The nursing education component consists of six online courses totaling 18 credits.
Advanced Pathophysiology
This course examines the concepts of pathophysiology to guide advanced health care professionals in the diagnosis and management of disease. The focus of this course is to investigate both common and unusual disorders in individuals in primary care settings across the lifespan. In addition to etiology, pathogenesis, and disease evolution the influence of predisposing factors, including environmental, geographic, genetic, developmental, and global factors on disease manifestation will be presented. Students will also examine the impact of disease conditions within the context of a person’s life through case study analyses.
Advanced Pharmacology
This course provides an advanced-level pathophysiological approach to understanding pharmacological agents and their use across the lifespan. The mechanism of drug action provides a foundation for understanding applications and adverse effects of these agents. Emphasis will be placed on the fundamentals of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics as they relate to clinical practice. This course includes 9 hours of practice experience.
Advanced Physical Assessment
This course focuses on the advanced comprehensive assessment of individuals. It builds on the students’ knowledge and skills and provides a foundation for the advanced practice nurse to evaluate the health of individuals and provide health promotion interventions. The interactions of developmental, biopsychosocial, and socio-cultural contexts resulting in health effects for individuals provide the structure of the course. Students obtain the practice skills necessary for advanced communication (i.e., clinical interviewing, focused history taking), biopsychosocial and physical assessment, critical diagnostic reasoning, differential diagnosis, and clinical decision-making through course readings, dialog, discussions, videos, simulations, and practical examinations. This course includes 45 hours of clinical experience.
Designing a Learning Environment
This course focuses on the creation of teaching-learning environments and the integration of the role of faculty/educator, uniqueness of the learner, the setting and context within which the learning occurs, the teaching-learning strategies used to achieve learning outcomes, and evaluation of the effectiveness of this process.
Program and Curriculum Development in Nursing Education
This course focuses on curriculum and syllabus/program development, including theoretical frameworks and design, philosophical foundations, and selection of learning experiences to achieve outcomes.
Assessment and Evaluation in Nursing Education
This course is designed to introduce the student to the evaluation process, including test construction, clinical performance assessment, program evaluation, and strategies for evaluating learning outcomes.