This course is designed to prepare you to critically analyze research literature. Emphasis will be placed on critically reading and interpreting published research in terms of applicability to the practice of healthcare professionals.

The focus of NURP411, Scholarly Inquiry, is the development of a scholarly project, which provides students with the opportunity to evaluate and review evidence and apply this evidence to clinical practice. In collaboration with the faculty, students will work in small groups to identify a scholarly question, develop a context for the question with a problem statement, implement an in-depth, comprehensive literature review on the topic, implement the project, analyze the data, and disseminate the findings. The development of this project requires an understanding of the historical perspective of nursing theory and research as well as theoretical perspectives in nursing and related disciplines. Students will explore these perspectives to frame the development of nursing as a science and to increase awareness about the relationship among theory, nursing science, and nursing practice. Content on quality and practice improvement, as well as quality and safety will be discussed. 

Advanced Pharmacology is a core requirement for completion of the Simmons University Family Nurse Practitioner Program. The course also meets the requirements for pharmacology preparation to sit for national Nurse Practitioner certifying examinations by ANCC or AANP. While emphasizing the pharmacological knowledge required by advanced practice nurses to safely treat patients with common physical and mental illnesses, the course facilitates student awareness of clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in the management of common disease processes occurring throughout the life span. Students analyze and discuss current research findings related to pharmacologic therapies. Students are guided in the learning experience by faculty prepared in pharmacology and experienced in the role of applying the science of clinical pharmacology as family nurse practitioners.

This course is designed to provide advanced knowledge of pharmacotherapeutics for acute and chronic mental health conditions across the life span. The course will also include the knowledge necessary to select and interpret the appropriate laboratory diagnostic procedures used in monitoring the physiological, psychiatric and behavioral responses to pharmacological interventions. Emphasis will be placed on learning the medications mechanism of action, selection, monitoring, and assessment of psychotropic medications based on current research and evidenced based practice guidelines.

This course is meant to examine the historical background of the U.S. health care system and analyze the current health care system. To accomplish this, students will learn about health care quality, access, and cost, as well as innovation. Health care systems will be appraised using the Iron Triangle of health economics. Health policy and advocacy will be highlighted through a social justice framework. Students will learn how quality and safety are improved through interprofessional collaboration. At the end of the course, students will have gained the requisite knowledge and skills to better advocate for their patients, community, and health care system. Students will strengthen their professional identity as future nurse practitioners and understand the role of the nurse practitioner in the U.S. health care system

This course is designed to provide the FNP student with an overview of family assessment, intervention and evaluation across the lifespan. This course will assist the FNP student to consider the relevant theoretical and research underpinnings of family based assessment in order to foster, promote and strengthen family functioning. Application of this content for practice will be facilitated through lectures, course discussions, case studies and selected written topics.

This course introduces the student to the essential competencies necessary to provide primary health care to patients and families of diverse populations. Students engage in study that will assist them in understanding the developmental and cultural needs of patients across the life span as they relate to delivery of advanced health assessment within a primary health care nursing framework. Family frameworks that reflect a developmental, systems approach are presented to guide the student in understanding the primary health care needs of patients, families and systems in this context. Includes lecture and laboratory sessions.

This is the first course in the sequence of the FNP primary care core curriculum. The focus is on the holistic gynecological care of the female, and the care of the low-risk childbearing woman and her newborn, applying a developmental, theoretical, and family perspective.<br /><br />Information gathering skills, clinical judgment, critical thinking, and problem solving skills for the childbearing family are emphasized. Communication theory in both the written and verbal presentation of the childbearing focused encounter, utilizing evidence-based practice and using clinical decision support systems is reinforced. <br /> 

This course is designed to enable the student to integrate the theoretical and clinical components of primary health care nursing across the lifespan at an advanced level, in preparation for clinical practice in a supervised primary healthcare setting. The course builds on content from Advanced Health Assessment and Primary Health Care for the Childbearing Family, Normal and Abnormal Human Physiology, Scholarly Inquiry, and Pharmacology. The course focuses on the student's application of clinical knowledge and skills to the delivery of primary healthcare nursing to families.

