MSN Curriculum
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MSN Curriculum
| COURSE DESCRIPTIONS - Click here for a downloadable version (pdf). | ||
| NURS 5000 - Theoretical Basis of Nursing Practice | This is a core course that focuses on the study of theorists, theory development and testing, and the effect on practice comparing patient care delivery models with patient outcomes. The goal is to help the student to conceptualize a relevant model of nursing that can be applied to advanced nursing practice. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5001 - Research Designs in Nursing | This is a core course that focuses on the advanced study of research design, statistics and application to practice. Students gain skills in using common statistical programs, data evaluation, and conveying research results in meaningful and understandable format. It provides the foundation for completion of a scholarly project/thesis. | 3 semester hours |
| NURS 5002 - Advanced Pathophysiology | This course focuses on the advanced study of disease process in all health care delivery models. Current diagnosis and treatment based on research-based patient outcomes are explored. For health ministries, diseases of nutritional deficit, water contamination, and infectious disease are emphasized (worms, insects, bacteria). This course provides a foundation for understanding each human biological system at a cellular level and subsequent identification of pathological mechanisms, which manifest themselves as acute and chronic diseases. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5004 - Advanced Physical Assessment & Health Promotion for Vulnerable Populations | This is an advanced physical diagnosis course blending development of advanced content, skill, practice and application to the acutely ill and vulnerable populations in the world community. There will be focus on manifestations of acute illnesses and alterations caused by nutritional deficiencies and lack of knowledge in good health practices. The course helps students to refine and strengthen health assessment and clinical judgment skills, the foundation for planning therapeutic and healing interventions. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5006 - Advanced Pharmacology/Nutrition | This course focuses on the advanced study of pharmacotherapeutics in the treatment of pathophysiology. Evaluation of current research-based treatment protocols and patient outcomes is emphasized. The course covers nutritional supplements and common drugs used in acute care, the mission field in the world community. The focus is on understanding selected pharmacological interventions as applied to the management of illnesses with attention to safety, simplicity, availability, efficiency, and acceptability. Prerequisites: NURS 5002, 5004 or Permission of Instructor. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5008 - Evidenced Based Practice | This core course helps students to focus on the perspectives and evolution of evidence-based practice. Gaining knowledge and skills in the evidence-based practice process provides nurses with the tools needed to take ownership of their practice and transform healthcare. This course will help students to remain attentive to evidence-based practice as they design their own research projects. Prerequisites: NURS 5000, 5001 | 1 semester hours |
| NURS 5010 - Perspectives on Health Care | This core course focuses on ethical, economic, global environment, social, cultural, and political policy analysis. Topics include regulatory agencies, quality improvement processes, system analysis, market forces, emerging and chronic disorders and diseases; and future challenges as it relates to the various roles of advanced nursing practice. It provides an overview of issues impacting today’s healthcare system enabling students to explore and develop strategies to facilitate achieving organizational goals. Prerequisites: NURS 5000, 5001 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5012 - Culturally Competent Care | This core course will explore worldviews of health and illness, diverse cultural identities and nursing care to decrease vulnerability and provide culturally sensitive care based on best practices. Content will focus on regional, national, and global expressions of health and illness and implications for advanced practice nursing. It provides an opportunity to incorporate evidence-based practice to increase knowledge and skills and improve patient outcomes. Prerequisites: NURS 5000, 5001 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5014 - Introduction to Healthcare Informatics | This course focuses on current healthcare informatics issues and how organizations protect and manage patient information. The course emphasizes the technological advances in healthcare information and its impact on the delivery of healthcare patient outcomes. Research, ethical, socioeconomic, and pertinent legal issues are discussed and the integration of the sciences of nursing and computer information explored. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5016 - Christian Leadership in Education, Business and Healthcare | This course highlights how men and women leaders whose wisdom and insight were first grounded through their Christian faith are now thought of as role models for the leaders of today and tomorrow. Students will experience the influence of the Christian nurse leaders’ values and behaviors in promoting and maintaining a professional nursing practice environment. