Advanced Adult Health Nursing II 
NURS 5503
3 Credit Hours

Course Description
This course focuses on the theoretical and conceptual basis for nursing management of clients experiencing chronic illness from social, cultural, psychological, physical, spiritual, and economic perspectives.

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

1. Synthesize knowledge of theories and research related to chronic illness from nursing, sciences, and the humanities.
2. Analyze the impact of chronic illness on the client and their families from social, psychological, physical, spiritual, and economic perspectives.
3. Analyze the physiologic, pathophysiologic, and behavioral indicators of chronic illness problems.
4. Describe therapeutic approaches for symptom management in clients experiencing chronic illness.
5. Describe health-related resources potentially useful in managing the long-term effects of chronic illness.
6. Discuss the roles of the advanced practice nurse in caring for the chronically ill client.
7. Analyze ethical dilemmas and issues which impact the care of the chronically ill client.

Prerequisites: NURS 5000 Theoretical Foundations; NURS 5103 Advanced Pathophysiology; NURS 5501 Advanced Adult Health Nursing I 

Course Topics

I. The Impact of Disease on Chronic Illness
 1. Chronicity
 2. Illness Behavior and Roles
 3. Stigma
 4. Chronic Pain
 5. Self-Efficacy
 6. Social Isolation
 7. Altered Mobility and Fatigue
 8. Body Image

II. The Impact on the Client and Family
 9. Quality of Life
10. Compliance
11. Family Caregivers
12. Sexuality
13. Powerlessness 

III. Impact of the Health Professional
14. change Agent. Client Education
15. Client and Family Education
16. Advocacy
17. Research in Chronic Illness
18. Ethics in Chronic Illness
19. Nurse Case Management
20. The Advanced Practice Nurse in Chronic Illness
21. Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Therapies

IV. Impact of the System
22. Home Health Care
23. Palliative Care
24. Long-Term Care
25. Rehabilitation
26. Politics and Policy
27. Financial Impact

Course Requirements:
Knowledge and skill in using WebCT.

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

Supplementary Materials:
Supplemental periodicals and journal articles assigned by instructor.

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

Software Requirements:
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), and Acrobat Reader.

Instructor Information:
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.

Testing Procedures:
All course requirements are submitted online. No early or late access to test will be given.  Any student not taking an examination on the posted date(s) will receive a 0 points.  

Academic Integrity:
Evidence of academic misconduct will result in a grade of F for the course. You are responsible for completing your own assignments. Sharing with any other student(s) or accepting assistance from someone else constitutes academic misconduct. Honesty is required in all course work. Any form of dishonesty will result in a zero grade for the specific project and could result in failure of this course.

Assessment and Grading:

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

Assignments and Projects:
Students are expected to analyze current treatment modalities, engage in health promotion activities, and evaluate clinical research applications.  Assignments/activities are posted within each module.  All work is expected to be that of the student alone unless specifically identified as a group project.  Plagiarism is unacceptable and is considered an act of academic misconduct.

Class Participation:
Students are expected to actively participate in all interactive aspects of the course. Student must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events. Each discussion question posted will be assigned a date by which the student must respond. All students are encouraged to interact on the discussion board with each other and the faculty. Students are required to respond to all discussion questions. Responses to discussion questions must be substantive, reflect the readings, thoughtful, and analytical.

Students must participate in ALL module group discussions.  Discussions and responses are expected to demonstrate an understanding and synthesis of course material.  Responses must be substantive and add to discussions in an educational manner.  “I agree” responses or postings that only pose questions with no presentation of research based information will not count for credit.  Discussions/responses will be graded as follows: Material is substantive, thoughtful, analytical, reflects the readings and meets posted criteria = 1 point maximum per discussion posting/0.5 points for discussion postings to a maximum of 1 point per discussion.  No (0) credit will be given if information does not this stated requirement. Discussion postings must be dated within the timeframe for each assignment.  No early or late postings will be given credit.  There are no make up dates for postings.  See course calendar for module dates.

Punctuality:
Students are expected to submit assignments on time and to complete the course in the time required.  Students who submit assignments late will receive point reductions for late work. 

• Check the course calendar for due dates of all assignments
• Check the course bulletin board for announcements
• Check the mail box for messages

Late assignments/papers will have the assignment grade reduced 10% (10 points) at any time after the due time the first 24 hours and another 10% (10 points) at any time during the second 24 hours (e.g., paper due 5am on a given day - if received at 6am on that day paper will be assessed a late penalty of 10 points; paper received 26 hours past due date and time will be assessed a 20 point penalty).  Penalties are in addition to points that may be lost from assignment grading. After 48 hours, late assignments will receive a zero grade and will not be accepted. No make-up assignments will be given.

Course Ground Rules:
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.

Guidelines for Communications

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 type in all caps.
• 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.

Library
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.
Students with Disabilities

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.

Students with Disabilities
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.

Syllabus Changes
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.

Technical Support
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://help.rodp.org or call the AskRODP Help Desk at 1-866-550-RODP (1-866-550-7637)