Course Information

Course Description:

This is an introductory course for licensed practical nurses preparing to enter into an associate degree nursing program.  It is designed to assess the student’s current knowledge of nursing content in the areas of professional roles, critical thinking, nursing process, assessment, and selected medical-surgical topics.

Course Objectives:

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

     1. Identify and discuss the roles and competencies of the Registered Nurse.

     2. Discuss the concepts and processes fundamental to the practice of nursing: nursing

        process, critical thinking, care and caring, communication, documentation, self-care, and

         teaching/learning related to patient/family education.

     3. Discuss the legal scope of professional nursing (Nurse Practice Act).

     4. Describe the roles and responsibilities of the Registered nurse within the healthcare delivery

         system.

     5. Identify the focus of nursing care in the community.

     6. Discuss the principles and rules of healthcare ethics.

     7. Explain and give examples of crimes and torts.

     8. Describe legal protections for nurses.

     9. Discuss concepts essential for human functioning and nursing management: health and

          wellness, life span development and the older adult, culture and ethnicity, and spiritual

          health.

    10. Describe and discuss the concepts and components of selected clinical nursing

          therapeutics: nursing assessment, medication administration, intravenous therapy,

          perioperative care, mobility and body mechanics, fluid, electrolyte, and acid–base

          balances.

Prerequisites and Corequisites:

Practical nurse currently licensed. Admission to clinical nursing at home school.

Course Topics:

1. Nursing today: concepts, processes, influences, roles, and responsibilities.

2. Community-based nursing.

3. Legal scope of nursing (Nurse Practice Act) and Legal/ethical issues in nursing.

4. Critical thinking.

5. Concepts essential for human functioning and nursing management: health and wellness, lifespan development and the older adult, culture and ethnicity, spiritual health, communication, teaching/learning in patient education.

6. Nursing assessment of human function.

7. Nursing process.

8.  Selected clinical nursing therapeutics: medication administration, intravenous therapy, perioperative care, mobility and body mechanics, fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balances.

Specific Course Requirements:

The student will need to know how or be willing to learn how to use word processing capabilities and an internet browser in order to access and complete assignments.

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

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

Supplementary Materials:

Tabors Cyclopedic Dictionary, F. A. Davis Company (20th Edition)

Hardware Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include...

Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include Acrobat Reader and Powerpoint 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.

Assessment and Grading

Testing Procedures: All quizzes and exams are online.  Quizzes and exams will include multiple choice and short answer questions related to the required reading assignments.  All quizzes and exams will be timed.  If the student does not finish in the time allotted, only answers submitted before the time expired will be accepted.  Technical problems that arise during testing should be addressed immediately with technical support and the instructor.

Examinations: Three online examinations will include the final.  The dates for these exams are posted on the course calendar.  The student is required to complete the exams on the posted dates.  Exam format will consist of multiple choice and/or short answer questions.

Grading Procedure:

Weekly assignments         30%

Weekly quizzes                 10%

Exam 1                             20%

Exam 2                              20%

Exam 3                              20%

Grading Scale:

92-100---A
83-91---- B
75-82---- C
70-74---- D

69 or below----F

Assignments and Participation

Assignments and Projects:  There will be a quiz each week over the assigned readings.

Week 1: Write your own definitions of “nurse” and nursing.”   List and define the roles of the registered nurse.

Week 2: Discuss the focus of community-based nursing.  What roles and responsibilities does the nurse have in helping patients transition for a hospital back into the community?

Week 3: List and define the intentional and unintentional torts.  Define and give and example of “negligence.”  What are the four proofs of negligence?

Week 4: Define and discuss the concept of critical thinking and how it applies to nursing.

Week 5: Exam 1

Week 6: Do a self-health assessment (in module).  Discuss the effects of culture and ethnicity, and spirituality on health and healthcare delivery.

Week 7: Discuss how to apply the concepts of communication to the nurse-patient relationship and patient teaching.

Week 8: What are the components of a complete health assessment?

Week 9: Define and discuss the components of the “nursing process.”

Week 10: Exam 2

Week 11: What are the nurse’s responsibilities in medication administration and intravenous therapy?

Week 12: Discuss the nurse’s responsibilities in the perioperative and outpatient cycle?

Week 13: Discuss functional positioning and mobility of the patient.

Week 14: Discuss fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balances.

Week 15: Exam 3

Class Participation:

 The student is expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource, check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements.

Punctuality:

 The student is expected to check the course calendar for the due dates of assignments and check e-mails and the course bulletin board frequently for announcements. 

Course Ground Rules

The student is expected to:

• Learn how to navigate in the Web CT system.
• Keep abreast of course announcements
• Use the assigned college 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: (if required)

• Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
• 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 other’s 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: (if used)

• 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 suggestion

Web Resources:

• Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor
• Citation Styles Online http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html

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 their

 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 left 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 e-mail communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:

If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://askrodp.custhelp.com