Direct Entry Master of Science in Nursing

SEMESTER 1 – 16 CREDITS

NURS 5220 – Communicating and Managing Healthcare Information (3 credits)
Basic theories of interpersonal communication and information technologies are explored. Use of these skills and technologies to develop therapeutic relationships with patients and the interdisciplinary healthcare team is emphasized.
Legal and ethical issues related to health information technology and health information exchanges will be examined.

NURS 5210 – Professional Development I: Introduction to Professional Nursing (2 credits)
Introduces students to the mission, vision, philosophy, and distinctives of the North Park University School of Nursing; students are introduced to the evolution of the profession of nursing. Concepts of caring, professional identity, and scholarship are examined.
Students will have opportunities to investigate personal and professional boundaries, examine their own beliefs and values, and explore the value of scholarship on nursing practice. Students will examine how their lived experience will impact their professional practice.

NURS 5230 – Pathophysiology I (2 credits)
Basic mechanisms underlying illness and disease are stressed as a basis for the understanding of health promotion and disease prevention in this first of two sequential courses. Pathophysiological changes that occur within the internal environment of individuals in the presence of dysfunction or disease of selected systems are presented as a rationale for nursing diagnoses and therapeutic interventions. System variations across the life span (fetuses, children, pregnant women, adults, and older adults) are addressed.

NURS 5240 – Pharmacology I (2 credits)
Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drug therapy across the lifespan are discussed to provide a basic understanding of the patient’s reaction to a drug both therapeutically and adversely and to predict potential drug interactions. Personal, genetic, and environmental factors affecting drug therapy are assessed to provide a comprehensive base for therapeutic nursing interventions. Specific prototypes of selected drug classifications provide the framework for understanding the action, use, adverse effects, and nursing implications of drugs. The nurse’s role in drug administration, assessment of drug effects, and patient education are emphasized. Legal and ethical responsibilities for administering drugs are considered.

NURS 5250 – Holistic Health Assessment and Therapeutic Interventions (3 credits with lab)
Skills necessary to perform holistic patient assessment and introductory clinical skills are discussed and demonstrated. Opportunities are provided in a laboratory setting for students to demonstrate cognitive and psychomotor competencies of therapeutic interventions and assessment of the individual patient across the life span; the emphasis is on interviewing techniques, physical examination, and psychomotor skills. Developmental factors and risk factors, including genetic and environmental, that affect the patient’s health will be explored. (Lab).

NURS 5310 – Health and Illness: Foundations of Nursing (3 credits)
Concepts basic to the art and science of nursing are introduced as a foundation for safe, quality patient care. Emphasis is placed on the patient and/or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care. Evidence-based principles of nursing and health promotion are integrated to prepare the student to meet the health-related needs of a patient. The nurse’s role as a member of the interdisciplinary team will be examined.

NURS 5311 – Health and Illness: Foundations of Nursing Practicum (1 credit)
Evidence-based clinical reasoning is applied in the care of individual patients with acute and chronic illness to ensure safe and quality outcomes. Emphasis is placed on the patient and/or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care. Tools of communication and technology are utilized in the delivery and documentation of care. The role of the nurse within the interdisciplinary team is demonstrated.

SEMESTER 2 – 15 CREDITS

NURS 5215 – Professional Development II: Image, Roles, and Ethics (4 credits)
Ethical principles are applied to the care of persons in diverse settings. Team building and group process skills are explored to facilitate students working within teams. The role of the nurse as a member of the
interprofessional team is examined using concepts of ethics, advocacy, group process, and team building. The professional responsibilities and role of the advocate will be explored. Contemporary issues confronting the nursing profession are discussed and methods to advocate for the profession are investigated. Professional skills, such as job interviewing, portfolio development, and examination of advanced roles in nursing, will be emphasized.

NURS 5235 – Pathophysiology II (2 credits)
Building on NURS 5230, this course expands knowledge of pathophysiological changes that occur within the environments of the individual in the presence of dysfunction or disease. The most common alterations in selected physiological systems are presented as a framework for clinical reasoning. Relevant risk factors, epidemiology, pathophysiologic mechanisms, and clinical manifestations across the life span (fetuses, children, pregnant women, adults, and older adults) are discussed.

