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Course Descriptions

Nursing

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS129 Level I Basic Nursing Skills 2 Credits

Prepares students to provide holistic basic nursing care within the lab simulation environment. Students provide total patient care and comfort measures at the level of a nursing assistant while incorporating basic principles of safety and infection control for self and others. This is an alternative prerequisite (in lieu of the Certified Nursing Assistant class) for the WNC nursing program. Note: This class does NOT prepare students to sit for the Nevada State Board of Nursing Certified Nursing Assistant Examination.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS130 Nursing Assistant 6 Credits

Prerequisites: basic Life Support/Healthcare Provider CPR certification. See Nursing and Allied Health website for additional information. Prepares students to function as nursing assistant trainees (NAT) who assist licensed nurses to provide direct care to health care consumers across the lifespan in a variety of heath care settings. The 150-hour competency based course is designed to prepare students to achieve certification as a nurse assistant in the State of Nevada. The course is approved by the Nevada State Board of Nursing and is in accordance with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) and Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) regulations.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS136 Foundations of Nursing Theory 3 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS137 & NURS141 Introduces students to the role of the associate degree nurse in contemporary practice. Students are guided to utilize knowledge from the sciences, humanities and nursing to understand man as a bio/psycho being. Students are introduced to the nursing program organizing concepts and outcomes which include professional behaviors, communication, collaboration, nursing process, clinical decision making, management of care and teaching learning.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS137 Foundations of Nursing Laboratory 1 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS136 & NURS141 Provides students with knowledge and practical application of basic nursing skills while incorporating concepts learned in NURS 136. Students learn and practice basic nursing bedside nursing skills in personal care, sterile technique, patient safety, and medication administration. Emphasizes the critical elements of nursing procedures and the scientific rationale for performing the procedures correctly.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS141 Foundations of Nursing Clinical 2 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS136 & NURS137 Provides opportunities for students to utilize knowledge, concepts and skills learned in first semester nursing courses to meet the bio/psycho/social needs of patients in a long term acute care facility. Students use the nursing process and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs at a beginning level to assess, plan, implement and evaluate nursing care.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS147 Health Assessment Theory 2 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS148 Provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge necessary to holistically assess adult and elder patients. Students utilize concepts of previously learned content from pre-requisite and co-requisite nursing courses including the nursing process and methods of prioritizing to perform nursing assessment and nursing diagnosis. Students learn the difference among a comprehensive assessment, an ongoing/partial assessment, a focused, problem-oriented assessment and an emergency assessment of a patient.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS148 Health Assessment Laboratory 1 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program. Incorporates knowledge from NURS 147 to provide students with learning opportunities to collect, organize, analyze and synthesize health assessment data for adult and elder patients in a laboratory setting using simulated and peer assessment models.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS149 Mental Health and Illness Theory 3 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS150 & NURS151 Assists students to gain knowledge of nursing care for the patient experiencing primary threats to psychosocial integrity. Examines the principles and practice of psychiatric nursing through a variety of theoretical frameworks and legal and ethical values that guide its practice. Emphasis is placed on the use of culturally relevant therapeutic communication skills, development of therapeutic nurse/patient relationships, and interventions that are grounded in evidence based practice to achieve best practice outcomes.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS151 Mental Health and Illness Clinical 1 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS149 & NURS150 Requires students to utilize the nursing process to apply knowledge of the principles and practice of psychiatric nursing to the care of patients experiencing disruptions in psycho/social functioning. Collaborative experiences involving students, members of the psychiatric health care team, patients and their families occur at acute care and outpatient settings. Relevant legal and ethical issues are explored within the context of care of patients with disruptions in psychosocial integrity.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS152 Foundations of Pharmacology in Nursing I 1 Credits

Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program. Provides students with an overview of pharmacology with an emphasis on clinical applications within the context of the nursing process and prioritization of needs; with special consideration given to the physiological and psycho/social needs of patients. Explores indications, modes of action, effects, contraindications and interactions for selected drugs. Specific nursing responsibilities related to drug administration are emphasized.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS153 Foundations of Pharmacology Nursing II 1 Credits

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the first semester of the nursing program. Provides a continuation of study of pharmacological principles and practices to achieve safe administration of medications. Selected drug classifications are presented, with an emphasis on understanding intended and unintended effects of drugs on body systems. Provides an overview of pharmacology with an emphasis on clinical applications within the context of the nursing process and prioritization of needs.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS156 Foundations of Pharmacology In Nursing III 1 Credits

Prerequisite: admission to the nursing program and NURS 153 Provides a continuation of study of pharmacological principles and practices through in-depth application of principles of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Designed to expand the nursing student's knowledge of pharmacotherapeutics, which includes the cellular response level, for the clinical application within the context of the nursing process and prioritization of needs for patients across the lifespan. Selected drug classifications of pharmacological agents are examined and applied through case study application and analysis providing opportunity for development of the nursing competencies of clinical judgement, professional identity, use of evidence-based practice, and the facilitation of a spirit of inquiry.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS165 Medical Surgical Nursing I Theory 3 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the first semester of the nursing program; Corequisites: NURS166 & NURS167 Assists students to integrate knowledge derived from the bio/psycho/social sciences, humanities, nursing and current literature to achieve safe, competent care of adult patients experiencing common alterations in body systems. Organized by the nursing process to achieve best practice outcomes in an acute care medical/surgical setting. Particular emphasis is placed on the concepts of holistic care, patient education, and discharge planning.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS166 Medical Surgical Nursing I Laboratory 1 Credits

