2015-2016 Undergraduate General Catalog


NURS - Nursing

NURS 200 Introduction to Professional Nursing

This course will provide an introduction to the profession and discipline of nursing, the relationship of nursing to liberal arts, and the nursing scope of practice in the United States healthcare system. Students will examine the six Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) core competencies of Patient-centered care, Teamwork and Communication, Evidence-based Practice, Quality Improvement, Safety and Informatics. Selected nursing theories and a framework for translating nursing research into practice will be introduced. Perspectives of practicing nurses in various roles will be highlighted. Students will be introduced to course concepts through experiential, meaningful learning activities, including but not limited to small group dialogue, classroom discussion, group presentations, and simulation.

Credits

3

NURS 230 Pharmacotherapeutics

This course introduces the theoretical basis and application of nursing therapeutics with emphasis on pharmacology. Content areas include pharmacological concepts related to the major drug groups, drug actions, adverse reactions and nursing implications. Attention is given to life span considerations, cultural, legal, ethical, and safety implications. There will also be an emphasis on the role of the professional nurse as patient educatior and advocate.

Credits

3

NURS 324 Health Pattern Recognition/Nutrition

This course focuses on holistic health assessment through the life span. Content areas include health history and physical, functional, nutritional, assessment to inform health planning for individuals and groups across healthcare settings. Selected developmental assessment with emphasis on the older adult is included. Health patterns of individuals and groups are examined in relation to developmental age, cultural perspectives, and quality of life issues. Normative data and individual and group trends are used to inform health planning. Standards of quality and safety relative to health assessment are emphasized. Clinical experiences are scheduled in campus and simulation learning labs.

Credits

3

Corequisites

NURS 326; NURS 328

NURS 326 Nursing Therapeutics

This course focuses on the theoretical basis of the nurse-person process in understanding human health patterns and supporting changing health patterns. Opportunities for application of critical thinking, nursing process, communication, nursing therapeutics, as well as the development of beginning clinical reasoning and psychomotor skills are provided in campus and clinical laboratory experiences.

Credits

4

Prerequisites

NURS 200; NURS 230

Corequisites

NURS 324; NURS 328

NURS 328 Pathophysiology

This course focuses on the pathophysiologic basis of changing health patterns. Emphasis is placed on relating normal physiologic function to changes that occur in the expression of disease and contribute to altered health patterns in humans. Aspects of cellular, organ, and body system alterations are examined in relation to the pattern of the whole as humans experience changing patterns of health. Emphasis is also placed on relating the manifestations of disease, diagnostic tests and collaborative therapeutic interventions to underlying pathophysiologic processes.

Credits

3

Corequisites

NURS 324; NURS 326

NURS 340 Adult Health Nursing I

The focus of this course is on understanding changing patterns of health experienced by adults with acute and chronic health conditions. Nursing practice in acute care settings is grounded in nursing science with emphasis on being, knowing and acting with compassion and caring in evolving relationships and fostering health, wholeness and human potential of adults, their families and communities from which they come.

Credits

4

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328

NURS 352 Child Health Nursing

The focus of this course is on the nurse-person process in the care of children and families across the health care continuum. Emphasis is on understanding health experiences of children with changing patterns of health. Developmental theory and quality of life issues from the child's and family's perspective are emphasized. Child and family health issues in relation to health care are examined in acute care and community settings.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328

NURS 388 Epidemiology for Public Health Practice

This course covers the application of epidemiologic concepts and procedures to the understanding of the occurrence and control of health conditions. Epidemiologic measures and sources of data, as well as understanding of epidemiologic study designs, are applied to current and emerging health problems facing society today.

Credits

2

NURS 395 Internship

This practicum experience for senior level nursing majors may be taken for 1-2 credits (one credit is equal to 40 practicum hours). It provides an opportunity for students to integrate nursing theory and nursing research as well as the principles of nursing practice into an intensive, preceptored experience.

Credits

1- 2

NURS 406 Nursing and Health Care in the United States

This course serves as a vehicle for welcoming and orienting international nursing students to the culture in the Midwestern United States, the Sioux Falls community and the liberal arts community of Augustana College. Emphasis is upon an overview of the scope and standards of nursing practice in the US, comparison and contrast of the US health care system with international models of care delivery, medical terminology, and health, and cultural considerations for the American Indian population. Open to international Nursing students only. Graded: S/U

Credits

2

NURS 410 Maternal and Reproductive Health Nursing

The focus of this course is on the nurse-person process in the care of the childbearing family across the health care continuum. Students will explore physiological, psychological, and developmental stressors experienced by childbearing families. Students will also evaluate social, cultural and societal issues that affect reproductive health care with women and men. Clinical experiences are in acute care and community settings.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328

NURS 420 Behavioral Health Nursing

The prime focus of this course is in the nurse-person process in the care of persons experiencing changing health patterns. Being with persons/groups/communities as they experience changes in health patterns provides the foundation for the student to examine concepts from nursing theory, mental health literature and crisis theory. Human behavior is studied across the life span with a special emphasis on understanding changing patterns of health from the person's perspective.

Credits

5

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328

NURS 430 Community Health Nursing

The focus of this course is on the nurse-community process in care of families, groups, and communities. Community health nursing practice is guided by nursing science and informed by community health science, public health, environmental health and health promotion/disease prevention principles. Cultural diversity and socially relevant issues interconnected with health are explored in relation to quality of life from the community perspective. Clinical opportunities are provided in community settings.  

Credits

5

Corequisites

NURS 340; NURS 352

NURS 441 Adult Health Nursing II

This is the second semester of an eight credit hours sequence in adult health nursing. This course builds on the junior level adult health nursing course with increased complexity of nursing care situations and expectations for clinical judgment. The focus of this course is on understanding changing patterns of health experienced by adults and chronic health conditions. Students are challenged to think critically and develop skill in priority setting in complex care situations through interactive learning experiences in class, clinical, and hands on laboratory experiences including critical care and emergency care situations.

Credits

4

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328, 340

NURS 450 Perspectives in Professional Nursing

This course focuses on nursing research as it relates to evidence based or evidence informed practice. Opportunities are provided for students to gain increased understanding of the research process and research utilization (evidence-based practice) in practice. The relationship between nursing research and the development of nursing science is emphasized. Individually and in groups, students appraise research articles, write a significance paragraph (paper), interpret nationally benchmarked databases and their impact on quality care, and a paper synthesizing an evidence-based research practice relevant to specific topic.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

NURS 200

NURS 451 Leadership in Professional Nursing

This course focuses on professional role development, nursing leadership, and contemporary issues in nursing. Students will gain increased understanding of the staff nurse's role in leadership, with opportunities for practical experience in the areas of delegation, priority setting, critical thinking, decision making, quality improvement, evidence based nursing practice, information management and safety. Students will examine leadership adn management theories. Students will explore legal, ethical and political issues in nursing.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

NURS 324, 326, 328, 340

NURS 468 NCLEX Review

This course is designed to prepare the student for success on the NCLEX exam. The student will learn how to use strategies for answering application and analysis questions and to cope with the stresses related to taking the licensing exam. The full scope of content in the licensing examination will be covered.

Credits

1

Prerequisites

NURS 451

Corequisites

NURS 420 or 430; NURS 441

NURS 495 Internship

This practicum experience for senior level nursing majors may be taken or 1-2 credits (one credit is equal to 40 practicum hours). It provides an opportunity for students to integrate nursing theory and nursing research as well as the principles of nursing practice into an intensive, preceptored experience.

Credits

1- 3