NURS 5245 – Pharmacology II (2 credits)
In this second sequential course, students continue their study of pharmacology across the lifespan. Specific prototypes of selected drug classifications provide the framework for understanding the action, use, adverse effects, and nursing implications of drugs. The nurse’s role in drug administration, assessment of drugs’ effects, and patient education are emphasized. Legal and ethical responsibilities for administering drugs are considered.

NURS 5320 – Health and Illness: Nursing Across the Life Span (4 credits)
A greater sophistication of clinical reasoning is developed to achieve safe and quality outcomes using multiple ways of knowing including nursing knowledge. Emphasis is placed on managing the care of patients experiencing acute and chronic illnesses and promoting health across the lifespan. Strategies to empower and engage patients/designees in all aspects of the health care process are examined. Evidence-based therapeutic nursing interventions that meet a patient’s holistic health needs will be expanded. Perspectives of other health care members will be recognized in order to collaborate and work effectively as a team to provide interdisciplinary care. Technology and communication skills are integrated as methods to support safe processes of care.

NURS 5321 – Health and Illness: Nursing Across the Life Span Practicum (3 credits)
Students engage patients in active partnerships to manage acute and chronic illness and promote health across the lifespan. Multiple sources of evidence are incorporated into the planning, implementation, and evaluation of nursing care including nurse-sensitive quality indicators. Coordination, integration, and continuity of care for multiple patients will be applied in the healthcare microenvironment. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure safe and quality outcomes. Technology and information management tools are utilized to support safe processes of care.

SEMESTER 3 – 14 CREDITS

NURS 5260 – Development of a Microsystem Leader (3 credits)
Development of a microsystem leader supports the student’s understanding of nursing leadership opportunities at all levels of nursing practice. Emphasis will be placed on building and growing teams, modeling a culture of quality and safety, and resource utilization, allocation, and financial management. Students will be given the opportunity to demonstrate effective decision-making and clinical judgment while exploring their role in the healthcare microsystem.

NURS 5270 – Evidence-Based Practice and Quality Improvement: Translating Research to Practice (4 credits)
Continuous quality improvement is introduced as a foundation for quality care and patient safety. Methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of healthcare systems and concepts of evidence-based practice (EBP) and healthcare research are explored. Methods to critically appraise healthcare research will be applied. Critical appraisal of evidence will be employed to inform the delivery of safe and quality nursing care.

NURS 5331 – Population Health Nursing Practicum (1 credit)
Concepts and theories from leadership and population health are applied to the health care of individuals, groups, communities, and populations. There is a concentrated focus on leadership in health promotion that provides safe, effective, and efficient care. Leadership concepts such as systems theory, quality improvement, economics, and evidence are applied. students are provided opportunities for interprofessional collaboration in the planning of health care and promotion of quality outcomes for diverse populations.

NURS 5330 – Population Health Nursing (4 credits)
Population-based health and multi-sectoral systems influencing global health are explored. Students build upon clinical reasoning skills from an individual level of care to a global context of care. Focus is on risk reduction, protective and predictive factors, and the systems influencing the health of individuals, families, and communities. Multiple determinants of health and basic data patterns are applied to assess the health and illness beliefs, assets, and barriers to health and to explore historical, social, political, and economic forces impacting the health of communities. Community theories, models and frameworks are explored to guide a community health improvement project. Community engagement and collaboration, health coaching and behavior change, and chronic disease management are used to create a community health improvement plan. Quality indicators and sustainable health outcomes are explored to address local, state, and global health issues impacting communities.

NURS 5030 – Professional Communication and Collaboration (2 credits)
This course focuses on the identification, analysis, and implementation of communication strategies to facilitate formation of successful teams and partnerships. Participants will develop a comprehensive knowledge of principles of adult learning and will examine clinical reasoning, judgment, and decision making in addressing the needs of diverse patients and populations across the life span. Emphasis will be placed on developing group leadership skills, building teams through communication and partnerships, and conflict management in light of change.

