BSN Nursing Education Course

This course provides a transition for professional nurses as they begin their studies to achieve a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The course addresses qualities that professional nurses need to be leaders in the complex and ever-changing global healthcare environment. Topics include role transition, nursing history, ethical and legal issues, nursing theory, professional roles of the nurse, cultural considerations, and advanced practice roles.

This course provides a introduction to the academic, professional, and personal competencies essential for success in a baccalaureate nursing program. Students will explore strategies for time management, development of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, test taking skills, stress management, scholarly writing, and evidence-based learning strategies. Students will also be introduced to nursing history and theory, ethical and legal issues in nursing, effective communication, and the professional roles of the nurse. Students will begin to cultivate a professional identity and understand the role of the nurse within complex healthcare systems. Through interactive activities that include self-assessment and reflective practice, students will create a personalized success plan to support their academic and clinical journey.

This course provides a study of variations in physiologic functioning and alterations in physiologic response of body systems. The course addresses physiologic changes that will help identify alterations in body systems and their relationship to the patient's state of health. Topics include altered cell functioning, genetic disorders, risk factors, health promotion, and disease prevention.

All aspects of conducting a head-to-toe assessment across the lifespan are presented in the course. All systems are reviewed and history taking is included in both the course and the laboratory.

This course introduces key pharmacologic principles and their application in professional nursing care. Students examine pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacotherapeutics, and drug classifications, with a focus on safe and effective medication management across the lifespan. The nursing process is used to guide clinical decision-making, emphasizing medication safety, patient education, and cultural, legal, and developmental considerations. The course supports the integration of pharmacology into holistic, person-centered nursing care. Students will also begin developing dosage calculation skills and practice safe administration techniques using various routes.

This course builds on foundational pharmacologic knowledge to explore complex drug therapies and advanced pharmacologic mechanisms within diverse clinical settings. Students examine each major drug class through the lens of pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacotherapeutics, adverse reactions, contraindications, and nursing implications. Emphasis is placed on critical assessment, patient education, and monitoring for both therapeutic and adverse effects. Students apply clinical reasoning to medication management for patients with polypharmacy, comorbidities, and evolving conditions, including considerations for special populations. Dosage calculation skills and safe administration techniques are practiced across various routes, supporting the integration of pharmacology into comprehensive, patient-centered nursing care.

Foundations of Nursing provide an introduction to the applied science of nursing care. Content focuses on clinical judgment, nursing principles, acute care nursing interventions, dosage calculation, and providing culturally competent care. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences form the foundations for acute care nursing interventions with the emphasis on safe and effective nursing practices.

This course provides perspectives on healthcare delivery past, present, and future. It also addresses the impact of healthcare issues on healthcare delivery including the determinants of health to include insurance costs, applications for health professions, and the need of comprehensive planning and its impact on the future. This course will encourage the formulation and evaluation of potential solutions to some of the most urgent healthcare delivery issues facing the U.S. today.

Broad concepts of pharmacology and an overview of major drug groups are addressed in this course. For each major drug group, the pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacotherapeutics, adverse drug reactions, and nursing management will be covered. The laboratory introduces the nursing student to the concepts and techniques of dosage calculation and medication administration by a variety of routes. Application of basic math concepts to complex conversion of dosages between various systems of weights and volumes is learned. Students apply critical thinking skills to the calculations needed for accurate administration of medications.

Nursing care of older adults with known or potential alterations in health, especially those with chronic alterations, is the focus of this course. Nursing care is directed toward health promotion, disease prevention, maintenance, and restoration of health. The understanding of health and illness are emphasized from both a human science and a nursing perspective. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences form the foundation for safe and effective nursing practice.

The course explores the concepts of health promotion and the application of health promotion concepts to nursing practice to enable the client to control and improve health outcomes. While focusing on the methodology critical to developing a plan of care for clients, students will learn the rationale and techniques for utilizing specific assessment tools, analysis of assessment data, selection of lifespan appropriate interventions, implementation of interventions, and measurement of resulting outcomes. Content will be focused on cultural diversity, disparity in healthcare and social determinants that impact the client's plan of care, and resulting approaches for promoting a healthier society. The use of technology and health promotion research will be explored and applied to nursing practice in a practicum experience.

This course examines ways in which evidence-based nursing knowledge is acquired, developed, and utilized. The focus is on the research process and the critique of nursing research results and outcomes for applicability to, and improvement of, professional nursing practice. Concepts such as quantitative and qualitative research methods, ethical considerations, rights of human subjects, and use of conceptual frameworks to understand clinical trends will be examined.

The focus of this course and associated clinical is health promotion and maintenance, disease prevention, and health restoration for the child, adolescent, and family. Course content gives emphasis to nursing care, care for the individual client/family, developmental alterations, and family-centered care. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences foundation for pediatric care are considered.

