Nursing Course Descriptions
Course work emphasizes disease prevention, health restoration and maintenance, health promotion, and the delivery of care in hospital and community-based settings.
NURS 301 Pharmacology (3 credit hours, lecture)
Recommended: CHEM 111, Introductory Chemistry; BIOL 305, Pathophysiology.
This course will focus on the nature of drug addictions. The course will provide an in-depth perspective of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) of medications. The students will learn to consider body weight, age, body composition, and circulatory dynamics when analyzing the drug's effect. Other topics to be included in this course include therapeutic effects, side effects, toxic effects, idiosyncratic reactions, drug tolerance, drug interactions and drug dose response. Discussion will focus on the physiological action and effect of selected drug groups, and factors that will influence the drug actions such as physiological variables, environmental conditions, psychological factors and diet.
NURS 305 Pathophysiology (4 credit hours)
Prerequisites: BIOL 205, 206, Anatomy & Physiology I & II Recommended: BIOL 182, Microbiology for Non-Majors; and CHEM 111, Introductory Chemistry
This course provides an overview of pathophysiological processes across the major organ systems. It is divided into two content areas: general concepts and specific disease processes. General concepts include the topics of cellular environment, genetics, stress and disease, immunity, inflammation, and cellular proliferation. Common disease processes from the major organ systems are presented.
NURS 310 Nursing Theory (2 credit hours)
This course is an overview of nursing theorists and the application of their theories to current clinical practice. Students will do an in-depth analysis of a selected nursing theory.
NURS 320 Health Care Ethics (2 credit hours, lecture)
This course will focus on the moral and ethical dimensions of nursing practice and in health care today. Topics to be explored include biomedical technological advances, quality of life, the nurse's role in ethical situations, client advocacy, skill competency, informed consents, advanced directives and nursing accountability. The students will also discuss how values, emotions, faith, religious beliefs, the law, culture, gender, generational issues, and male and female roles influence a person's decision making in the setting of an ethical dilemma. A systematic approach to resolving ethical issues and the role of an Ethics Committee as a resource are presented. Discussion will also take place regarding the Nursing Code of Ethics and its effect on nursing practice.
NURS 330 Nursing Management I (3 credit hours, lecture)
The focus of this course is on the theories of nursing management and leadership and their application to everyday work practices. Content will include the basic functions of management: planning, organizing, and directing. Topics such as decision-making, change, budgeting, conflict resolution and personnel issues will be explored. The students will concentrate on critical decision making and formulating independent nursing judgments in complex nursing situations. Content will also focus on supervisory skills and collaboration with other members of the health care team in the structured (hospital or nursing home) or unstructured (community assessments) health care settings.
NURS 340 Nursing Management II (3 credit hours, field experience)
Prerequisite: NURS 330, Nursing Management I.
This course will provide the student with an opportunity to apply nursing management skills and critical decision-making learned from Nursing Management I. The student will choose an area of interest in the arena of health care and participate in management, policymaking and/or project completion for the agency. In most cases the course work will be completed at the site of the health care agency or employer under the direction of an on-site preceptor. Projects, policy work, etc., will be pre-approved with the Adams State Nursing Faculty. Students must satisfactorily complete Nursing Management I to enroll in this course.
NURS 350 Rural Health Care (2 credit hours, lecture)
Rural areas have many similarities as well as differences. This forum-based course focuses on the characteristics of nursing in rural areas using the San Luis Valley as an example. The student will be able to assess and identify commonalities and variances of health care needs in rural populations. Subject matter will include rural and ethnic cultural considerations, understanding benefits and limitations on new technology, attitudes of health, nursing roles in rural settings, rural health systems, access issues, integration of rural and urban health systems, and considerations for traumatic and non-traumatic illnesses.
NURS 360 Service Learning I (1 credit hour)
Prerequisite: NURS 350, Rural Health Care; SOC 201, The Sociological Imagination
The Service Learning project is to provide the student with a unique opportunity to further develop the nursing role as a responsible and caring citizen in the context of professional nursing. In providing service to an agency or aggregate of clients, the ASC nursing student will apply and integrate concepts learned from previous coursework in the arts, sciences, humanities, and nursing in meaningful ways. The Service Learning project enhances the ASC Nursing Program Mission with its focus on cultural diversity, community service, and rural health care.
NURS 370 Service Learning II (1 credit hour)
Prerequisite or Co-requisite: NURS 360, Service Learning I
Service Learning II further provides the student with a unique opportunity to further develop the nursing role as a responsible and caring citizen in the context of professional nursing by building upon the project initiated in NURS 360. In providing service to an agency or aggregate of clients, the ASC nursing student will apply an integrate concepts learned from previous coursework in the arts, sciences, humanities, and nursing in meaningful ways. The Service Learning project enhances the ASC Nursing Program Mission with its focus on cultural diversity, community service, and rural health care.
NURS 410 Nursing Research (3 credit hours)
Prerequisite: PSYC 211, Introduction to Statistics with Lab 1
This course provides an introduction to the research process including design and methodology. Interpretation and critique of research findings for use in nursing practice are emphasized. Research questions relevant to clinical practice are identified. This course emphasizes critical analysis of existing research to support data-driven decisions and implementation of evidence-based practice.
NURS 430 Health Assessment Across the Lifespan (4 credit hours, lecture)
The course will focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of acquiring data through a client health history and physical examination. A laboratory portion will consist of demonstration and actual wellness assessment with identification of needs. Students will be responsible for four independent clinical health assessments.
NURS 440 Professional Practice (3 credit hours, lecture)
Emphasis in this course is on the transition from Associate Degree Nursing to the professional nursing role of the Baccalaureate prepared nurse. It will explore in depth the development of healthcare policy in the United States as it relates to the evolution of public and private healthcare insurance and the societal implications of these policies. Students will analyze the U.S. healthcare delivery system to determine how social, political, legal, economic policy and regulatory factors affect health disparities and access to healthcare for the American population. Necessary critical thinking skills will be developed to understand future trends and changes affecting healthcare delivery policy and nursing practice.
NURS 460 Community Health I (3 credit hours, lecture)
Prerequisites: NURS 430, Health Assessment Across the Lifespan; NURS 460, Community Health I prior to NURS 470, Community Health II; NURS 350 Rural Health Care
This course examines the role of nurses in promoting the health of aggregates, families, and individuals. The concept of community as client is emphasized. The core public health functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance are explored through student involvement in the legislative process, community assessment, case management, health teaching, and the investigation of communicable diseases.
NURS 470 Community Health II (2 credit hours)
Prerequisites: NURS 350, Rural Health Care; NURS 430 Health Assessment Across the Lifespan; NURS 460 Community Health I
This course allows students to address the concerns and health needs of the community. In a collaborative effort between the community and ASC, the students will apply knowledge gained through nursing academic coursework to implement a plan for those health concerns. Emphasis will be placed on developing interpersonal skills and achieving social changes that influence health and quality of life. Course includes an extensive clinical practicum within a public health setting as well as a service learning project supervised by ASC nursing faculty.
NURS 480 Senior Seminar (1 credit hour)
This course will encourage nursing students to recognize and value the relationship between their general education courses and their nursing courses, recognizing that nursing builds upon the arts and sciences. The student will complete a writing project that will facilirate an appreciation of this relationship. This course will be taken during the final semester of the RN to BSN coursework.