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5020 - Seminar I on Project/Thesis | This is a two-course sequence, a core requirement where students continue to work with their advisor in refining their research focus. Methods of inquiry for research are explored further with the goal of having the proposal outlined with data collection methods proposed. Prerequisites: NURS 5008 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5022 - Seminar II on Project/Thesis | This second course builds on previous research courses and it supports specialized and focused study to complete a research project/thesis with faculty supervision and mentorship. The research project/thesis contributes to nursing knowledge/practice and requires a public presentation. Prerequisite: NURS 5008, 5020 | 3 semester hours |
| NURS 5024 - Missions at Home and Abroad | This course covers the role of a nurse in a foreign field or in the USA where the populations have great need based on disaster, life transitions, or poverty. Ways of adapting nursing care to these situations will be explored. It provides an opportunity for students to experience clinical situations with persons at risk and encourages them to consider volunteering their services beyond this educational experience. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5025 - Cultural Anthropology & Vulnerable Populations | This course deals with the study of human beings in relation to distribution, origin, classification, and relationship of races, physical character, environmental and social relations, social justice, vulnerability, poverty and culture; the theology dealing with the origin, nature and destiny of human beings. It provides opportunity to explore the needs of global and local communities by examining leaders, systemic and cultural conditions and possible ways to respond to present and future needs. Prerequisites: NURS 5024 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5026 - Practicum in Health Missions at Home or Abroad | This course allows students to choose a practicum, a mission site from Africa to a local setting such as Healing Hands or a stateside mission trip with one’s church or other group, working with a hospital chaplain or working with a palliative care nurse or a parish nurse. Project and written papers based on experience and research in the literature should be the outcome of this experience, which incorporates concepts from the master’s courses. Prerequisites: NURS 5024, 5025 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5027 - Relationship of Health & Faith/Nurses as Spiritual Caregivers | Research based knowledge of how faith impacts health and what patients of different cultures expect in terms of health care and spiritual care. The course will explore the role of mission nurse, palliative care nurse, parish nurse and various and numerous other roles in which the nurse gives spiritual care. It provides opportunity for students to analyze the role of health ministry and to understand ways of caring for persons with chronic and terminal illness shaped by a variety of understandings of suffering. Prerequisites: NURS 5024 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5028 - Spiritual Formation | This course explores the process of faith development and how to understand and articulate one’s own beliefs. It is designed to integrate applied theology and clinical psychology into a strategy for understanding and fleshing out the challenges and responsibilities of a believer by using trials of life as opportunities for growth. Students will learn the primary tasks of life, and attitudes that are commanded scripturally and substantiated by psychological research, and a strategy for the development of virtue. It provides opportunity for students to reflect on their own spirituality and explore the relationship between spirituality and nursing and what effects the spirituality of the client and/or the nurse may have upon health and healing. Prerequisites: NURS 5024 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5029 - Curriculum Development for Healthcare Workers | This course for health ministry students will cover methods to develop a health care delivery curriculum for primary health care workers in a mission field, country, or impoverished area in the USA. It strengthens the student’s knowledge related to his/her ability to develop healthcare programs for vulnerable populations. Prerequisites: NURS 5024 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5030 - Foundations of Education | This course will explore the major teaching/learning theories as the foundation for developing effective educational processes in a variety of health care and academic settings. Theories, basic concepts and principles of educational psychology will be examined and applied to the learner and specific learning settings. The study of role development and practical strategies for effective teaching will be discussed. Theoretical components of the course will be examined through course learning projects. Relevant research will be examined and discussed. This course is a systematic treatment of the science of learning. