Courses

Admission to a directed studies course is at the sole discretion of the Dean. These courses may be used for remediation or to develop a specific area of student interest.

This course focuses on nursing care of adults experiencing complex conditions with a focus on surgical care in hospital and community-based settings. Emphasis is placed on the nursing process considering factors that influence wellness in the midst of illness, pathophysiology of selected conditions, and sociocultural influences in health care.

This course focuses on experiential learning in the provision of nursing care for adults with complex acute and chronic illnesses who are recovering from surgical procedures. Emphasis is on the delivery of safe, client-centered and evidence-informed health care to adult clients. Clinical reasoning is emphasized in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care.

Key elements of professional nursing practice are explored through reading and discussion and applied in the development of a personal professional practice model. These key elements include theoretical and theological foundations of nursing, application of relevant theory to practice, critical analysis of pertinent nursing issues, ethical thinking and decision making, therapeutic relational aspects of client care, and responsible communication with clients, colleagues, and the public.

Key concepts and processes of leadership are explored as they apply to nursing and health care. Students have the opportunity to examine and develop leadership skills required in contemporary nursing practice. Exercises promote the development and application of values and philosophies of nursing leaders within a Christian worldview

Concepts of nursing care are applied to the provision of acute, rehabilitative, or palliative nursing care and health promotion in acute or community placements.

An exploration of the historical and current trends in nursing theory and philosophy. Students explore the role of models, meta-paradigms, concept analyses and middle range theories in relation to traditional and emerging views of science. Issues and controversies within nursing philosophy are introduced with emphasis on understanding the relevance of these debates for both the health care system and the discipline of nursing.

This course addresses the principles of knowledge synthesis as the basis for informing nursing theory and practice. Students broaden their understanding of different kinds of evidence while learning the skills of locating, coding, synthesizing, and applying evidence from research studies. Students learn to draw on Christian values and principles to critically reflect on the implications of evidence-based knowledge for theory and practice.

An entry-level course in understanding the philosophical foundations of nursing inquiry and evidence with a focus on qualitative methods. Students explore the inquiry process in the context of the following methods: phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, critical inquiry, narrative analysis, historical and philosophic inquiry. The processes of data collection, analysis, and interpretation are examined. Attention is given to Christian values and principles in relation to research ethics and the applicability of research findings to the various contexts of nursing practice.