NURS 310 Role Transition: Baccalaureate Role Development (3 credit hours): This course provides an overview of the nursing metaparadigm: client, nurse, health/illness and environment. Nursing theoretical perspectives will be discussed as a foundation professional nursing practice as care provider and manager of care. Special emphasis will be on the practice of the baccalaureate nurse.
NURS 320 Health Assessment(3 credit hours): This course builds on previous health assessment knowledge and skills focusing on comprehensive health assessment skills. Using a lifespan approach, students examine the physical, cultural, psychosocial, spiritual and nutritional variables through the use of health history and health assessment.
NURS 330 Nursing Research and Evidence Based Practice (3 credit hours): This course provides an overview of the research process and utilization in professional nursing practice. Discussion of evidence-based practice as the foundation for safe, quality care will be the focus of this course. Students will be guided through the development of clinical questions and explore strategies for collecting the evidence available to answer them.
NURS 340 Nursing Informatics (1 credit hours): This course provides an overview of nursing informatics to improve information management in health care. Consideration of health care technologies and ethical and financial criteria in relation to the quality of their outcomes are explored.
NURS 350 Issues in Professional Practice (3 credit hours): This course discusses the current political, economic and social trends affecting nursing and the evolving health care system. Special emphasis will be on the nature of the profession and professional values. Alternative and complimentary health practices are discussed as strategies to improve and maintain healthy lifestyles.
NURS 360 Community Health Nursing (3 credit hours didactic and 1 credit hour clinical): This course has both a didactic and a clinical component. The didactic portion introduces the concepts and principles of community health and the practice of evidence base community health nursing. The nursing process is applied to the care of individuals, families, and groups within the community. Emphasis will be on community health measures which promote and maintain the health of the community. Application of community health nursing principles occurs in the 54 hour precepted clinical practice in a community health setting. Prerequisite: Health Assessment – NURS320
NURS 410 Nursing Care in a Multicultural Society (3 credit hours): This course provides an overview of the influence of culture on health care practices and in the delivery of nursing care for individuals, groups, and communities. Emphasis is on increasing awareness of culturally diverse nursing care and the impact of cultural beliefs, values, and practices upon health and health care delivery.
NURS 430 Health Promotion Across the Lifespan (3 credit hours): This course builds on prior learning and focuses on preventative health care and health promotion for individuals, families, and communities. Consideration is given to the influence of culture and lifespan development. Using biophysical, environmental, spiritual, sociocultural and economic determinants of health, the focus is on improving health outcomes with individuals, families, and communities. Prerequisite: Health Assessment – NURS320
NURS 440 Nursing Leadership (3 credit hours didactic and 1 credit hour clinical): This course explores the role of the nurse leader, integrating prior learning with an understanding of the nature of leadership as well as leadership and management theories. An introduction to the principles of project management with application to a clinical leadership project is included. Consideration of individual student growth, particularly related to the student outcomes of the program and personal goals for future growth will be a focus. Fifty-four (54) hours of independent clinical practice under the direction of the faculty to develop and implement a clinical leadership project. Prerequisite: Research and Evidence Based Practice - NURS 330
NURS 450 Healthy Communities (3 credit hours): In this course students will apply knowledge gained throughout the RN-BSN program to the process of assessing a community as a capstone project. Community-specific and epidemiological data will be gathered, appraised, and compared to national averages. Healthy People 2020 Goals,principles, concepts, and models of community health nursing will be utilized to plan interventions to improve the health and well-being of the community and evaluate the plan. Prerequisites: all program courses, with the following exception: Students may concurrently enroll in NURS410 - Nursing Practice in a Multicultural Society or NURS360 - Community Health Nursing. Credit Hours: 3
Credit for Experiential Learning and Professional Nursing Certification
In keeping with the University’s goal of integrating experiential learning in programs of study, the nursing department will award elective nursing credit to incoming students with significant nursing experience. This credit will not reduce the 30 credit hours of core courses that students are required to take as part of the RN to BSN program but will help the student who has less than 90 credit hours of prior learning to transfer to the University satisfy elective credit requirements.
Nursing students may earn three credit hours* for more than one but less than 5 years of fulltime nursing experience. Students with more than 5 years of fulltime nursing experience may earn 6 elective credit hours* towards their degree. Proof of employment as a nurse and the period of employment must be provided. Experiential learning credit may not be substituted for any of the 30CH of core nursing courses required in the RN to BSN program.
Nursing students may also earn three elective credit hours* for a nationally recognized nursing certification. Examples of approved certifications include: CCRN (Critical Care Registered Nurse), CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse), Certified Medical-Surgical Nurse, or Certified Obstetric Nurse. Students who have a national certification, should submit a copy to his/her academic advisor who will submit it for approval by the Program Director.
Experiential Learning Assessment at Claflin University is based on the review of the portfolio [student resume, description of direct patient care clinical experience, and summary of knowledge and skills attained through stated experience(s)]. To receive elective credit hours students must develop a portfolio that reflects an inventory of all registered nursing clinical practice experiences including name of supervisor and contact information, unit type/patient population, institution name, years of service, skill sets attained, and examples of common patients – diagnoses of patients for which the student cared. *Note - a total of 6 credit hours of electives may be granted for elective credit when combining work experience and certification. Students may have 0-6 CH in either category but no more than 6CH total.
Course Description
Professional Nursing Practice Elective (NURS 427). Credit for this course is awarded to students for work experience as a registered nurse upon review of a complete nursing portfolio. Professional experiences with validation may include national nursing certification, cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification, or direct patient care in a clinical nursing environment. Requests for prior learning credit must be made to the Nursing Department Chair at least four (4) weeks before the semester begins to provide time to validate learning and award credit. 3-6 CH.