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5032 - Curriculum Design in Nursing Education | This course reviews the history and current status of curriculum in higher education. The need for change is analyzed and opportunity is provided to offer suggestions on the improvement of the curriculum for nursing in the 21st Century. Afterward, students will design a curriculum, based on a framework for baccalaureate nursing education and identify learning opportunities for a course that are congruent with the course outcomes to include developing curricular objectives, selecting and organizing content, along with planning program evaluation strategies. Media and technology in the context of health education, continuing education, staff development, and classroom/clinical instruction will be examined. Variations in learning styles and needs across the lifespan and with specific populations are considered along with the importance of evaluating the reliability and validity of standardized and self-constructed measurement tools. Leadership and policy development in academic and service settings is analyzed. Prerequisites: NURS 5030 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5034 - Teaching Strategies | The focus of this course is an understanding of the theoretical basis, modes of presentation and applications of concepts in micro teaching situations. It explores contemporary higher education issues and models and their implications for the teacher. The selection, application, and evaluation of teaching tools and strategies in the context of health education, continuing education, staff development, and classroom/clinical instruction are examined. Prerequisites: NURS 5030 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5035 - Practicum in Clinical Specialization | This course is for nursing education majors and it focuses on developing advanced practice nursing knowledge and skills in a nursing specialty practice area such as medical, surgical, obstetrical, pediatrics, psychiatric-mental health, or community health. Application of theory to specialty area is intended to increase knowledge and augment skills. Prerequisites: NURS 5032, 5034 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5036 - Practicum in Educational/Clinical Setting | Through working with experienced faculty in the setting of the students’ choice, the student will plan, implement and evaluate a unit of instruction. The student will be an active member of the instructional team in his/her focus area. This course has conference time for synthesis of experiences at preplanned intervals. Nurses knowledgeable in education serve as preceptors for graduate students. Concepts of caring, coaching, diversity, models of clinical instruction, implementation strategies, and evaluation methods are emphasized. Legal and ethical issues are also examined. Opportunity is provided to apply teaching, learning, and evaluation strategies in the classroom and clinical settings with students from a different degree level of nursing. Prerequisites: NURS 5035 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5038 - Practicum Clinical Specialization for Staff Development/Health Educator | Students will be introduced to the role of staff development/educator and the issues surrounding the clinical training of all levels of staff. The focus is on developing educational initiatives to increase the quality of patient care while creating an environment that helps the organization to meet its goals. Leaders in education are facilitators, change agents and consultants who focus on research and technology; challenges surrounding competence assessment; developing, implementing, and evaluating program effectiveness; computer-aided instruction; and organization-wide approaches to meeting JCAHO standards. Opportunity is provided to apply teaching, learning, and evaluation strategies in a clinical setting. Prerequisites: NURS 5038 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5039 - Assessment and Evaluation of Learning | Concepts of assessment and performance evaluation along with program effectiveness and program evaluation in academic settings is the focus of this class. Competency evaluation in clinical settings will be addressed. Formative and summative evaluation methods are examined and students will be expected to develop tools and tests that measure learning outcomes. Students will learn to interpret and report findings of data collected related to assessment and performance evaluation and make recommendations, including counseling learners about remediation. Evaluation standards of various accrediting bodies will be discussed and applied to programs of instruction/clinical education departments. Students have the opportunity to learn about regulatory requirements for approval of programs and the differences between rules and regulation to voluntary accreditation. Prerequisites: NURS 5035 | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5040 - Role Development as CNS in Acute/ER/Trauma Care | The focus of this course is on analysis and exploration of professional role development of the CNS in acute care/critical care/ER/trauma care settings. Emphasis will be placed on interdisciplinary relationships, consultative skills, responsibility, activities and functions of the advanced practice nurse. It provides opportunity for students to advance their own professional skills and functions within the current healthcare systems. