with clinical experience to implement patient-centered care that reflects an understanding of the concepts of human growth and development, pathophysiology, medical management, and nursing management along the health-illness continuum. Emphasis will be placed on nursing care of the adult with acute and chronic illness as well as common geriatric syndromes. Key elements of culture, spirituality, heredity, ethics, and health literacy will be integrated into the planning and provision of nursing care.

This course is designed to provide the student with clinical experience to implement patient-centered care that reflects an understanding of the concepts of human growth and development, pathophysiology, medical management, and nursing management along the health-illness continuum. Emphasis will be placed on nursing care of the adult with acute and chronic illness as well as common geriatric syndromes. Key elements of culture, spirituality, heredity, ethics, and health literacy will be integrated into the planning and provision of nursing care.

This clinical course is designed to provide the student with experience to utilize evidence-based knowledge and critical thinking skills in providing nursing care to childbearing families. Clinical assignments will include caring for families during the antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn periods. Concepts of wellness, culture, infant growth and development, family integrity, and patient advocacy are used as a basis for the provision of care.

This clinical course is designed to provide the student with the opportunity to utilize evidence-based knowledge and critical thinking skills in the planning and provision of comprehensive nursing care to children along the health-illness continuum. Clinical assignments will include caring for the well child as well as the child with acute and chronic illness. Concepts of growth and development, family integrity, wellness, risk reduction and disease prevention will be stressed. Key elements of culture, spirituality, heredity, and patient advocacy will be integrated into nursing care.

This is an introductory pharmacology course, and, since pharmacology is an applied science, it builds on several foundational concepts of biology, chemistry, microbiology, anatomy, and physiology in the context of nursing practice. Principles of pharmacology will be discussed, including pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicities. Major pharmacologic agents used in treating more common disease states will be discussed with emphasis on relating the mechanism of action to the therapeutic use.

This course will develop the knowledge and skills necessary for conducting comprehensive and focused health assessments for individuals with emphasis placed on interviewing skills, health histories, and physical and psychosocial findings in the well person. Communication and record keeping skills are developed.

This clinical course is designed to provide the student with experience to care for the client experiencing a major psychiatric and/or mental health disorder. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the professional nurse in various treatment settings as well as current treatment modalities. The client population includes children, adolescents, and adults along the health-illness continuum.

This fundamental course introduces students to core concepts of nursing science including taxonomy, philosophies of caring, nursing process, and evidence-based care. Concepts from the biological, physical, epidemiological, and behavioral sciences will be utilized as students begin the study of adults experiencing major biophysical health problems. The course is an introduction to the role of the professional nurse in medical/surgical nursing care of the adult client in context of populations.

This fundamental course provides the student with clinical experience to implement patient-centered care that reflects an understanding of the concepts of human growth and development, health promotion, nursing management of illness, and patient safety. Philosophies and scientific theories of nursing will serve as a foundation for the development of critical thinking and skill acquisition. Key elements of culture, spirituality, heredity, and ethics will be integrated into the planning and provision of nursing care to individuals and populations.

Students will gain competency by practicing skills in a supportive and supervised environment in the simulation laboratory. This fundamental course provides the student with practical application of nursing skills and the scientific rationale for performing procedures correctly in order to provide patient-centered care that reflects an understanding of the concepts of human growth and development, health promotion, nursing management of illness, and patient safety. Philosophies and scientific theories of nursing will serve as a foundation for the development of critical thinking and skill acquisition. Key elements of culture, spirituality, heredity, and ethics will be integrated into the planning and provision of nursing care to simulated patients.

This course builds upon the study of major biophysical health problems affecting the adult population learned in N5400 Science of Nursing Practice. This course is one of two courses designed to provide the student with a sound foundation in medical-surgical nursing care of the adult client. Through integration of knowledge from the biological, physical, epidemiological, and behavioral sciences, concepts of health, environment, risk reduction and disease prevention will be presented. Emphasis will be placed on older adults experiencing common geriatric syndromes. The role of the professional nurse in caring for the adult client continues to be a focus in the context of individual, family, and community. Course I will include Cardiac, Respiratory, Renal, Infectious Diseases, Endocrine Disorders, Shock and Burns.

