1 Cedar Crest College Nursing Department NUR 341 Complex Health Problems Course Syllabus Fall 2008 Placement: Senior year, Fall Semester Credits: 4 total (2 credits classroom = 28 hours) (2 credits clinical = 84 hours) Formulas: classroom = 1 hour per credit; clinical = 3 hours per credit 14 weeks x 2 hours = 28 classroom hours; 14 weeks x 6 hours = 84 clinical hours Prerequisites: Nursing GPA of 2.5, satisfactory completion of all general education requirements, junior-level nursing courses (NUR 309, 311, 314, 320, 321, 322, 323), senior-level courses (NUR 330, 331, 332). This course may be a co-requisite with NUR 333 and NUR 334. Course Description: This course focuses on the role of the professional nurse in promoting optimal health for multicultural individuals across the life span, who are experiencing complex health problems. Risk factors for illness and injury will be identified and strategies for health promotion will be explored for the care of clients with emergencies, trauma and burns, as well as those with neurologic, cardiac, oncologic, immune, and liver disorders. Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of the course, the student will: 1. Demonstrate the basic principles of critical care nursing. 2. Demonstrate beginning competencies in meeting the nursing care needs of the multicultural, complex client across the life span. 3. Identify care issues across the life span that have implications for nursing research and apply pertinent nursing research findings to specific patient care situations. 4. Discuss ethical issues related to the care of the complex individual. 5. Use the nursing process to develop a plan of care based upon the responses of complex individuals and their families that incorporate supportive, rehabilitative, therapeutic and preventative nursing measures. This course is taught using principles of adult learning. The student is responsible for the attainment of knowledge while the professor is responsible for the facilitation of learning. Students should expect to be challenged in this course, as it is a culmination of previous nursing knowledge for the application of complex health care principles. Eighty percent of the evaluation for this course is based on examination competency. In addition to the clinical component, students must demonstrate proficiency in the course examinations in order to successfully complete the course. Instructor: Dr. Wendy Robb, RN, CNE HBB #18 610-606-4666, ext. 3480 [email protected] Office Hours by appnt (most often after class on Tuesday and Thursday) Required Textbooks: Smeltzer, S. and Bare, B. (2004). Brunner & Suddarth’s Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott. (or more recent edition) Winningham, M. and Preusser, B. (2001). Critical Thinking in Medical-Surgical Settings: A Case Study Approach (2nd Ed.). St. Louis: Mosby. Any NCLEX review book2 Recommended Textbooks: American Psychological Association (2002). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: APA Any Nurses' Drug Guide. Myers, E. & Hopkins, T. (2004). MedSurg notes, nurse’s clinical pocket guide. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis. Phillips, L. (2005). IV therapy notes, nurse’s clinical pocket guide. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis. Rischbach, F. (1996). A Manual of Laboratory & Diagnostic Tests (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott. (Or any comparable text) Kuhn, M. (1994). Pharmaco-Therapeutics: A Nursing Process Approach (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Davis. Required Supplies: Clinical uniform, stethoscope, watch with second hand (see specific clinical needs and details related to uniform in student handbook) Classroom Response System: Specific Model as indicated in the bookstore Teaching Methods: Audio-visual materials Lecture and discussion Case Studies/Simulation Reflective writing Guest Lecturers Course Evaluation: Exam 1 30% Exam 2 30% Final Exam 20% Cumulative Quiz Score 5% (11 weekly ten question quizzes in total: 10 quizzes worth .46% each; 1 quiz worth .40%) Medication Calculation Exam 5% Case Study Simulation 10% Total 100% Reflective Clinical Journals (3) P/F Research Critique P/F Skills Validation (Video) P/F Clinical Objectives P/F ATI Comprehensive Medical Surgical Assessment Exam P/F Grading Policy A 93-100% A- 90-92% B+ 87-89% B 83-86% B- 80-82% C+ 77-79% C 73-76%3 C- 70-72% D+ 67-69% D 60-66% F <60% Assignment/Exam Scores: Individual exam scores and assignments will be assigned to 2 decimal places without rounding. Final Course Grade Scores: A grade below C is not passing. Students must achieve a minimum grade of a 73 in order to receive a C. No final course grades will be rounded and specifically, 72.50 to 72.99 will not be rounded up. Failure in the clinical component of the course requires the student to repeat the entire course, including all related skills. Course Evaluation Methods: Clinical Student Performance: on a daily basis, the respective clinical instructor will evaluate the student’s clinical performance. Evaluation criteria are based on satisfactory completion of the clinical course objectives. The student is evaluated by his/her respective clinical instructor(s) and student performance is graded as either satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U). (Students can refer to the Clinical Evaluation Tool for detailed performance ratings.) The student must receive a satisfactory rating for each course objective to obtain an “S” in clinical and to satisfy requirements for the nursing major. The student must pass both clinical and theoretical components of N341. Medication Calculation Proficiency: This exam contains questions related to the calculation of oral, IM/Sub Q and intravenous medication administration. An 85% proficiency rate is needed to pass the medication calculation exam. If a student is unsuccessful at achieving an 85 on the first attempt, the test may be repeated. The maximum number of times the medication calculation test may be taken is 2 times. The med calculation exam is