I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Professional Nursing Concepts I

2. Course Prefix & Number:
NURS 1544

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

Lecture Hours: 4

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

The beginning course in a three-semester sequence which emphasizes use of the nursing process and nursing judgment to assess, plan, and implement nursing interventions to promote safe, quality care and human flourishing for individuals, families and groups experiencing alterations in physiological, psychosocial, sociocultural, spiritual and developmental integrity. Teaching and learning principles for providing education to prevent, preserve, and restore health and human flourishing are integrated. Content includes caring for clients across the lifespan. This course focuses on the pathophysiology and RN role for the following: Nursing Process, Teaching and Learning, QSEN, Evidence Based Practice, Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Gerontology, Surgical Nursing and Musculoskeletal System.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

No placement tests required

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course fulfills a requirement for the following program(s):

Nursing - Associate in Science Degree

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Explain the use of the nursing process used to accurately assess, plan, implement, and evaluate holistic, patient-centered care as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual, potential, and collaborative health problems of clients and families across the lifespan.
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals	Describe the teaching and learning process including how to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes promoting a change in behavior.
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Discuss the concepts of lifespan (pediatrics and geriatrics) as they relate to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Apply the nursing process to accurately assess, plan, implement, and evaluate holistic, patient-centered care as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families across the lifespan;
• Plan client priorities and preferences using available resources, referrals, and evidence-based practice standards;
• Describe the teaching and learning process including how to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes promoting a change in behavior;
• Discuss the management of nursing care that enhances the care delivery setting to protect clients and health care personnel;
• Choose strategies to achieve optimal health across the lifespan that include health promotion and maintenance concepts, expected growth and development principles, prevention and/or early detection of health problems;
• Choose interventions that promote and support the emotional, mental, and social wellbeing of the client experiencing stressful events, as well as clients with acute or chronic illness;
• Discuss concepts of nutrition taking into account multiple client factors such as personal preference, laboratory values, health problems, education level, and ability to adhere to prescribed dietary plan;
• Distinguish pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies as they relate to the management of actual health problems across the lifespan; 
• Apply risk reduction concepts to help reduce the likelihood that clients will develop complications or health problems related to existing conditions, treatments, or procedures;
• Recognize deviations from normal values for multiple laboratory and diagnostic tests;
• Discuss the ability to manage and provide care for clients with acute, chronic, or life threatening physical health conditions;
• Discuss the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Project (QSEN) and the NLN Framework for Educational Outcomes as well as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAS) that are expected to be met by the end of the program;
• Discuss the concepts of lifespan (pediatrics and geriatrics) as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families;
• Apply concepts of Surgical Nursing as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families across the lifespan;
• Apply concepts of Musculoskeletal System as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families across the lifespan;
• Demonstrate responsibility, integrity, professionalism, and accountability within the nursing student role; and
• Relate theory and Evidence Based Research to develop a foundational knowledge of the art and science of nursing, including concepts related to pathophysiological processes and caring behaviors utilized in the care of patients and families.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Nursing Process
• Assessment
• Diagnosis
• Planning
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Prioritization of nursing care
• Documentation
2. Teaching/Learning
• Characteristics of adult learners
• Domains of learning
• Barriers to learning
• Teaching learning process
• Three levels of prevention
• Community resources
• Learning styles
• Resumes
3. QSEN
• Institute of Medicine and Quality Safety Education in Nursing project
• Core competencies: patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration, quality improvement, safety, evidence based practice, and informatics
• Knowledge, skills, and attitude required for success in nursing program
4. APA
• Use of APA formatting
• Challenges of APA formatting
5. Gerontology
• Erickson’s Psychosocial Development Theory Stage 8
• Common age changes and common conditions
• Dementia, delirium, organic brain disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, depression