Successful completion of the first semester of the nursing program. Corequisites: NURS165 & NURS167 Prepares students to safely perform intermediate nursing skills (therapeutic procedures) that are encountered in the care of hospitalized adult patients with common alterations in body systems. Emphasizes the critical elements of nursing procedures and the scientific rationale for performing the procedures safely.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS167 Medical Surgical Nursing I Clinical 2 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the first semester of the nursing program. Corequisites: NURS165 & NURS166 Provides opportunities for students to utilize knowledge from the bio/psycho/social sciences, humanities, nursing and current literature to provide safe, competent care of adult patients experiencing common alterations in body systems. Organized by the nursing process to achieve best practice outcomes in a medical/surgical setting. Particular emphasis is placed on concepts of holistic care, holistic care, patient education.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS261 Nursing Care of The Family From Conception Through Adolescence (Theory) 2-4 Credits

Prerequisite: successful completion of the first year of the nursing program. Corequsitie: NURS 262 Focuses on basic concepts of nursing associated with care of the family experiencing pregnancy, birth, and the care of children. Incorporates knowledge of normal patterns of growth and development, health promotion, and disease prevention strategies. Students analyze care of patients with common health disruptions while continuing to develop the competencies of nursing judgement, use of evidenced-based practice, application of principles associated with professional identify, and the nurturing of a spirit of inquiry within the organizing framework of the nursing process.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS262 Nursing Care of Family from Conception Through Adolescence (Lab/Clinical) 1-2 Credits

Prerequisite: successful completion of the first year of the nursing program. Corequisite: NURS 261 Focuses on the application of concepts addressed NURS 261. Students provide basic care to families experiencing pregnancy, birth, and the care of children from the neonatal stage through adolescence. Provides active, hands-on learning in the laboratory and clinical setting, under the direct supervision of nursing faculty and competent clinical preceptors,to students caring for maternal, newborn, and pediatric patients. The nursing process, QSEN Safety Standards, and the principles of human flourishing, nursing judgement, professional identity, and the spirit of inquiry, will provide the framework for student activities.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS270 Advanced Clinical Nursing I Theory 3 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the first year of the nursing program. ; Corequisites: NURS271 Offers clinical theory organized around the nursing process and its application to patient needs. Requires students to apply the principles of providing a safe care environment, while addressing health promotion and health maintenance needs for persons experiencing complex/acute alterations in health. Students will also apply concepts of community care, case management, health teaching and discharge planning.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS271 Advanced Clinical Nursing I Clinical 2 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the first year of the nursing program. Corequisites: NURS270 Requires students to use the nursing process to identify and prioritize health care needs in the provision of care for patients experiencing complex/acute alterations in health. Expands upon previous clinical learning to include the teaching/learning process and administration of intravenous fluids and medications in the acute care setting.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS276 Advanced Medical Surgical Nursing II Theory 3 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the third semester of the nursing program. ; Corequisites: NURS277 Assists students to gain knowledge of nursing care for the patient experiencing primary threats to physiological integrity due to complex multisystem disruption in cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, integumentary, elimination, and digestive systems. Students apply the nursing process to address needs in the psycho/social/cultural and spiritual domains which emerge when there are primary threats to physiological integrity. Related legal, ethical, teaching/learning and communication/documentation issues are also explored.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS277 Advanced Medical Surgical Nursing II Clinical 2.5 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the third semester of the nursing program. ; Corequisites: NURS276 Requires students to apply knowledge and skills to the care of adult patients in a simulated laboratory and acute care environments experiencing needs resulting from complex multisystem disruptions. Students apply the nursing process and utilize information literacy skills to achieve deliberative and competent decision-making that is grounded in evidence based practice to achieve best practice outcomes. Emphasis will be placed on prioritization of care through collaboration with other members of the health care team, patients and their families.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS284 Role of the Adn Manager of Care 2 Credits

Prerequisites: successful completion of the third semester of the nursing program. Utilizes a capstone laboratory/clinical to facilitate the role transition from student to graduate nurse. Students integrate knowledge derived from the bio/psycho/social sciences, humanities and nursing to achieve best practice outcomes for multiple patients and their significant others in the acute care setting. Students apply advanced concepts of leadership and management while functioning in the legal, ethical and regulatory structures of the profession of nursing. In the clinical setting students will establish a therapeutic environment to meet the needs of multiple patients and their significant others by demonstrating the ability to meet the nursing program educational outcomes.

Course # Course Title Credits
NURS285 Special Topics: Nursing 1-6 Credits