Sophomore Nursing Courses:
NURS20010 Interpersonal and Communication for Health Care Professionals
Competencies: Therapeutic communication, Cultural Diversity, Communication in the Medical Field, Public Speaking, Patient advocacy
Personal Reflection: I will apply communication in my everyday nursing career because I will be interacting with clients and co-workers for the duration of my career.
NURS20020 Assessment and Communication in Nursing
Competencies: Assessment strategies, Nursing diagnosis, Vitals, Head to Toe assessment, Normal findings vs. abnormal, Concept care maps
Personal Reflection: The skills learned in this course are an essential starting point for my nursing caring. The skills I learned in this course will be a building block in nursing school and my career as a nurse.
NURS20030 Foundations of Nursing Interventions
Competencies: Bed linen changes, Client bed baths, Client feeding, Sterile Field Practices, Wet to dry dressing changes, Sub Q and IM injections, Injection Sites, PO and IV medications, Foley placement, NG Tube Placement, Colostomy Bag procedure, Foley Procedure, Enema Procedure, Lab Results, PEG tube procedure
Personal Reflection: The skills in this course are a very important learning experiences that I will be using in my everyday life as a nurse. They have prepared me for my next step in nursing school and for my future nursing career.
Evidence Based Practice: Repositioning every hour, Patient checks every hour, Safety checks, Vitals every 2 to 4 hours, Early ambulation,
Patient Teaching: Proper use of an incentive spirometer, wound care, deep breathing and coughing, proper hygiene, medications, ambulation and ROM
Junior Nursing Courses:
Nurs30040 Gerontology/Rehab Nursing Adults
Competencies: Developed a knowledge base related to the psychophysiological changes in older adults and those undergoing rehabilitation. Identify changes, consequences, and nursing care related to aging and rehabilitation for individuals and families in a variety of settings. Identify community resources and interdisciplinary team members necessary and available to adults and families who are dealing with the effects of aging and/or rehabilitation. Applied the nursing process (including necessary technology and medication administration) in caring for adults and families affected by the major chronic diseases found in the U.S. population. Utilized a variety of nursing sources to substantiate the basis of care. Incorporated elements of the role of the professional nurse in the provision of culturally competent nursing care for older adults and those undergoing rehabilitation
Personal Reflection: This course will be yet another building block on my knowledge of nursing and help me understand the proper care of the aging adult and helping these patients and their families deal with the effects of aging. I was also taught better ways to ambulate the older adult and a more detailed assessment that is detailed around the aging adult.
Evidence Based Practice: This course required a nursing patient process paper, which focused on communication with the older adult, assessment skills and interpretation of the patients meds, labs, and diagnosis.
Patient Teaching: provided teaching on the importance of compliance with medications and why the patient was taking certain medications. Taught some patients the importance of ambulation and sitting up while eating to prevent aspiration.
Nurs30030 Nursing of Adults
Competencies: Examine major causes of morbidity and mortality for the United States population. Identify levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary) for major diseases affecting adults. Describe normal aging and pathophysiological processes of major diseases affecting adults. Demonstrate application of nursing process to provide care to adults and families in acute care settings. Utilize a variety of nursing and learning resources, including nursing research, to provide quality, cost effective nursing care. Explored effects of cultural and spiritual diversity on adults in health and illness. Assumed responsibility for professional development and nursing actions.
Personal Reflection: This course was the core of what I need to become a successful nurse in my career. We learned about each system in detail and what to expect from patients with certain diagnosis while in the hospital setting. I also was shown how to safely and effectively set up an IV and give IV medications. I also was able to perform compressions on a patient for the first time, which was a great experience.
Evidence Based Practice: This course required a nursing process paper that focused on communication with a patient, assessment skills needed for adults and interpretation of patients meds, labs, and diagnosis.
Patient Teaching: Provided teaching on medication compliance and why the patient was taking the medication. Educated the patient on the importance of hygiene and reducing infection. Also gave education on proper ambulation and the risk for falling.
