Clinical Focus - Practicum

NURS 5207

2 Credit Hours

8 contact hours/week

This practicum experience focuses on the synthesis of previously gained knowledge and skills in the provision of advanced nursing care to individuals, families and communities.  Emphasis is placed on management of clients within a clinical focus area.

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Implement advanced practice care in the management of clients within a clinical focus area.
2. Use theory and research findings from nursing, the sciences, and humanities to draw inferences regarding the health status of clients.
3. Collaborate with colleagues and professionals from multiple disciplines in initiating and evaluating health promotion and disease prevention programs.
4. Implement nursing interventions that are designed to attain and maintain maximal functional wellness in a variety of settings.
5. Utilize leadership potential for initiating changes that impact health promotion and disease prevention behaviors.
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and management strategies in improving the health status of individuals and groups.

Prerequisites:  NURS 5103; 3 hours (1 course) in selected clinical focus area

Pre or co-requisite:  2^nd  course in sequence of 2 clinical focus courses

Application of content presented in the pre-requisite theory/clinical courses

1.                  Clinical practice experience with an approved CNS or MD preceptor in an approved setting for 120 hours during the term

2.                  An online clinical seminar will be held every other week to present students’ experiences and to participate in faculty/student problem solving. Submit at least one clinical reference with presentation outline.

3.                  Cyberspace role-playing using a variety of scenarios to refine the roles of the clinical nurse specialist.

4.                  Every 2 weeks, turn in clinical logs for all practice hours.

5.                  Preceptor evaluation

6.         Faculty evaluation

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course: http://rodp.bkstr.com

All previous required texts for the clinical focus area.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. 

A video-camera is also required for this course.

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. 

Additional software requirements for this course include Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint), Acrobat Reader, and supporting software for video-conferencing.

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

All written course requirements are submitted online. 

Note: If the clinical performance of any student is characterized by unethical, unprofessional or unsafe behavior that places a client in jeopardy, the student will receive a failing grade for the course. Any student who receives an unsatisfactory on their clinical evaluation from the faculty preceptor or from the clinical preceptor will receive a failing grade for the course.

 The course grade is based on the following:

Completion of 120 hours of clinical practicum with an approved

CNS or M.D.                                                                                                 Pass/Fail

Participation in clinical seminars                                                                                   Pass/Fail

Advanced Practice Project                                                                                                40%

Biweekly clinical logs                                                                                                         60%

Preceptor evaluation (see evaluation tool)                                                                    Pass/Fail

Faculty evaluation (see evaluation tool)                                                           Pass/Fail

A  = 93-100
B  = 85-92
C  = 77-84
D  = 70-76
F  = <70

The student is expected to participate by responding to email and bulletin board chats with classmates for interactive feedback on assignments on at least a weekly basis. It is especially important for students in an on-line course to maintain contact with their instructor.  The instructor must hear from every student at least once a week; if during a given week, a student fails to make contact in some way (by submitting an assignment or participating in a chat or discussion), he or she must email the instructor, even if the student is sick or out of town.  A student who fails to contact the instructor on a regular basis may miss important updates or even fail the course.

Students are expected to:

•         Check the course calendar for the due dates of assignments.

•         Check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements.

The student is expected to:

•         Learn how to navigate in the WebCT system.

•         Participate by responding to all discussion questions.

•         Keep abreast of course announcements.

•         Use the assigned college or university e-mail address as opposed to a personal e-mail address.

•         Contact the instructor if unclear about assignment expectations.

•         Address technical problems immediately.

            Email:

•         Always include a subject line.

•         Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way.

•         Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.

•         Use standard fonts.

•         Do not send large attachments without permission.

•         Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.

•         Respect the privacy of other class members.

            Discussion Groups:

•         Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion.

•         Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.

•         Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group.

•         Be respectful of others’ ideas.

•         Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.

•         Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.

•         Be positive and constructive in group discussions.

•         Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

            Chat:

•         Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.

•         Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.

•         Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.

•         Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.

•         Be constructive in your comments and suggestions.

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses.

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with his/her home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

If you are having problems logging into the course, timing out of the course, using the course web site tools, or other technical problems, please visit the AskRODP Customer Support web page at http://askrodp.custhelp.com or call the AskRODP Help Desk at 1-866-550-RODP (1-866-550-7637)