Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

This course will examine the theoretical and scientific foundations of nursing. A thorough understanding of these foundations will be the basis for further development of knowledge in evidence-based practice and research. The processes for evaluation, translating and utilizing research will be emphasized.

This course prepares leaders to develop skills in systems thinking and systems organization in rapidly changing, complex healthcare delivery systems. Students will examine concepts that define systems, influence policy, measure the effectiveness of care, and evaluate technology. A comparison of healthcare systems throughout the world will consider financial, technological and global issues.

This course establishes the foundation for the unique focus on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the master's degree curriculum. Students will focus on the concepts of health promotion and disease prevention that minimize the need for restoration of health. Through an understanding of clinical prevention and population health, students will examine the issues and interventions that promote health in individuals, families and communities.

This course will examine the development of the professional role of the master's degree prepared nurse in a variety of practice settings focusing on ethical, evidence-based decision making; population health improvement; quality improvement and safety management; expert clinical practice; and intra-and inter-professional teamwork. Knowledge and skill development will include health assessment, ethical decision-making, evidence-based decision-making, population health management, quality and safety improvement, and teamwork.

This course uses a systematic in-depth process to review physical assessment, pathophysiology, and pharmacology of human body systems. Students will explore and integrate knowledge of evidence based, collaborative prevention and condition management therapies to ensure safe, effective, quality patient-centered care. Students will develop and utilize best-evidence assessment and condition management information for teaching/learning practices used to care for and educate others.

This course will offer students the opportunity to study the influence of environmental forces on the health of individuals, populations and communities. Students will explore the impact of governmental controlling agencies, community services and individual responses to the environment on a local, national and international level. Specific environmental factors will be examined for their impact on specific diseases and conditions. The research evidence-base for studying the environment will be emphasized.

This course will examine the concepts and context of global/international health. An exploration of the historical development of international health will be included as will opportunities for students to study the problems that exist and the forces that influence healthcare in the international community. The collaboration of governmental and non-governmental organizations and populations will be studied as students examine specific health problems, systems and solutions.

This course assists the student to develop and use the skills and knowledge of the nurse educator. Focus will be on role development with attention to self-development and role responsibilities to oneself, the students, the institution, and the profession. The role of regulatory bodies and accreditation will be examined.

A variety of learning theories and conceptual frameworks relating to curriculum and instructional design will be explored. Students will investigate the process of curriculum development, program evaluation, regulatory and accreditation standards, and trends at the professional and community level.

This course assists student to develop strategies for teaching nursing in the classroom and clinical settings. In addition to learning to assess students' learning styles, content will include classroom assessment, planning, organizing, presenting and evaluating teaching/learning experiences. The focus is on best practices and evidence-based strategies to promote various learning styles and create an active learning environment for diverse student populations. Strategies will address basic and continuing nursing education.

Recognizing that assessment and evaluation are essential to understanding the value and worth of teaching/learning in nursing education, faculty must be familiar with the foundations of evaluation. Evaluation of nursing education programs, courses and individual learner requires knowledge of the focus, design, tools and dissemination of outcome data. This course will examine the effectiveness of evaluation methods. Attention will be given to the systematic evaluation processes that lead to on-going program improvement.

This course provides additional clinical specialty experiences for nurse educator students. Students in consultation with faculty will determine an area of clinical specialty practice (e.g.; pediatrics, mental health, public health) to complete a minimum of 100 hours of clinical experience. In the clinical setting, students will work collaboratively with the practicing nurse expert to gain knowledge and skills for nursing practice at the expert level. Prerequisite: NU 500, NU 501, NU 503, NU 504.

This course provides additional clinical specialty experiences for nurse educator students after completion of Nurse Educator: Clinical Specialty I course. Students in consultation with faculty will determine an area of clinical specialty practice (e.g.; pediatrics, mental health, public health) to complete a minimum of 100 hours of clinical experience. In the clinical setting, students will work collaboratively with the practicing nurse expert to gain knowledge and skills for nursing practice at the expert level. Prerequisite: NU 500, NU 501, NU 503, NU 504.

This course will focus on developing competence in working with multicultural population in society. The overview of culturally diverse communities will give the student the foundation needed to develop health promotion program for specific populations. The influence of social, economic and political inequalities related to healthcare will be examined. An emphasis on community-based, participatory research methods will be included in this course.

The core functions of public health will be the focus of this course as students develop competencies in assessment, policy development and assurance. Student will further examine inter-professional collaborations, regulations and program assessment and effectiveness.

The focus of this course is to explore the foundation of different frameworks for public health programs and designs. The four major functions of public health programming will address assessment, development, implementation and evaluation. Students will learn strategies for promoting social change through various methods including marketing techniques and health literacy. Students will develop plans for navigating the healthcare system for themselves as professionals and for clients, families and groups.

In this course students will examine current and emerging leadership and management issues in the role of an advocate for health care, and study strategies to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders in the health care arena. Recognizing that health care is a multifaceted, constantly-changing system, students will explore the role of the health advocacy leader in managing the development, implementation and evaluation of programs that assist populations and clients to promote health and prevent disease.