Nurs30010 Parent and Newborn Nursing
Competencies: A study of nursing assessment, need identification and evaluation for individuals and families during the child-bearing cycle. I am able to use and apply nursing theory in clinical practice with patients and families across the life span and apply ethical, legal, and professional guidelines in professional practice. I am also able to use communication skills to professionally interact with patients, families, and health care team members to communicate information and provide safe nursing care across the life span.
Personal Reflection: This course gave me a core understanding of the birthing process and the issues that develop during pregnancy. We learned about risks, complications, normal vitals, and the care of pregnant women and their infants. I was also taught and performed the right doses of medications that are given to postpartum women and infants in the hospital. I also was able to experience birthing process of a vaginal and caesarean birth while in the clinical setting.
Evidence Based Practice: This course required a small group nursing process paper that focused on prenatal care, labs, medications, nursing diagnosis, interventions, goals, assessment of the maternal women, and infant. We learned how methotrexate is used to treat ectopic pregnancy, the use of magnesium sulfate is used in the treatment of pre-eclampsia and the birth control options that are available to breast feeding moms. Finally we saw how the use of kangaroo care helps with thermoregulation and the issues of hypoglycemia in newborn babies.
Patient Teaching: Provided education on smoking cessation and how it effects the mother and the infants health. Educated the patient on nutrition of herself and her infant.
N30020 Healthcare of Children
Competencies: Nursing process in family centered care of children including health and developmental promotion and illness and restorative interventions.
Personal Reflection: This course gave me the knowledge to properly care for children in the hospital setting. I was able to learn the normal vitals of children from infancy to age seventeen. I was able to effectively asses children of all age groups and was able to properly communicate with those patients. I was taught the proper dosage calculations for medications and was able to administer those medications safely.
Evidence Based Practice: This course required a nursing process paper that focused on communication with a patient, assessment skills needed for children and interpretation of patients meds, labs, and diagnosis.
Patient Teaching: I was able to educate patients on the importance of staying hydrated and having adequate nutrition. I was also able to educate a parent on the health concerns with smoking and how it effects her children.
N30050 Basic Nursing Informatics
Competencies: Focuses on the use of nursing informatics for clinical nursing practice, inquiry and communication. Have to demonstrate the knowledge of basic concepts of development, scope, and application of nursing informatics. Apply informatics competencies needed for nurses practicing in the current health care environment. And demonstrate the use of selected information technology and terminology related to nursing informatics.
Personal Reflection: This course gave the basic knowledge of informatics in the nursing field and how it is used in nursing today. It also taught me about technology that is being developed and how it will improve the medical field that I will be working in as a nurse in a clinical setting.
Evidence Based Practice: I had to use research that has shown the use of technology and how using passed experiences have helped create new ideas for today and the future in medicine. I was able to help create a brochure with a small group that gave information to patients on ways to stop smoking and used EBP to show how these technics work in the real world.
Patient Teaching: I was able to learn how to best use technology to teach my patients about different treatments that are out there and ways to use technology to treat my patients in the future. I also was able to learn how to use different aspects of informatics to educate my patients on issues they are struggling with.
Senior Nursing Couses
N40030 Psych/Mental Health Nursing
Competencies: Focuses on the development of therapeutic relationships with individuals, families and vulnerable populations across the lifespan who have potential and/or identified mental health needs. Students will learn and apply theory about mental health illness.
Personal Reflection: This course gave me the ability to demonstrate awareness of own attitudes, values and beliefs about mental illness and psychiatric nursing and apply selected theories from nursing, the humanities and the sciences in providing therapeutic patient care. It also taught me to Practice in a safe, ethical, professional manner consistent with psychiatric nursing standards of practice.
Evidence Based Practice: This course required a research process paper that looked into a patients passed and gave me a chance to interview patients personally, which gave me a one on one experience with mentally ill patients.
