Critical Care I
NURS5522
3 Credit Hours

Course Description
This course focuses on advanced concepts of critical care related to multi-organ/system function and dysfunction.  Nursing care relating to physiology, assessment, pathophysiology, system failure, and clinical management of the cardiovascular system, pulmonary system, renal system, and endocrine system are addressed.  Core concepts of complex pathophysiology, current treatment modalities, and advanced nursing roles are integrated in discussions of providing care to critically ill patients.


Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:

  1. Summarize normal function and structure of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal and endocrine system.
  2. Identify appropriate nursing assessment and management for patients with complex cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine alterations.
  3. Describe the major pathophysiology underlying common complex disorders of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine systems.
  4. Describe indications for and associated nursing interventions for patients undergoing diagnostic procedures of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine system.
  5. Summarize clinical indications and nursing management of hemodynamic monitoring and other specialized equipment used in the care of critically ill patients.
  6. Analyze data obtained through specialized assessment equipment and laboratory tests used to evaluate the cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine systems in critically ill patients.
  7. Evaluate current evidence for practice in caring for patients with complex alterations of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, and endocrine systems.

Prerequisites:  NURS 5103 Advanced Pathophysiology


Course Topics

              I.      Cardiovascular System

      a.       Anatomy and Physiology of the Cardiovascular System
b.      Cardiovascular Assessment
c.       Coronary Artery Disease
                 i.      Acute Coronary Syndrome
               ii.     
Myocardial infarction
             
iii.     
Congestive heart failure
d.      Cardiomyopathy
e.       Aortic Aneurysms
f.        Peripheral Arterial Disease
g.       Cardiovascular Interventions
               
i.      Cardiac pacing
              
ii.     
Intra Aortic Balloon Pump
h.       Advanced Concepts of Nursing Management of Patients with Cardiovascular Disorders

           II.      Pulmonary System

      a.       Anatomy and Physiology of the Respiratory System
b.      Respiratory Assessment
c.       Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
d.      Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome
e.       Pulmonary Embolus
f.        Pnuemothorax
g.       Pnuemonia
h.       Pulmonary Therapies
             
i.     
Oxygen therapy
            
ii.     
Chest tubes
           
iii.     
Mechanical ventilation
i.         Advanced Concepts of Nursing Management

         III.      Renal System

      a.       Anatomy and Physiology of the Renal System
b.      Renal Assessment
c.       Renal Failure
d.      Renal Therapies
            
i.     
Hemo-dialysis
           
ii.     
Peritoneal dialysis
          
iii.     
Continuous renal replacement therapies
e.       Advanced Concepts of Nursing Management

        IV.      Endocrine System

      a.       Diabetic Ketoacidosis
b.      Hyperglycemic Hypersomolar Nonketotic Syndrome
c.       Diabetes Insipidus
d.      Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiueritc Hormone

           V.      Advanced Nursing Roles in Critical Care

      a.       Clinical Nurse Specialist
b.      Nurse Practitioner
c.       Nurse Educator
d.      Professional Roles


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

Supplemental Texts

Assigned periodicals, documents, position statements, and Internet online articles.

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:
There are no examinations in this course.  

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.


Grading Procedure

Module 2 article review

5%

Module 3 paper

10%

Module 4 paper

10%
Module 6 ABG assignment 5%
Module 12 article summary 10%
Module - Group Assignments (X2 - 5% each) 10%
Modules Individual Assignments - based on students enrolled 
(% equally divided based on number of assignments)
20%
Synthesis Paper 20%
Online Discussions (10 required as posted - late postings will not receive credit.  1% per posting can be earned) 10%

Grading Scale

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


Assignments and Projects
Participation in online discussions of course content is expected as topics are introduced and as applied to assigned readings. 


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. Because the WebCT system has its own way of formatting material posted on the discussion feature, the student will not be expected to strictly follow APA guidelines for online submissions. However, the student is held to academic standards of writing style and the use of proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. 

Students must participate in ALL module group discussions.  Discussions 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 will be graded as follows: Material is substantive, thoughtful, analytical, reflects the readings and meets posted criteria = 1 point.  No (0) credit will be given if information does not this stated requirement.  Discussion postings must be dated within the timeframe for each module.  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. 

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 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.


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://askrodp.custhelp.com or call the AskRODP Help Desk at      1-866-550-RODP (1-866-550-7637)