This course assists the student to develop and use the skills and knowledge of the nurse to lead and manage the care of patient populations. Focus is on role development necessary to meet responsibilities to patients, nursing staff and other healthcare personnel, the organization, and the profession. The transformation of data into information and evidence-based decision-making to develop and change processes to achieve quality patient care outcomes, organizational goals, and regulatory and accreditation standards will be stressed.

Managing people efficiently, effectively, and ethically is essential to the achievement of population-focused and patient centered, quality, safe, effective and efficient care regardless of the health care organization's size or purpose. Management of non-personnel resources (supplies, equipment, and infrastructure) is also essential to achieving quality and other organizational goals. The emphasis of this course includes: management of human and financial resources, intra- and interdisciplinary collaboration, teamwork, change management, development of employee capabilities, and financial concepts and tools necessary to make effective decisions and achieve organizational goals.

This course will provide the historical context of quality management and introduce the student to a number of quality management systems including Total Quality Management (TQM), ISO, the National Baldrige Award, Lean and Six Sigma that are currently being implemented in today's organizations. The course will host several guest lecturers from the community who are specialists in quality management. Cross-listed with BN 630.

This course introduces students to the basic principles of human behavior and how these principles apply to the management of individuals and groups in organizations. Topics include: individual differences in abilities and attitudes, attribution motivation, group dynamics, power and politics, leadership, conflict resolution, organizational culture, and organizational structure and design. Cross listed with BN 500.

In collaboration with faculty, students will develop a practicum experience related to their chosen emphasis. An individual project, relevant to the practice setting and role will be completed. Prerequisites: NU 500, NU 501, NU 503, NU 504.

If a student wishes to independently study or research a particular topic, he/she may propose to work with an appropriate faculty member within their discipline, at the discretion of the Program Director. No more than 2 courses may be taken as independent study by any student. Prerequisite: Permission of the Program Director for Graduate Nursing Programs.

This course reviews the ethical conduct of research in practice. Appropriate literature and evidence will be critiqued and synthesized to support evidence based advanced practice nursing in the clinical setting. Students will identify and describe knowledge, practice gaps, or quality improvement processes that could be implemented in an advanced practice nursing clinical setting. Prerequisite: MSN Degree.

Students will examine the history, progression, and transition into the role of an advanced practice nurse, including association between emotions and behaviors that maximize leadership in the health care delivery system. Students will compare and contrast different quality improvement metrics, patient safety initiatives, and change management concepts applied to role transition in advanced practice nursing. Prerequisite: MSN Degree.

This course applies DNP knowledge, skills and roles to transform healthcare as highlighted by the Institute of Medicine and other health care initiatives. Strategies and tools used in this course will build upon and extend previous learning on interprofessional relationships and transformational science, including quality improvement, change management, project management and project evaluation. In this course, the student will envision and present a transformational approach to improve healthcare. Prerequisite: NU 706 and NU 700.

This course explores the legal and ethical aspects of advanced practice nursing using local, state and federal rules and regulations. Students will gain entrepreneurial skills and identify strategies to implement emerging and innovative ideas. The course will engage students to participate, lead, and advocate for policy analysis and development. Prerequisite: MSN degree and NU 702.

This course integrates basic and advanced pathophysiology of all body systems, including at the genetic, cellular and organ system levels. Students will focus on acute, chronic and complex illness and disease diagnoses and management across the lifespan. Students will gain an appreciation for the relationship between basic human pathophysiological responses over time and our current national health crisis with chronic illnesses, decreasing lifespan, escalating health care costs, and challenge for quality initiatives. Prerequisite: MSN degree.

This course builds on previous pharmacology coursework, pathophysiology, biochemistry, and clinical experience, and explores the information that every prescriber must know. This course will focus on evaluating drug information, guidelines and policies, critically comparing treatment options including cost for given conditions, developing mastery of information on drug categories and key drugs. The student will learn quality initiatives from a pharmacological standpoint and how using leadership skills will help to improve overall care delivery. Prerequisite: NU 704.

This graduate level course will explore and apply the use of statistical methodology in designing, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting biological experiments, observations, and data. The course will cover descriptive statistics, elements of experimental design, probability, hypothesis testing and statistical inference, analysis of variance, correlation, regression techniques, factor analysis, and non-parametric statistical methods. Students will use data from laboratory and field studies. Prerequisite: Undergraduate course in statistics with final grade of C or higher.

Critical analysis of epidemiological, environmental, and social determinants of health data guide the design and development of population-based care delivery models that improve health and prevent disease. The course includes the concepts and processes of epidemiology with attention to the biostatistics essential to the study and analysis of disease occurrences, risk prediction and impact of disease on populations.

In preparation for health care leadership in rapidly changing, complex health care delivery systems, students will examine and evaluate patient-care technologies, clinical informatics models, electronic based health records, health information technology (HIT), health information exchange (HIE), clinical decision support systems, and of other technology that influences healthcare delivery models, practices, and patient outcomes. Students will identify how data and information systems are utilized to manage and individual and aggregate information, to predict health care risks, support quality improvement methods, and develop evidence for improved health care and outcomes.