This course is the third of three courses in the theory and practice of family primary care nursing. This course offers the opportunity to synthesize learning from prior courses, including prior family clinical and theory courses, pathophysiology, health promotion, pharmacology, and advanced health assessment. Content will include specialty and selected topics in adult/geriatric and pediatric primary healthcare. An additional focus will be the integration of professional issues, as well as legal and ethical considerations in FNP practice.

This course examines the clinical and physical exam practice of the family nurse practitioner in the primary care setting. This course will build on the fundamental principles of health assessment and provide further information to obtain, interpret, and intervene on common physical exam findings. Students should take time to review and understand the concepts presented in this course in preparation for Immersion Weekend. 

This course is Part I of a two-part clinical course series and provides the student the opportunity to integrate theoretical content into practice. Through clinical conferences, skills-building sessions, and clinical practice, the FNP student will achieve the skills necessary to provide primary care to patients across the life span. The synchronous class sessions will meet every other week.<br /><br />This course requires 336 clinical hours over 14 weeks of practice in a clinical setting with a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant, or physician preceptor. Clinical experiences may be provided in a variety of health care settings including, but not limited to, community health centers, private offices, tertiary care settings, urgent care centers, and homeless shelters.

This course is Part II of a two-part clinical course series and provides the student the opportunity to integrate theoretical content into practice. Through clinical conferences, skills-building sessions, and clinical practice, the FNP student will achieve the skills necessary to provide primary care to patients across the life span. The synchronous class sessions will meet every other week.<br /><br />This course requires 336 clinical hours over 14 weeks of practice in a clinical setting with a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant, or physician preceptor. Clinical experiences may be provided in a variety of health care settings including, but not limited to, community health centers, private offices, tertiary care settings, urgent care centers, and homeless shelters.

The course studies the major presentations of mental illness, neurobiology, and the use of the most current DSM in diagnosing for clients across the life span. Emphasis is placed on assessment of pathology in mental health, history taking, mental status evaluation, and differential diagnosis of psychiatric mental health care to clients across the lifespan.

This course is designed to give students an overview of health promotion issues, to explore selected current topics in health and health policy from a global perspective and to investigate the consequences these issues have for the health status of individuals, populations and society. This course will provide the theoretical foundation to allow the practitioner to design interventions, which promote health and behavior change in the individual client within the community setting.

The focus of this course is essential core concepts, skills, and tools that capture evidence-based practice for the FNP and define the care informatics field. We will examine a variety of current and emerging health information technologies to promote safe patient care, improve health care quality and efficiency, and foster consumer-centric care to advance nursing practice and nursing science. We will be applying the theoretical perspectives derived from personal learning environments in adult education to foster a learning environment that promotes individual understanding and application of complex material.

This course will enable the student to gain perspective about the context in which health problems occur and care is delivered. The course will consider the impact of environmental factors, including occupational exposures, living conditions, education, and financial resources on the health of populations. The relationship between these environmental factors, as well as social, cultural, and genetic influences on health will be evaluated, as will the role of the clinician in addressing these issues.

This course will provide a broad overview of electronic health records, decision support systems, standards, security and confidentiality, evidence-based practice, data analytics, data visualization and consumer health informatics. The current landscape of healthcare informatics and the impact they have on quality patient care will be reviewed.<br /><br />Skills essential for the DNP will be covered such as the ability to provide leadership within healthcare systems and/or academic settings to use information systems/technology to support and improve patient care and healthcare systems. This course will introduce the student to apply new knowledge, manage individual and aggregate level information, and assess the efficacy of patient care technology appropriate to a specialized area of practice. <br /> 

This 2-credit course is the second in a series of three seminars which will guide students in the completion of the DNP seminar project. During DNP Seminar Project II, students will develop the project proposal, including design, identification of outcomes, and choice of the methods that will be used to achieve outcomes, and begin their projects. Students will obtain appropriate permissions and IRB approvals for the DNP project.

This two credit course is the third in a series of three seminars which will guide students in the completion of the DNP Project. During DNP Project Seminar III, students will further refine and complete their DNP Project, including data collection, data analysis, and dissemination.

