School of Nursing
The following courses in the School of Nursing are offered to interested medical students. For more information, contact faculty of record.
NURS 625b, Children with Chronic Conditions/Disabilities and Their Families 1.5 credit hours. This course provides students with a forum to discuss theoretical concepts of illness in relation to a family-centered model of care for children and adolescents with a chronic condition/disability and their families. Relevant issues and such topics as service delivery, financing of care, and legislative and health policy issues are explored. Emphasis is placed on the role of advanced practice nursing in the provision of health care for children and adolescents with a chronic condition. Required for all pediatric nurse practitioner students in the first year of specialization. Open to others with permission of the instructor. One and one-half hours per week. Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Faculty
NURS 633a, Health Promotion in Infants and Children 2 credit hours. This lecture course is designed to introduce the student to the primary care of children from infancy through pre-adolescence. Concepts and theories related to well-child care are explored. Clinical applications of the theories and principles of preventive and optimal health care are emphasized. Required for all pediatric nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner students in the first year of specialization. Open to others with permission of the instructor. Two hours per week. P. Jackson Allen
NURS 637a, Child Development 1.5 credit hours. This course is designed to give an overview of social-emotional, cognitive, physical, moral, and language development in children from infancy through adolescence. Emphasis is placed on understanding development in individual, familial, socio-cultural, and environmental contexts. Issues of particular significance to the health care provider are stressed. Required for all pediatric nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner, and child psychiatric–mental health students in the first year of specialization. Open to others with permission of the instructor. One and one-half hours per week. L. Sadler
NURS 723a/HPA 592a, Concepts and Principles of Aging 1.5 credit hours. This elective multidisciplinary course is designed to introduce students to the major concepts and principles of gerontology and to a variety of bio-psychosocial theories on aging. Delivery systems of care for older adults are explored along with the current social policy initiatives as they relate to this growing population. Research initiatives are discussed and students are encouraged to explore geriatric care issues in their own specialty/discipline as well as in related disciplines. Required for gerontological nurse practitioner and adult/gerontological nurse practitioner students. One and one-half hours per week. M. Wallace
NURS 733b/REL 977b, Living with Dying 1.5–3.0 credit hours. This course develops students’ cultural and gender awareness, understanding, and competencies in creating environments to relieve suffering for individuals and their families who have experienced a death or are caring for someone who is dying. Emphasis is on nonpharmacologic interventions to relieve suffering, including spiritual, interpersonal, and socio-cultural interventions. The course is structured with the premise that relief from suffering, meaning, and transcendence at the end of life are best achieved and understood through the interpersonal use of narrative techniques, like storytelling, to facilitate communication. One and one-half hours per week. R. McCorkle
NURS 769a, Advanced Concepts and Principles of Diabetes Care 2 credit hours. This seminar focuses on the concepts and principles of diabetes managed care based on the American Diabetes Association Standards of Care (2006). It includes principles of primary care (screening, early detection, intervention, patient education), secondary care principles related to diabetes management, tertiary care related to complications, various treatment modalities, patient education, and self-care. These concepts and principles of care are presented relative to type of diabetes (Type 1, Type 2, gestational and pregnancy, and secondary), age, developmental stage, duration of disease, and ethnicity. A multidisciplinary approach to care issues is emphasized, incorporating the contributions of other disciplines in the collaborative management of diabetes. Important aspects of living with a chronic illness such as the psychologicial, social, occupational, and economic are also emphasized. Required in the final year of study for all students in the diabetes care concentration. Open to others with permission of the instructor. Two hours per week. V. Jefferson
NURS 849b, Family Patterns and Systems Relevant to Health Care 1.5 credit hours. This course provides theoretical perspectives on family patterns and structure, family development, family stress and coping, and contextual variables that influence the health of the family and individual. Application of these perspectives is explored in terms of the management of health care and illness in families across the life span. Techniques in assessment of family functioning, vulnerabilities, and strengths are presented from clinical and research perspectives. Selected family problems are analyzed within theoretical, clinical, and policy perspectives. Required for all pediatric nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner, and adult nurse practitioner students. Open to others with permission of the instructor. Prerequisites include all 600-level or first-year specialty nurse practitioner courses. One and one-half hours per week. A. Crowley
NURS 961b, Health Policy Analysis This course includes research methods and theoretical frameworks specific to health services research and health policy research, development, and analysis. Prerequisite: NURS 941b, Health Policy, Leadership, and Systems. Three hours per week. Faculty
