Nursing (NURS) 520
Foundations of Advanced Nursing Practice
Delivery Mode: Paced/home-study online
Credits: 3
Area of Study: Applied Studies
Prerequisite: NURS 519, and NURS 521, or professor approval.
Introduction
NURS 520 Foundations of Advanced Nursing Practice is the first course in a program of study leading to the Post Master's Diploma: Advanced Nursing Practice or the Master of Nursing degree.
NURS 520 introduces concepts and principles on which the nurse practitioner role is based. These include competencies of advanced nursing practice, principles of primary health care and community development, determinants of health, and evidence-based practice.
Athabasca University’s Advanced Nursing Practice program incorporates two interrelated components. The first component is community health development. NURS 520 introduces students to a model for community health development that will be applied with communities throughout the program. The provision of clinical services is the second component of advanced nursing practice. NURS 520 introduces a clinical decision-making process that students will use in later courses to diagnose and treat common health concerns of individual clients of all ages.
In addition, NURS 520 has a five-day residency component that provides students with an intensive health assessment practicum in a group setting.
Course Goals
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- discuss the characteristics and competencies of advanced nursing practice and the role of the nurse practitioner;
- discuss the regulation of nurse practitioners within their province or territory
- analyze the significance of the following concepts and principles that form the foundation of the role of the nurse practitioner:
- primary health care (accessibility, participation, collaboration, health promotion, appropriate technology)
- community development (connective processes, collaboration, empowerment, advocacy, organizational actions)
- determinants of health of individuals and populations, with particular attention to vulnerable clients
- critical social theory
- group dynamics and conflict resolution
- relate the above concepts and principles to the clinical services and community health development components of the role of the nurse practitioner;
- discuss the application of a clinical decision-making process in the provision of clinical services to individual clients, including health assessment, nursing and medical diagnosis and intervention, ordering and interpretation of diagnostic tests, and prescription of medications;
- discuss the application of a community development process in the provision of community health development services, including assessment of community needs and strengths, diagnosis of priority community health concerns, and promotion of community health;
- apply health assessment skills in the Residency Component;
- apply a community assessment model to begin to collect data about a geopolitical community;
- identify sources of evidence that can inform the practice of nurse practitioners, including health indicators, research, and clinical guidelines;
- consider the significance of environmental scanning of trends to develop a personal future scenario of a role as a nurse practitioner.
Course Materials
NURS 520 comprises online and print-based materials.
Online Materials
- Introduction: Provides essential information about the course materials, the design of the course, and the procedures you should follow to complete the course successfully.
- Schedule: Outlines the timing of course activities
- Units: There are 7 units in this course.
- Assessment: Outlines the assignments/evaluation procedures of the course.
- Reference: Listing of required readings, websites, and mobile resources included in the units.
- Clinical Practicum: Explains how to prepare for the clinical practicum requirements of future courses.
- Community Health Development: Explains how to complete the community assessment requirements of the course.
- Residency Component: Explains the requirements of the one-week Residency Component.
- Advanced Health Assessment Videos: Streaming videos that demonstrate health assessment techniques and procedures.
Print Materials
The textbooks listed below are used in this course.
Hamric, A., Spross, J., & Hanson, C. (2009). Advanced nursing practice: An integrative approach (4th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders.
Vollman A, Anderson E, McFarlane J (2011) Canadian Community as partner (3rd ed). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins ISBN/ISSN: 9781605477091
Digital Material
Dains, J., Baumann, L., Scheibel, P. (2012). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care – Pageburst Retail (User Guide and Access Code), 4th Edition. Elsevier.
Course Structure
NURS 520 is an asynchronous online course. This means there is no predetermined time when you must log on; you are required to log on at least once a week. However, at a specified time each week, I will make an online presentation that relates to the topic of the week and the issues of the day.
This presentation will include a list of discussion questions and will set the tone for the online discussion. The purpose of the weekly input is to keep everyone focused on the same topic. Once the online presentation is posted, you may add to the discussion at any time. Logging on several times a week is desirable so that discussion continues back and forth among participants.
In this course, you will access health-related websites worldwide. You will also participate in email and computer conferencing with other students. Students are expected to connect to an Internet Service Provider at their own expense.
In addition, NURS 520 has a five-day residency component that provides students with an intensive health assessment practicum in a group setting.
