I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Professional Nursing Role Transition

2. Course Prefix & Number:
NURS 1547

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

Lecture Hours: 4

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course is designed to build on concepts, clinical reasoning and skills attained in a Practical Nursing Program. Content includes scope of practice, nursing process, assessment, communications skills, critical thinking and nursing judgment, and the educator role. Selected nursing psychomotor skills will be reviewed with an emphasis on the application of the nursing process and use of evidenced-based practices that promote patient safety and quality in the performance of psychomotor skills. Content will also include gerontology, pediatrics, surgical nursing, and musculoskeletal system. This course focuses on application of clinical reasoning and psychomotor skills through quizzes, worksheets, exams, videos, and audio presentations.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

No placement tests required

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

7. Other Prerequisites
Acceptance into Advanced Standing Nursing Program

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required 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	Apply a beginning level of 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 nursing problems of clients and families across the lifespan.
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals	Demonstrate a comprehensive head to toe assessment and recognize abnormal assessment data.
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 with clients and families.

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

• Explain the scope of practice for the professional nurse and transition process from the LPN role to the RN role;
• Describe the teaching and learning process including how to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes promoting a change in behavior;
• Discuss the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses Project (QSEN) as well as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAS) that are expected to be met by the end of the program;
• Relate theory and research-based evidence 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;
• Demonstrate the basic components of therapeutic and non-therapeutic communication;
• Assess personal psychomotor skills and remediate as needed to assure safe patient care;
• Calculate medication orders to ensure safeadministration of medication and the prevention of errors and sentinel events;
• Describe risk factors and practices that contribute to medication errors, and evaluate one’s own techniques for best practice and quality improvement;
• Demonstrate accurate principles of documentation;
• Apply concepts of Normal Ante/Intra/Postpartum and Newborn Care as it relates to the diagnosis and treatment of actual or potential health problems of clients and families across the lifespan;
• Discuss 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; and
• Describe the care competencies, attributes and roles of the professional nurse including communication, collaboration, safety, technology and informatics, evidence, healthcare quality, professionalism, and clinical judgment.

V. Topical Outline

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

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Scope of Practice
• Scope of practice for RN (nurse practice act)
2. Role Transition
• Compare LPN role vs RN role and new responsibilities
3. Nursing Process
• Assessment
• Diagnosis
• Planning
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Prioritization of nursing care
• Documentation
4. Teaching/Learning
• Characteristics of adult learners
• Domains of learning
• Barriers to learning
• Teaching learning process
• Three levels of prevention
• Community resources
• Learning styles
5. Quality, Safety, Education in Nursing
• 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
6. Therapeutic Communication
• Collaborative professional communication
• Techniques that enhance vs hinder communication
• Various communication techniques in multiple situations
7. Head-to-Toe Assessment
• Preparation for a head to toe assessment/interview
• Skills used in head to toe assessment/interview
• Adaptations required for clients with various ages or conditions
• Components of a general survey
• Follow up questions to clarify information
8. Skills Review
• All basic nursing skills including personal care of the client, assisting with mobility, toileting, bathing, dressing, feeding, taking vital signs, wound care and assessment, infection control and PPE, gavage feedings, urinary elimination, suctioning and medication administration via various routes
9. Dosage Calculations
• Safe medication administration and prevention of errors
• Add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers, fractions and decimals
• Reduce a fraction to its lowest terms, round decimals and solve simple math problems using dimensional analysis
• Convert between fractions and decimals
• Parenteral doses of medications
• Calculate dosages based on drug strength after reconstitution, body weight, and body surface area  
• Calculate body surface area using household and metric methods  
• Calculate mL/hr flow rates for continuous and intermittent IV fluids, infusion and completion times for IV fluids, gtt/min flow rates for IV fluids, infusion and completion times for IV fluids
• Calculate calorie and protein needs for patients as well as flow rates and dilutions for enteral feedings
• Calculate subcutaneous doses of heparin and low molecular weight heparin, intermittent bolus dose of heparin, units/hr and mL/hr flow rate for a continuous infusion heparin, new flow rates in units/hr and mL/hr for a prescribed change in the dosage of a continuous heparin infusion
10. Medication Administration Concepts
• Nursing judgment, critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills concerning medication administration
• Six rights of safe medication administration
• Abnormal findings and required nursing interventions
11. Documentation
• Purposes of documentation
• Charting formats and their purposes
• Documentation guidelines
12. 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
13. 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
14. Obstetrics, Normal OB
• Review of anatomy and physiology of the pregnant woman
• Nursing assessment of a pregnant woman, normal findings
• Nursing and medical management of normal labor, birth, and postpartum
• Medications used for obstetrical care, their classification, therapeutic effect, dose and side effects
15. Newborn Care
• Review of anatomy and physiology of the newborn
• Nursing assessment of a newborn normal findings
• Medications used for newborn care, their classification, therapeutic effect, dose and side effects