Nursing (NURS) 526

Introduction

This course is part of a program of study leading to the Post Master's Diploma: Nurse Practitioner or the Master of Nursing: Nurse Practitioner degree.

In Nursing 526: Nurse Practitioner Practice: Adults, students study the following:

• the primary health care principle of health promotion;
• the community development principle of advocacy;
• the nurse practitioner competency of research;
• the provision of primary health care to adults.

Students learn to provide primary health care to adults including wellness counseling for healthy adults, management of acute and chronic conditions common to adults, assessment and treatment of common mental health conditions, and referral of conditions requiring management by other health professionals. All units are organized through the lens of health promotion and illness prevention at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Students complete a minimum of 140 hours of clinical practice focusing on health care provision to adults. Students are required to a successfully pass the clinical component in order to achieve a passing grade in the course; additional hours over and above 140 may be required in order to achieve course objectives. By the end of your NURS 526 practicum you must have logged a minimum of 90 hours in providing health care to adults, the remaining 50 hours may be obtained in care of clients in other life stages. By the end of NURS 530 you must have logged a total of at least 140 hours of clinical practice in the care of clients in the adult age group.

Course Goals

After completing this course, students should be able to:

1. critically analyze the primary health care principle of health promotion, the community development principle of advocacy, and the NP competency of research, and discuss how these influence the health of individual clients and communities;
2. examine concepts important to advocacy, explore the process of advocacy, and consider strategies for advocacy by the nurse practitioner as they apply to individuals and communities;
3. identify and implement strategies to foster the illness prevention and health promotion behaviours of clients;
4. identify factors that affect health and well being including the determinants of health and the social determinants of health;
5. identify and utilize current recommendations for preventative screening in the adult population;
6. utilize clinical practice guidelines and review internet-based sources of information about evidence-based health care for adults;
7. screen for and assess selected mental health issues in the adult population, with a view to prevention, diagnosis, treatment (including urgent /emergency care) and on-going management;
8. provide evidence-based clinical services to well adults and to those presenting with common acute and chronic health concerns, at a level appropriate to a beginning practitioner, including:
   1. health history and physical examination
   2. clinical decision-making
   3. ordering of laboratory and diagnostic tests
   4. prescription of medication and treatments
   5. administering treatments or procedures
   6. therapeutic communications
   7. collaborative relationships
   8. documentation of clinical data, diagnoses, collaborations, communications and treatments, monitoring and follow-up;
9. recognize emergency and urgent presentations in adults in the primary care setting and initiate appropriate interventions;
10. articulate, promote and practice evidence-based primary, secondary and tertiary health promotion and illness prevention strategies along the health-illness continuum;
11. demonstrate integration of medical and nursing management of adult health concerns;
12. refer adults with health concerns that exceed the scope of practice of a beginning nurse practitioner to other health professionals or other appropriate resources;
13. review societal trends and indicators that affect the health of adults;
14. locate, interpret and apply research to inform nurse practitioner practice.

Course Materials

NURS 526 comprises online and print-based course 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: Contains the seven units that make up the course
• Assessment: Outlines the assignments/evaluation procedures of the course
• Reference: Listing of required readings, mobile resources and websites included in the units
• Clinical Practicum: Explains how to complete the clinical practicum requirements of the course

Print Materials

The textbooks listed below are used in this course.

Other Materials

Textbooks and readings from other Nurse Practitioner Practice courses will be used as appropriate.

Course Structure

NURS 526 is an asynchronous, paced online course. The course instructor and the class members will participate in unit conferences to discuss unit content and related issues. The course includes Internet access to health-related Websites around the world, participation in electronic mail, and computer conferencing with students from across the country.

Technical Requirements

Computer System

In order to participate in the program, each student must own or have ready access to the following minimum computer hardware and software. Students are advised that PCs are the primary equipment supported by Athabasca University's Helpdesk. Only limited assistance for other hardware and software platforms is offered. Students are responsible for their own communication costs such as long distance telephone charges and subscriptions to an Internet node, or any other communications service requirements.

Course Outline

NURS 526 consists of the following 7 units:

Unit 1: Primary Health Care and Nurse Practitioners: Health Promotion
Nursing 526 Nurse Practitioner Practice: Adults focuses on the primary health care principle of health promotion. Health promotion is discussed through the lens of two foundational Canadian documents that present health promotion from both individual and community perspectives and inform intervention strategies throughout the wellness continuum. The student will learn to employ the "Stages of Change" model in health promotion activities with individuals, and the "Community as Partner" model when working with the health promotion of communities.

Unit 2: Nurse Practitioner Practice and the Well Adult
In this unit, the student will focus on the delivery of clinical health services to well adults. Students learn about health promotion for the well adult, and the primary and secondary prevention of illnesses in adult clients.

Unit 3: Nurse Practitioner Practice and Secondary Prevention, Health Promotion and Episodic Care of Adults with Acute Presentations
In this unit, the student will focus on the delivery of clinical health services to adults with common acute health conditions. Health promotion and illness prevention are explored in relation to episodic illness in the adult. The student will also learn to distinguish emergency situations from routine presentations and will review how to initiate and transfer care. Simple wound closure methods are also reviewed in this unit.

Unit 4: Nurse Practitioner Practice: Tertiary Prevention, Health Promotion and Primary Care of Adults with Chronic Presentations
In this unit, the student will review the diagnosis, treatment and management of adults with chronic diseases in the primary care setting. Special emphasis is given to hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, COPD and asthma. The student will also explore tertiary prevention and health promotion strategies for adults with chronic conditions along the wellness continuum.

Unit 5: Nurse Practitioner Practice: Adult Mental Health
In this unit students study mental health and mental illness through primary, secondary and tertiary prevention and health promotion perspectives. Diagnosis and treatment of common acute and common chronic mental health conditions are studied. As well, students will learn to screen for and identify mental health emergencies in the primary care setting.

Unit 6: Nurse Practitioner Practice and the Community Health Development Principle of Advocacy
In Unit 6 students study the concepts important to advocacy, explore the process of advocacy, and consider strategies involved with advocacy as they apply to individuals and communities.

Unit 7: Nurse Practitioner Practice and the ANP Competency of Research
In the last unit of NURS 526 students will consider the Canadian Nurses Association ANP Core Competency of research. Students explore the definition of research as it applies to this competency, and learn to locate, interpret, and incorporate research into their practice with adults.