Nursing interventions and the applied science of caring for childbearing families is the focus of the didactic course and related clinical experience. Variables that affect individuals and families during the childbirth experience are explored. Employing critical thinking and sound nursing judgment are highlighted. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences foundation for care of the childbearing family are considered.

Professional development through critical assessment of nursing as a professional discipline is the focus of this course. Content includes scope of practice, differentiated practice models, nursing theory, the historical development of nursing, evidence-based practice, relationship-based caring, ethical foundations of nursing, and reflective nursing practice models.

This course focuses on culture and its impact on healthcare delivery at the individual, community, and system levels. This course is designed to raise awareness, to inspire action, and to open discussion of evidence-based cultural issues affecting professional nursing practice as well as a practicum experience where the student is able to apply concepts learned in the classroom.

The course explores evidence-based practice as a foundation for improved nursing practice and patient outcomes. Students will learn the history of evidence-based practice and the significant research methodologies that serve as its foundation. Students will explore the rationale for evidence-based practice and learn how to form research questions, hypotheses, and research methodologies. They will also learn about population sampling, data collection tools, and statistical analysis. Students will learn how to determine whether research is credible through the criticism of research articles, and they will be introduced to potential ethical concerns in the development of research and evidence-based practice. Emphasis will be placed on student-centered learning that will give students the opportunity to implement what they learn during the course into their nursing practice, regardless of specialty.

This course addresses issues in health status of the population and access to care, the organization of care delivery systems, the financing and economics of healthcare, and healthcare reform. In addition, students explore how to influence policy change in the workplace, evaluate quality initiatives, and the role of government, and professional organizations.

The course and clinical focus of the course is on the nursing care of adolescents and adult psychiatric clients by promoting and restoring mental health in a variety of inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. Assessment and treatment options based on nursing process, assessment, and diagnosis will be explored in the didactic portion. DSM-IV classifications are covered as well. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences form the foundation for care of the psychiatric client.

This course focuses on an analysis of the nursing role as it relates to population-based health. The course addresses nursing theories, public health ethics, and nursing advocacy. Topics include the importance and application of health promotion concepts and prevention across the lifespan, vulnerable populations, global health and evidence-based cultural considerations, and the role of nursing in disaster settings. There will be an opportunity for experiential learning in specific assignments as well as a practicum experience where the student is able to apply concepts learned in the classroom.

This course provides an in-depth study of leadership and management principles as they apply to professional nursing practice. Students will explore teamwork, communication, the change process, and evidence-based practice. Concepts from healthcare delivery systems, healthcare informatics, and policy, finance and quality in healthcare will be applied. This course will also cover healthcare quality, legal policies, ethics, finance, and technology as they apply to leadership and management in nursing. There will be an opportunity for experiential learning in specific assignments.

This course focuses on nursing care directed toward maintenance and restoration of health for adult clients in the acute care setting who are experiencing complex variation in their health status. The population with whom the student will collaborate may have multiple chronic conditions or a high level of acuity in their current condition. The biological, physical, social, spiritual, and behavioral sciences form the foundation for care of the acutely ill adult are considered.

This Capstone course is designed for RN-BSN students at the end of their program of study. It provides students with an opportunity to synthesize their knowledge of the concepts learned throughout the RN-BSN program. The primary focus is on applying this knowledge to a chosen evidence-based project that is related to an area of interest in nursing and healthcare. There will be an opportunity for experiential learning in specific assignments in addition to a practicum experience where the student is able to apply concepts learned throughout the RN-BSN program.

Development of skill in public health nursing and caring for populations and communities is the focus of this course and clinical. Topics such as health promotion and maintenance, wellness education, healthy communities, and vulnerable populations will be considered.

This course focuses on role transition from student nurse to practicing nurse. Emphasis is placed on preparing students for their Capstone course and NCLEX-RN® exam. Concepts taught in Health Assessment, Pharmacology, Foundations of Nursing, Medical Surgical Nursing I and II, Mental Health Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, and Obstetrical Nursing will be reviewed. Time management, delegation, prioritization, and planning nursing care will be emphasized.

Leadership and management competencies within healthcare systems are examined in this course. This course content includes communication, change, and conflict. It also emphasizes accountability for quality and cost-effective care management across settings.

This course prepares students to transition into the professional practice RN role. It covers content specific to NCLEX-RN® preparations, resume development, new graduate practice, attrition in nursing of new nurses, scope of practice specific to developing practice, and differentiated practice across settings. The clinical portion of the course integrates nursing education, connects theory with service learning, and demonstrates the social justice component inherent to the profession of nursing.