SEMESTER 4 – 14 CREDITS

NURS 5280 – Nursing in an Evolving Healthcare System (3 credits)
Nursing practice in an evolving health care system is addressed with emphasis on the unique challenges presented to the nurse. The role of the nurse as provider of direct and indirect patient care is expanded to include the external influences of the health care organization, the regulatory environment, and the professional association. The development of the nurse as a member of a profession is expected. Inherent is developing knowledge and appreciation for the diversity of opinions and organizations that exist to provide assistance in the delivery of direct patient care.

NURS 5340 – Health and Illness: Nursing with Diverse Populations (5 credits)
Comprehensive and focused evidence-based care of patients in diverse populations with complex health conditions will be examined. The nurse’s role in assuring coordination, integration, and continuity of care is investigated. Integration of the physical, behavioral, psychological, spiritual, socioeconomic, and environmental factors that influence patient-centered care is explored. Collaboration with other health care team members to provide safe and quality care for diverse patients in a variety of complex settings is analyzed. Information management tools to monitor outcomes of care are evaluated.

NURS 5341 – Health and Illness: Nursing with Diverse Populations Practicum (3 credits)
Coordination, integration, and continuity of care for diverse patients with multiple/complex problems will be applied in dynamic microenvironments such as maternity, mental health, and complex care. Patients/designees are engaged in active partnerships that promote health, safety, well-being, and self-care management. Synthesis of evidence and collaboration with other members of the health care team are used to plan, implement, and evaluate safe and quality care for patients. This practicum will emphasize the use of technologies that support clinical decision-making, error prevention, and care coordination.

NURS 5010 – Scientific Inquiry and Knowledge Development (3 credits)
This course focuses on the evaluation and development of evidence-based approaches to improve practice, health outcomes, and the care environment. Emphasis is placed on utilizing theories in nursing research, evidence-based practice, and quality improvement; analyzing evidence; identifying knowledge gaps; developing strategies to generate and disseminate new evidence; and planning approaches for translating evidence into practice. Cultural and lifespan considerations of evidence-based practice approaches are addressed. Ethical considerations of evidence appraisal, development, and implementation are identified. This course serves as the foundation for synthesis and development of nursing knowledge in clinical projects

SEMESTER 5 – 11 CREDITS

NURS 5380 – DEMSN Immersion Practicum (3 credits)
In this culminating course, a preceptor model of learning professional nursing practice provides opportunities to synthesize and integrate previous learning experiences. Emphasis is placed on the roles of the nurse as provider of indirect and direct care; designer, manager and coordinator of care; and member of the profession. The focus is on the transition to the professional nursing role, recognizing the organizational, social, political, economic, ethical, and legal context in which interdisciplinary health care is delivered in a selected clinical setting.

NURS 5015 – Health Care Delivery Systems: Organization and Resources (3 credits)
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the U.S. health system with a global viewpoint of its comparison to international healthcare systems. The healthcare environment is examined including healthcare service providers, suppliers, consumers, regulators, and payers. Organizational development, structure, and administration, along with planning and managing in Health Service Organizations are analyzed. Healthcare economics addresses key issues and fundamental concepts of applied economics. Healthcare marketing focuses on the essentials of marketing management and understanding the needs of the customer. The role of financial management in healthcare service organizations is explored. The impact of federal, state and other sources of policy and law are analyzed as they impact HSO. Related concepts theories, and current issues to HSO, economics, and professional nursing are examined in light of their implications for nursing administration, practice and the profession.

NURS 5020 – Population-Based Health Care (3 credits)
This course examines epidemiologic and public health principles to analyze needs and plan for care of populations across the lifespan. Social, cultural, environmental, and genetic determinants of health are explored; risk assessment and root causes of illness are examined. Health promotion and educational methods are critiqued, and levels of prevention applied in developing programs for at-risk populations. Building on local context, the urban, multicultural, national, and global influences on population health are explored.

NURS 5390 – Integration and Role Transition Seminar (2 credits)
Students integrate concepts discussed in the classroom with competencies learned from the clinical setting. The course is a synthesis of learning from the entire curriculum that will guide students into their role as new nurses. Using guided reflective journal writing, students begin building a skill set that shows comprehensive knowledge of and appreciation for the roles of direct care provider; designer, manager and coordinator of care; and member of a profession.