Master of Science in Nursing

This course incorporates expanded content in systems theory; market forces impacting financial transactions in health care; quality control and improvement; leadership in health care organizations; characteristics and competencies associated with successful health care organizations; concepts that focus on governance, organizational behavior, organizational communication, and information management; and legal and ethical aspects of managing in a health care organization. Class work is complemented by a case study that incorporates an organization’s challenges specific to health care delivery within the contemporary financial and social environment.

This course focuses on the critical aspects of human resource management, including legal and ethical aspects of policy implementation. Aspects of hiring, disciplinary action, performance improvement, and workforce management are examined. The course addresses health care finance, incorporating unit-based budget preparation and management to organizational financial management. You will explore basic operations management and quality improvement issues from the unit-based perspective as well as national accreditation standards at both the service and organizational levels. Competition for market share is reviewed concurrent with marketing of health care services. You will utilize your workplace environment for the exploration, development, and application of course content.

This course is the capstone course in the Master of Science in Nursing program. The course consists of three integrated sections: discussions related to strategic planning, business planning, and business continuity planning; a self-directed practicum in which you will develop a business plan; and discussions related to the knowledge and skills of the nurse administrator. The course will enable you to apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout your graduate studies to your future career.

This course builds upon basic pharmacology knowledge in order for the master’s-prepared nurse to apply knowledge of medications to the care of clients across the lifespan. The course emphasizes principles of pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics of the major classes of medications as well as principles of safe medication use.

This course builds upon basic health assessment to prepare you to obtain a complete and accurate health assessment (including history, physical examination, and commonly used screening tools) as a foundation for advanced nursing practice with clients across the lifespan. The course emphasizes critical analysis and synthesis of physical exam data, relevant health history data, critical risk appraisal of physical and mental status, assessment of nutrition, and anticipatory guidance relevant to health promotion and disease prevention. Faculty will guide your experiences to ensure the development of diagnostic reasoning and communication skills.

This course prepares you to apply theoretical concepts related to education, learning, and nursing to teaching in nursing. Topics include history of curriculum in nursing, theories of teaching and learning, instructional design theory and methods, technology use in education, learner diversity, and curriculum development. A precepted practicum experience will coincide with didactic coursework. You will choose a preceptor/mentor in an educational role who can facilitate role development and the implementation of your work. You will be required to critique an existing curriculum, develop a course or unit of study within an existing curriculum, and implement a portion of the course or program using technology. You will also be required to participate in weekly discussions in the online classroom. Your work will become part of your portfolio and be shared with peers in the electronic classroom.

This course prepares you to measure and assess learners in a variety of nursing contexts (e.g., testing, clinical evaluation, via simulation) as well as evaluate curriculum on the program level. Topics include foundations of educational measurement and evaluation, learner assessment, outcome development, the evaluation of critical thinking, and the context of nursing education. You will take part in a concurrent, precepted practicum in which you will engage in clinical education and evaluation of learners, as well as the development of assessment strategies. You will have an opportunity to reflect on the multiple roles of the nurse educator in practice. Prerequisites: completion of NR 510, 520, 530, 541,542, 551, or permission of the program director.

This three-credit course may be taken at any point during the latter half of the master’s program, either concurrently with one of the other courses or after completion of the six-course program. The course will satisfy the requirements of some states (e.g., Texas and California) that stipulate advanced coursework in pharmacology, pathophysiology, and health assessment for nurse educators. This course focuses on the pathophysiology, assessment, and evidence-based interventions of select acute and chronic conditions across the lifespan and expand on undergraduate-level knowledge of disease entities commonly found in the patient populations cared for by students.