Patient Teaching: I was given the chance to teach patients about there diagnosis and about how they felt about their mental diagnosis. I also was able to instruct patients on the importance of taking medications
N40045 Integration Leadership and Management
Competencies: Provides me with the knowledge and skills for a beginning leadership position (team leader, module leader and primary nurse), applicable to the care of patients in a health care environment. This course also provides me with opportunities to synthesize their nursing knowledge and collaborate with my clinical preceptor in preparation for their professional nursing role.
Personal Reflection: This course has given me leadership concepts, skills, and decision making for entry level nursing and management. The course taught me how to utilize communication, team building, priority setting, and delegation skills when managing a group of patients. I have also learned how to demonstrate basic nursing competencies expected of entry-level staff nurses.
Evidence Based Practice: I was tested on the concepts of EBP in this course and was required to use critical thinking and EBP during precepting in this course. There were also two research papers that were required that implemented goal making, reflection on those goals, and the use of research to back up ideas and thoughts.
Patient Teaching: During the 120 hours of required precepting I was able to work as a nurse and educate patients on a daily basis. Some things I educated on were, cardiac issues, diabetes and insulin use, diet, and procedures that were being done to the patient.
N40005 Professional Nursing Development
Competencies: The course focuses on professional development and the transition from student to graduate nurse, including interviewing techniques and resume preparation. Explores health care economic and policy, political activism, cultural competence, nursing theory, leadership of meetings and managing group dynamics the future of nursing, nursing opportunities, role development, and professional nursing organizations.
Personal Reflection: In the course I had to critically examine issues and trends as they relate to the development of the professional nurse. I was able to identify the development of professional growth from novice to expert. I was also taught how to prepare for employment as a nurse, which included interviewing skills, and creating a resume.
Evidence Based Practice: In this course I had to learn the importance of EBP and how it is used in the nursing profession everyday. I was also required to write a research paper on current issues in the nursing profession and use EBP research in our papers.
Patient Education: Throughout the course I was taught the importance of patient education and the rights of patients in this course.
N40010 Nursing of the Critically Ill
Competencies: The course taught me how to use critical and analytical thinking in the application of the nursing process in the care of the critically ill adult.
Personal Refelection: I was able to perform and refine previously acquired skills in the critical care setting and acquire knowledge and skills specific to nursing practice in the critical care setting. I was also able to integrate knowledge and skills specific to nursing practice in the critical care setting I was also able to enhance professional role development through participation in the social, cultural, and political influences on a clinical unit and to facilitate ongoing improvement in the delivery of healthcare services. And enhance professional role development through reflective self-examination of personal and professional attitudes and performance.
Evidence Based Practice: In the course I was required to write a research paper on the care of a patient in ICU. We had to use EBP reasearch for the care of the patients and in the paper as well.
Patient Education: I was able to educate patients on their illness and the best ways to prevent another admission into the hospital in the near future.
N40020 Community Nursing
Competencies: I was able to use critical thinking in the application of the nursing process with families, populationgroups, and communities. I was also able to use therapeutic communication techniques with families and population groups of diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. I was able to apply the epidemiologic approach to identify subgroups within population that are at risk fordisease, disability, and premature death. And finally I could collaborate with members of the multidisciplinary team including consumers to promote the health of families, population groups, and communities.Accepts responsibility and accountability for nursing actions.
Personal Reflection: In this course I was able to understand how to use the skills I have learned in this course to properly take care of patients in the community. I was taught the different different aspects of community nursing and how to care for patients in different cultures, geographical areas, and classes in the community.
Evidence Base Practice: During this course we were required to work in groups and research a certain community in a specific city. We had to use EBP in order to figure out the best way to reach the population we were researching.
Patient Education: During our community project we were able to educate high school students on cardiac issues that were prevalent in their area. We taught them good cardiac nutrition, exercise, and risks to cardiac disease.
Goals: My goals for the next year to five years is to be gaining valuable experience in a critical setting. I want to reach this goal because I would like to meet my life time goal of becoming a clinical nurse practitioner. I also want to move from being a novice nurse to becoming a confident expert nurse in five years.