• Roles and relationships, stress
• Safety
• Medication usage
• Payment sources
• Legal issues
• Advance directives, living will, POLST
• Grieving process
• End of life
• Abuse
6. Pediatrics
• Traditional and nontraditional families
• Healthy vs dysfunctional families
• Religious and cultural beliefs
• Parenting styles
• Communicating with children and families
• Communicating with special needs children
• Growth and development
• Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development, Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory and Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.
• Denver Developmental Screening Test.
• Role of play
• Immunizations
• Primary, secondary, tertiary measure of prevention
• Community resources
• Growth and development in the infant, toddler, preschooler, school age, and adolescent child
• Health promotion specific to infants including immunizations, feeding, food allergies, teething, and lead exposure.
• Health promotion specific to toddlers and preschoolers including toilet training, temper tantrums, sibling rivalry, stuttering, daycare/preschool and preparing for school
• Health promotion specific to the school-age child including: (a) adjustment to school, (b) self-care and (c) obesity, exercise and activity.
• Psychosexual growth and development and exercise/activity in the adolescent.
• Emergency care for children
• Nurse’s role in CPR, shock, trauma, ingestions and poisonings, environmental emergencies, submersion injuries, heat related injuries and dental emergencies.
• Settings of care for the ill child
• Stressors, fear of the unknown, and regression associated with hospitalization and illness,
• Effects of chronic illness on child and family
• Holistic care involved for a child with a chronic illness including caring for the parents, education, communication, grief and support, cultural and religious beliefs, referrals, schooling, the nurse as liaison and caring for the siblings
• Infectious disease: modes of transmission, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, complications, and nursing management
• Etiology, incidence, manifestations, diagnostic evaluation, and   management of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
• Etiology, manifestations and therapeutic management of substance abuse
• Etiology, incidence, manifestations of child abuse and shaken infant syndrome, Munchausen Syndrome by proxy and mandated reporting
• Diagnostic tests for intellectual and developmental disorders
• Pathophysiology, etiology, clinical manifestation, nursing interventions and medical management of children with intellectual and developmental disorders, including Down’s Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and Autism.
7. Pharmacology
• Pharmacokinetics related to absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs
• Drug effectiveness, half-life, drug action
• Pharmacodynamics, including primary and secondary effects
• Receptor theory
• Additive effect, synergistic effect, agonist effect, partial agonist effect, (antagonistic effect, idiosyncratic response; displacement, interference, and incompatibility related to medication use
• Major side effects of drugs
• Legislative issues related to drug use and abuse
• Stages of drug development
• Polypharmacy in the elderly
• Herbal supplements
• Medication compliance/education
• Routes of medication administration: oral, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, sublingual, topical, inhalation
• Schedule I, II, III, IV, and V medications
• Categories of during pregnancy
• Literature resources for medication research
• Chemical, trade, generic, official, and brand names of medications
• Drug classification system
8. Surgical Nursing
• Comprehensive preoperative assessment
• Effects of acute and chronic illness in perioperative period
• Legal and ethical considerations for informed consent
• Preoperative roles in preparation for surgery
• Surgical asepsis
• Effects and adverse effects of surgery and anesthesia
• Role of the RN during intraoperative phase
• Function of steroids and the stress response
• Responsibilities and priority assessments in the post anesthesia care unit
• Common postoperative complications
• Wound healing and potential complications
• Nursing interventions related respiratory care, activity, vital signs, genitourinary tract and wound care
9. Musculoskeletal System
• Age related changes
• Effects of immobility
• Normal vs abnormal assessment findings
• Diagnostic tests including imaging procedures, bone densitometry, bone scan, arthroscopy, arthrocentesis, electromyography, biopsy, and various laboratory studies.
• Phases of bone healing
• Body mechanics
• Fractures: etiology, risk factors, pathophysiological changes, clinical manifestations, nursing interventions, and medical management
• Use of assistive devices/crutch walking/casts including individualized teaching plans
• Types of traction and nursing care
• Fracture complications: infection, compartment syndrome, venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, fat embolism, and avascular necrosis. 
• Osteoarthritis: etiology, risk factors, pathophysiological changes, clinical manifestations, nursing interventions, and medical management including total knee and total hip surgical intervention.
• Osteomyelitis: etiology, risk factors, pathophysiological changes, clinical manifestations, nursing interventions, and medical management
• Amputation: preoperative and postoperative care
• Osteoporosis: etiology, risk factors, pathophysiological changes, clinical manifestations, nursing interventions, and medical management
• Dietary teaching for bone health
• Medications related to the musculoskeletal system