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5042 - Advanced Emergency Medicine | This course focuses on the key concepts in ER department management and care during high-risk situations. Preceptors supervise the student in the clinical setting that requires clinical hours and content time in a structured emergency medicine rotation to provide an experience in the complex management of clients with emergency situations requiring immediate response/ interventions. Topics for discussion in seminar sessions will focus on urgent care, trauma care fundamental to any efficient and effective setting. Prerequisites: NURS 5040 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5044 - Practicum Acute Care/ICU/CCU | This course focuses on application and integration of theoretical content, research findings, and assessment and intervention strategies foundational for inpatient management of acute/critical care problems. Topic areas for seminar discussion include skills acquisition in pulmonary, infectious disease, crisis intervention, cardiology, neurology, burns, and other content areas. A designated preceptor supervises the student in the clinical experience in the area of interest within the acute care/critical care area. Prerequisites: NURS 5042 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5046 - Combined Practicum | This course focuses on clinical decision making and nursing care of critically ill hospitalized adults and their family. The theoretical and functional basis for the management of adult patients with acute complicated medical and surgical problems is provided. Clinical hours of supervised mentored experience are required. Content covered for seminar discussions include clinical experiences in pain management, wound care, palliative care, metabolic support and two other areas of interest. Focus is development of expertise in vital clinical areas designed to improve patient care. It provides an opportunity to emphasize continuity of care, collaboration with the healthcare team and mobilization of resources to improve patient outcomes. Prerequisites: NURS 5044 | 6 semester hours |
| NURS 5050 - Visionary Leadership in Nursing | This course focuses on various leadership theories and how they impact the future of healthcare organizations and the impact of resource allocation on patient outcomes. It is an opportunity to study the impact of policies as they influence quality and cost effectiveness of healthcare. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5052 - Healthcare Delivery Systems | This course places emphasis on nursing’s role in affecting the healthcare environment with special attention to advanced nursing roles. Topics include healthcare policy, organization of healthcare delivery systems, their development, impacts and prospects for change. Legal and ethical aspects of these issues are discussed. Content enables nurses to draw implications for nursing practice and advocacy for improving systems. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5054 - Financial/Accounting Issues for Nurse Managers | This course examines issues related to healthcare economics, financial management, and budgeting, to facilitate managerial decision-making. It covers the concrete to most complex financial issues that challenge today’s nurse leader while instilling creative and innovative ways to meet these demands. It provides opportunity to learn principles of accounting, analysis of financial statements, cost analysis, staffing and budgeting. | 2 semester hours |
| NURS 5056 - Continuous Quality Improvement and Outcomes Management | This course explores theories and methods related to outcomes management for quality improvement in health including improvement science, patient safety approaches, health services research, evidence-based practice and translation research. Special attention is given to JCAHO standards and their impact on change. Students gain an understanding of systems structures, processes and outcomes through practiced experiences, reflection and seminar discussions. Prerequisites: NURS 5050, 5052, 5054 | 3 semester hours |
| NURS 5058 - Transformational Strategies in Focus Area-Practicum I | This course will prepare the student to understand and perform an organizational assessment and formulate a strategic plan for the clinical area approved by the student’s instructor. Opportunity exists to explore patient care delivery systems such as continuous quality improvement, risk management, standards of care, and policy development. It is an opportunity to examine nursing delivery, information, and quality improvement systems. Prerequisites: NURS 5056 | 3 semester hours |
| NURS 5059 - Transformational Strategies in Focus Area – Practicum II | The second course in the sequence of practica introduces the student to the principals of organizational strategy and program development through a preceptor guided experience. The student will develop strategic initiatives, formulate and conduct regularly scheduled project management team meetings and lead in the development of a specific strategic plan to improve the organizational health. Students study roles of nurse administrators in managing resources within a nursing system to affect care delivery and outcomes. Prerequisites: NURS 5058 | 4 semester hours |
| NURS 5060 - Transformational Strategies in Focus Area-Practicum III | The third in the sequence of practica prepares the student to apply leadership theories to proven techniques in order to formulate a strategic team to improve the organizational health. Students investigate and analyze policy, political dilemmas within the healthcare system that impact nursing practice providing opportunity to study the management of comprehensive nursing systems within a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment. Prerequisites: NURS 5059 | 4 semester hours |