In this course, students apply the concepts of bio-psycho-social-cultural-developmental-spiritual sciences in developing, implementing and evaluating nursing interventions for the childbearing and families experiencing variances in functional health patterns with a special emphasis on health management and sexuality/reproduction. Clinical experiences will encompass care of the normal and high risk family in both acute and community settings

This course provides the framework for students to apply nursing theory and principles in the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health for infants, children and their families. Students will integrate concepts of bio-psycho-social-cultural-developmental-spiritual sciences to provide evidenced-based, holistic and compassionate nursing care. Clinical experience in both acute and community pediatric settings, contextualizes learning, facilitates clinical reasoning and comportment through the application and integration of nursing science and caring practice.

This course focuses on the major mental health disorders, therapeutic interventions and the role of the nurse in the acute mental health setting. Students will use the nursing process to enhance their delivery of bio-psycho-social-cultural developmental-spiritual nursing care to individuals and their families who are coping with major mental illnesses. The student will integrate interprofessional collaboration, patient education and patient advocacy in the care of the patient with acute mental health disorders. Clinical experiences will focus on the care of those with acute mental health needs.

This course, which builds on Nursing Care to Support Physiologic Functioning 1, applies bio-psycho-social-cultural-developmental-spiritual concepts in developing, implementing and evaluating nursing interventions for the adult and elderly client experiencing altered health states. Concepts of comprehensive patient assessment, pathophysiology, and pharmacology are reinforced and mastered. Students to introduced to prioritizing and predicting individual's needs, and evaluating outcomes of care Clinical and lab experiences focus on implementing and evaluating nursing care with increasing independence.

This course focuses on the synthesis of nursing knowledge required to care for the patient and family with complex, multi-system problems. This course provides students opportunities to critically evaluate and apply knowledge and skills learned throughout the nursing program. The effect of complex health problems on the individual and their families, the health team and health system is emphasized.

Consent of department required. Offers an individualized opportunity to study an issue or topic relevant to the theory and/or practice of nursing. Utilizes library research, clinical research, or analysis of advanced clinical practice.

Provides an overview of theoretical concepts related to community-based health care and family health. Applies concepts of health, health assessment, and therapeutic communication and interviewing within the context of the family and community. Focuses on assisting the student in the development of nursing skills necessary to promote health of families and communities. Gives attention to awareness of diversity, cultural sensitivity, and knowledge to enable the students to provide culturally competent nursing care.

The focus of NURS 411, Scholarly Inquiry, is the development of a scholarly project, which provides students with the opportunity to evaluate and review evidence and apply this evidence to clinical practice. In collaboration with the faculty, students will work in small groups to identify a scholarly question, develop a context for the question with a problem statement, implement an in-depth, comprehensive literature review on the topic, implement the project, analyze the data, and disseminate the findings. The development of this project requires an understanding of the historical perspective of nursing theory and research as well as theoretical perspectives in nursing and related disciplines. Students will explore these perspectives to frame the development of nursing as a science and to increase awareness about the relationship among theory, nursing science, and nursing practice. Content on quality and practice improvement, as well as quality and safety will be discussed. 

The course prepares the student to develop beginning leadership and management skills. The student will develop the role of an effective, collaborating team member and prepare for future leadership and management roles. Concepts of organizational systems, change theory, quality and safety are integrated into the role of the professional nurse.

A final nursing class utilizes a case study approach to focuses on the synthesis of nursing knowledge required to care for the patient and family with complex nursing needs. Centers on nursing care of patients across the life span but emphasizes the adult and geriatric patient. Assimilates previously learned information to add the depth and breadth necessary to provide holistic care for patients and families in challenging health care circumstances. Requires independent preparation and critical thinking for the synthesis and acquisition of new understandings, which will serve as a model for the ongoing professional development of the nurse as a lifelong learner.

This nursing course focuses on improving professional nursing skills in a clinical capstone experience. The major focus is on mastering clinical decision making skills and preparing for independent professional practice. Weekly seminars cultivate critical thinking and clinical judgment, group process, discussion, communication, transitioning from student to newly licensed nurse along with the role of future nursing leaders and managers.

In this course, which builds on Variances of Health Patterns of Adults and Elders I, students apply the concepts of the bio-psycho-social-cultural-developmental-spiritual sciences in developing, implementing, and evaluating nursing interventions for the child-bearing and child-rearing family experiencing variances in functional health patterns. There is a special emphasis on health management and sexuality/reproduction. Clinical experiences encompass care of the high risk and chronically ill young family in both acute and community settings. Includes lecture and laboratory sessions.