This course builds upon the study of major biophysical health problems affecting the adult population learned in N5400 Science of Nursing Practice. This course is one of two courses designed to provide the student with a sound foundation in medical-surgical nursing care of the adult client. Through integration of knowledge from the biological, physical, epidemiological, and behavioral sciences, concepts of health, environment, risk reduction and disease prevention will be presented. Emphasis will be placed on older adults experiencing common geriatric syndromes. The role of the professional nurse in caring for the adult client continues to be a focus in the context of individual, family, and community. Course II will include Neurological, Musculoskeletal, Hematology, Oncology, Immunology, Perioperative, Gastrointestinal and Hepatic.

This didactic course focuses on the care of the family during the childbearing years. The processes of normal pregnancy and birth, high risk pregnancy, and the care of the healthy newborn are presented. Through integration of the sciences and evidence-based knowledge, concepts of family, environment, health, wellness, and culture will be emphasized. Issues related to women’s reproductive health and contraception will be covered.

This course focuses on nursing care of the child along the health-illness continuum. Core concepts of growth and development, well child care, family structure, environment, heredity, and psychosocial factors will serve as a basis for designing care. The child with acute, chronic, and life threatening illness will be covered as well as risk factors for morbidity and mortality. Nursing strategies to minimize stressors experienced by children and their families during illness will be presented. Key elements of spirituality, culture, socioeconomic status, and health beliefs will be examined.

This course focuses on the population of clients experiencing acute and chronic psychiatric disorders across the lifespan. Emphasis will be placed on the nurse/client relationship, psychopharmacology, and treatment modalities. Environmental stressors and the effects of mental health disorders on clients and their families will be discussed.

This course is designed to introduce pre-licensure students to relevant and emergent topics which affect the practice of nursing in the national and international healthcare system. The focus will be on issues confronting professional nurses including global health, cultural awareness, gender identity, and evidence-based wellness. State mandated topics for licensure will be covered.

The goals of this course are to provide students with an advanced knowledge and understanding of the actions of drugs in order to enable them to use therapeutic agents in a rational and responsible manner in patients.  Initially, basic principles of pharmacology will be reviewed, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs by the body.  Topics will follow regarding principles of advanced clinical pharmacology.  The focus of these lectures will be to demonstrate the therapeutic application of these advanced pharmacologic principles and how this translates into efficacy and potential toxicity.

Quality health care is dependent on consistent, systematic, and collaborative efforts of all healthcare personnel through the shared priority objective of positive patient outcomes.  In this practicum on Quality Improvement, students will apply concepts of the NURSN5950 Nursing Leadership and Management course and engage in established healthcare quality improvement initiatives. This interactive course explores quality improvement, research processes, knowledge of health-care systems, and innovative corrective measures as it relates to safe, effective nursing practice. Through the support of student group-led analysis and discussion of selected quality improvement measures, students will explore strategies and roadmaps to quality healthcare  through the lens of multidisciplinary collaboration and nursing leadership.

Students will utilize the knowledge and skills learned to perform a comprehensive or focused health assessment including history and physical examination in a supervised laboratory. Students will record findings in an approved manner and demonstrate utilization of holistic, region-cultural, and ethical approaches to individuals and families.

This seminar will give the student the opportunity to demonstrate and experience an understanding of ambulatory care nursing practice. A particular focus will be placed on the assessment of communities and populations with an emphasis on social determinants and their impact on health.

This course will prepare the student in ambulatory care nursing practice as defined by nursing practice outside of the acute care setting. It will cover the spectrum of ambulatory care nursing roles and responsibilities in caring for individuals, families, communities, and populations across outpatient settings to include, but not limited to outpatient clinics, telehealth service environments, freestanding community facilities, nurse managed clinics, managed care organizations, and patient homes. The course will include an overview of primary palliative care nursing.

This course is designed as a review of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of a candidate for the NCLEX-RN licensing exam for registered professional nurse. Students will learn how to utilize resources to build proficiency in the clinical judgement assessments of the exam and will implement professional and personal practices to enhance potential to be a successful candidate.