This is the first family nurse practitioner (infant, pediatric, adolescents, adults and aging adult) primary care course providing students with content including communication and interaction techniques, growth & development, anticipatory guidance, episodic acute health concerns, evidence-based health promotion & screening, diagnostic testing, pharmacological & non-pharmacological methods, health management, and care coordination. This course also includes content related to women’s health, mental & behavioral health, and occupational health. Prerequisites: NU 701, NU 512, NU 703, NU 651, NU 705.

This family nurse practitioner (infant, pediatric, adolescents, adults and aging adult) primary care health assessment course preparing students to use patient centered interviewing for complete health history assessment, including chief complaint, health history, review of systems, physical assessment of body systems, functional assessment, family history and pedigree, SOAP note documentation, differential diagnoses (including ICD & evaluation and management billing), and plan of care. Course includes didactic and laboratory experiences to learn and demonstrate knowledge, skills and techniques. Prerequisite: NU 800.

This course provides students with family nurse practitioner (infant, pediatric, adolescents, adults and aging adult) primary care clinical experiences 1:1 with a licensed health care provider preceptor (ARNP, MD, or PA). Students will work collaboratively with preceptor to provide primary wellness and illness health care services. Content from NU800 & NU801 will be applied during the clinical experiences. This course requires a minimum of 150 direct patient care clinical hours. Prerequisite: NU 801.

This course builds upon knowledge, skills, and experiences gained in Adult & Pediatric I – Primary Care courses (NU 800, NU 801, NU 802) providing students with knowledge regarding complex and/or comorbid acute and chronic health conditions, diagnostic testing, pharmacological & non-pharmacological methods, health management, case management, and care coordination. Prerequisite: NU 802.

This course builds upon knowledge, skills, and experiences gained in Adult & Pediatric I – Primary Care courses (NU 800, NU 801, NU 802) and the first Adult & Pediatric II – Specialty Care – Populations. This course prepares students to conduct specific primary care advanced health assessment skills based on body systems and learn to perform primary care FNP skills. Prerequisite: NU 803.

This course provides students with family nurse practitioner (infant, pediatric, adolescents, adults and aging adult) primary care clinical experiences 1:1 with a licensed health care provider preceptor (ARNP, MD, or PA). Students will work collaboratively with preceptor to continue providing primary wellness and illness health care services including complex and/or comorbid acute and chronic health conditions. Content from NU 800, NU 801, NU 802, NU 803, & NU 804) will be applied during the clinical experiences. This course requires a minimum of 150 direct patient care clinical hours. Prerequisite: NU 804.

This clinical course builds the student’s proficiency in comprehensive health evaluation and management across the lifespan within the context of family, community, and culture in a primary care setting. Using an evidence-based practice framework, the student focused on transitioning from novice-level FNP towards proficiency. The student will gain fluency in recommending appropriate health promotion/disease prevention and screenings and performance improvement in the assessment and management of most common acute and chronic health conditions. Growth of the student’s family nurse practitioner’s role and responsibilities in the provision of patient centered, ethical, culturally competent care is a course expectation. Using an evidence-based practice framework and student’s self-evaluation of FNP competencies attainment gap analysis, the student focuses is on addressing competency gaps, with support of faculty and the preceptor, in the clinical experience while transitioning to program completion. Prerequisite: NU 805.

This final clinical course builds on the student’s FNP practice achievements in focused, expanded, detailed, and comprehensive health evaluation across the lifespan within the context of family, community, and culture in a primary care setting. The student will utilize a NU806 self-assessment of FNP competency attainment and self-direct needed areas of practice to close any learning gaps. The students will demonstrate a deeper comprehension of advanced pathophysiology and pharmacologic knowledge according to professional standards of care across the lifespan in primary health care clinical settings. Continued growth of the student’s family nurse practitioner’s role and responsibilities in the provision of patient centered, ethical, culturally competent care is a course expectation. Prerequisite: NU 806.

This course will guide a student through the process of defining, implementing, evaluating and disseminating a scholarly clinical DNP Project. This 1-credit course is required three times throughout the DNP and DNP-FNP Programs. The student and DNP Project Chair to collaborate to enact the DNP Project with the student to serve as leader, under the direction of the DNP Project Chair The ongoing progression and final outcome of this course is related to innovation, quality improvement, evidence-based practice, health care system changes, or aggregate health improvements. Students will disseminate project findings through presentations and written assignments prior to graduation. Prerequisite: NU 702.

This DNP Project continuation course is required if a DNP student is not able to successfully complete their DNP Project by the end of NU892. A continuation fee, equivalent to one credit hour, will be assessed for every semester the student is enrolled in NU893. Students are required to be continuously enrolled (fall, spring, summer) in NU893 until the DNP Project has been successfully completed. Students have three years to complete their DNP Project once enrolling in NU893. Students will disseminate project findings through presentations and written assignments prior to graduation. This section is for students who do not complete the project through NU 890, NU 891, and NU 892. Prerequisite: NU 892.