In this course, which builds on Variances in Health Patterns of Childbearing Families, students apply the concepts of the bio-psycho-social-cultural-developmental-spiritual sciences in developing, implementing, and evaluating nursing interventions for the child-bearing and child-rearing family experiencing variances in functional health patterns. There is a special emphasis on health management and sexuality/reproduction. Clinical experiences encompass care of the high-risk and chronically-ill young family in both acute and community settings.

This course provides an overview of theoretical concepts related to community-based health care and family health. Concepts of health, health assessment, and therapeutic communication and interviewing are applied within the context of the family and community. The focus of this course is on assisting the student in the development of nursing skills necessary to promote health of families and communities. Attention is given to awareness of diversity, cultural sensitivity and knowledge to enable the students to provide culturally competent nursing care.

This course is designed to provide the FNP student with an overview of family assessment, intervention and evaluation across the lifespan. This course will assist the FNP student to consider the relevant theoretical and research underpinnings of family based assessment in order to foster, promote and strengthen family functioning. Application of this content for practice will be facilitated through lectures, course discussions, case studies and selected written topics.

This is the first course in the sequence of the FNP primary care core curriculum. The focus is on the holistic gynecological care of the female, and the care of the low-risk childbearing woman and her newborn, applying a developmental, theoretical, and family perspective.  <br /><br />Information gathering skills, clinical judgment, critical thinking, and problem solving skills for the childbearing family are emphasized.  Communication theory in both the written and verbal presentation of the childbearing focused encounter, utilizing evidence-based practice and using clinical decision support systems is reinforced.

This course is designed to enable the student to integrate the theoretical and clinical components of primary health care nursing across the lifespan at an advanced level, in preparation for clinical practice in a supervised primary healthcare setting. The course builds on content from Advanced Health Assessment and Primary Health Care for the Childbearing Family, Normal and Abnormal Human Physiology, Scholarly Inquiry, and Pharmacology. The course focuses on the student's application of clinical knowledge and skills to the delivery of primary healthcare nursing to families.

This course is Part I of a two-part clinical course series and provides the student the opportunity to integrate theoretical content into practice. Through clinical conferences, skills-building sessions, and clinical practice, the FNP student will achieve the skills necessary to provide primary care to patients across the life span. The synchronous class sessions will meet every other week.<br /><br />This course requires 336 clinical hours over 14 weeks of practice in a clinical setting with a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant, or physician preceptor. Clinical experiences may be provided in a variety of health care settings including, but not limited to, community health centers, private offices, tertiary care settings, urgent care centers, and homeless shelters.

This course is Part II of a two-part clinical course series and provides the student the opportunity to integrate theoretical content into practice. Through clinical conferences, skills-building sessions, and clinical practice, the FNP student will achieve the skills necessary to provide primary care to patients across the life span. The synchronous class sessions will meet every other week.<br /><br />This course requires 336 clinical hours over 14 weeks of practice in a clinical setting with a nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, physician assistant, or physician preceptor. Clinical experiences may be provided in a variety of health care settings including, but not limited to, community health centers, private offices, tertiary care settings, urgent care centers, and homeless shelters.

Studies these basic concepts: functions of nutrients in the human organism, nutrient needs at varying stages of the life cycle, and nutrition status. Examines the health effects of nutrient inadequacies and excesses. Discusses the scientific basis of recommended nutrient intake and dietary guidelines for the U.S. population. Includes lecture and laboratory. Laboratory experimentation demonstrates or tests the nutrition principles presented in the lectures.

Studies the functions of nutrients and their requirement in the body, their effects on health, and nutrient needs during different stages of the life cycle. Discusses the effects of nutrient deficiencies and excesses as well as the dietary reference intakes and guidelines for the U.S. population.

This course surveys nutritional recommendations throughout the life cycle that pertain to disease prevention and health promotion. Special emphasis is given to the latest research findings in risk factors for chronic diseases. Students are encouraged to interpret research findings and develop strategies to promote healthy lifestyles.

This course builds on the understanding of energy intake, transformation, and liberation. Students learn to evaluate, create, and implement exercise programs for a variety of populations. This course develops a critical reasoning approach to clinical situations. Students apply an understanding of how nutrition and exercise interact to influence work capacity in children and adults. The course is offered only online.

This elective course offers students the opportunity to participate in an individualized nutrition field experience.