Technical Requirements
Computer System
In order to successfully complete this course, you must own or have ready access to certain computer hardware and software programs. For complete and up-to-date information on the minimum computer requirements required to complete the graduate nursing courses, visit the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies technical site.
Course Outline
NURS 520 consists of the following 7 units:
Unit 1: Introduction to the Role of the Nurse Practitioner
This unit “sets the stage” for the remainder of the course. Students study the characteristics and competencies of advanced nursing practice, narrowing the focus to the advanced nursing practice role of the nurse practitioner. Students investigate their province or territory’s approach to regulating nurse practitioners. Students begin to study the two components of Athabasca University’s Advanced Nursing Practice program: clinical services and community health development.
Unit 2: Clinical Services for Nurse Practitioners
This unit introduces students to a decision-making framework and skills that are used in the provision of clinical services to individuals of all life stages. The unit assists students to gain an initial understanding of the clinical decision making model used in the Advanced Nursing Practice program. Students learn the processes of history taking and advanced health assessment and recognize the importance of a client-centred approach based on cultural sensitivity and ethical awareness.
Unit 3: Advanced Health Assessment for Nurse Practitioners
Unit 3 focuses on the study of advanced health assessment skills that will be evaluated in the Residency Component and used in the clinical practicum of later courses. Following an introduction to advanced health assessment, students complete a review of health assessment organized in a body-systems approach.
Unit 4: Community Health Development for Nurse Practitioners
In Unit 4, students study a model to promote healthy living and multisectoral engagement in community health development initiatives. That model is the "Community as Partner" model and in this unit, students explore the model and being to collect community data to support community health development planning in future courses.
Unit 5: Guiding Principles for Nurse Practitioners
In this unit, students explore underlying principles that are the foundation of the clinical services and community services provided by nurse practitioners. These are principles of primary health care, community development and population health.
Unit 6: Evidence-Based Practice for Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners base their practice on evidence, including both research-based evidence and clinical expertise. This unit introduces students to the meaning of evidence-based practice and identifies sources of evidence that can be used to inform practice.
Unit 7: The Future for Nurse Practitioners
The final unit helps students develop ideas about possible futures of nurse practitioners. Students learn about environmental scanning, an approach to discerning trends for the future. Students read a variety of perspectives of the future of nurse practitioners, and begin to shape ideas about their own futures as nurse practitioners.
Assessment Structure
The assessment structure for NURS 520 is based on the following course activities, with the percentage weighting of each activity as indicated. Your final grade for the course will be a composite mark based on your performance on these course activities.
| Conference Participation | 25% |
| Assignment 1 | 25% |
| Assignment 2 | 25% |
| Advanced Health Assessment Examination | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
| ALSO: Residency Component | Pass/Fail |
In order to pass NURS 520, you must achieve a minimum mark of 60% on conference participation and a minimum average mark of 60% on the two written assignments.
The passing mark for the Advanced Health Assessment Examination is 75%. See below for additional information.
In addition to the requirements outlined above, students must pass the Residency Component. See below for additional information.
If the minimum mark is not achieved on any element of the assessment structure (conference participation, written assignments, advanced health assessment examination or residency component), then a failing grade will be assigned for NURS 520. If the student re-registers in NURS 520, then all elements of the course must be repeated (conference participation, written assignments, examination, and Residency Component).
Conference Participation (25%)
Feedback regarding conference participation will be ongoing. Quality of input (not quantity) is the goal. Feedback will focus on the student's ability to provide organized and original contributions that reflect analysis and synthesis of the material presented.
Assignment 1: Symptom Analysis Paper (25%)
In this paper the student will choose a symptom and relate the history and physical findings relevant to that symptom.
Assignment 2: Community Health Development Assignment (25%)
Assignment 2 consists of completing the NURS 520 Community Health Development Assignment.
Advanced Health Assessment Examination (25%)
The Advanced Health Assessment Examination is a multiple choice examination written prior to the Residency Component. The passing mark for the Advanced Health Assessment Examination is 75%.
Residency Component (Pass/Fail)
The Residency Component (including participation and successful completion of OSCE assessments) is marked on a pass/fail basis. Students must pass the Residency Component in order to pass NURS 520.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
View previous syllabus
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Last updated by G. Zahara 02/22/2012 07:59:36
