Nova Southeastern University

This course focuses on key concepts related to the role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice in clinical, educational and healthcare system settings. Students will analyze the history of nursing education, with emphasis on the development of the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Interprofessional teams, collaboration and communication skills needed for the effectiveness of this role will be thoroughly examined.

Course objectives:

1. Analyze the history of nursing education with emphasis on the development of the Doctor of Nursing Practice.
2. Critique the roles of advanced practice nurses in current healthcare systems.
3. Examine teaching strategies and learning principles, as they relate to patient education.
4. Analyze communication theories that facilitate collaboration in interprofessional teams.
5. Examine strategies for initiating and implementing an interprofessional team to improve patient and population health outcomes.
6. Evaluate collaborative efforts of an interprofessional team.

Construct a practice model for a specialized role of a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

This course builds on basic concepts of pathophysiology to include elements of phylogeny, ontogeny, embryology, and genetics across the lifespan. Influences of environmental factors and concepts of immunology will be explored.

Course Objectives

1. Analyze the influences of embryology, genetics, and environment on human disease processes.
2. Evaluate implications of immunology to nursing practice.

Integrating applications of pathophysiology, compose an evidence based practice plan for individuals and populations.

This course provides the student with a foundation in clinical prevention and population health. Students will be introduced to culturally proficient care in response to societal needs to improved health outcomes of individuals and populations. This course integrates clinical prevention, screening, behavior change, self care, disease management and cultural competency related to the health of populations. An emphasis will be placed evidence-based clinical prevention and population health services for individuals, aggregates, and populations.

Course Objectives:

1. Critique the population health approach to healthcare education, delivery, and policy.
2. Debate findings in order to address navigation of the system and continuity of care for populations.
3. Formulate the business and political sides of population health including information technology and marketing strategies needed to be successful.
4. Investigate using the principles of Epidemiology and Public Health to address risks to the health of populations.
5. Analyze data using epidemiological calculations and methods of measurement.
6. Critique successful models to address population health and disease prevention.
7. Examine future trends in the management of population health.

This course provides essential skills for utilizing research to support practice change: assessing practice-based problems, analyzing current evidence, proposing practice changes, and developing plans for implementing evidence-based practice concepts. The role of the advanced practice nurse in collaborative research and dissemination of findings is explored. Emphasis is on ethical, cultural, and financial implications of evidence-based practice and the synthesis of clinical evidence and knowledge translation for point of care decision making and identification of best practice. The course will culminate in a systematic review of a body of research relevant to a selected topic of interest.

Course objectives:

1. Use analytic methods to determine and implement the best approaches to advanced practice nursing issues and challenges.

2. Synthesize theoretical and empirical interdisciplinary evidence to translate, integrate and disseminate knowledge.

3. Apply relevant evidence-based findings to develop practice guidelines and quality improvement methodologies to promote safe, effective, efficient, equitable, patient centered care.

4. Analyze ethical considerations associated with the application of evidence used for decision making.

This course focuses on the evaluation and use of information systems technology in the clinical setting, particularly as it applies to quality improvement and patient-centered health care. This course also provides the student with an understanding of the management of healthcare information technology in nursing administration, education, research, and clinical practice settings. As part of their work in the course, students will develop an evaluation plan of an existing information management system in their work setting.

1. Examine the use of healthcare information technology systems that support: research for evidence-based practice; quality improvement and outcomes evaluation; management; education; patient safety; and practice
2. Utilize methodologies for selection, development, implementation, and evaluation of information systems
3. Analyze legal, ethical, and regulatory issues related to use, protection, and storage of patient data via information systems and technology.
4. Critique consumer health information sources for accuracy, timeliness, and appropriateness for nursing leadership
5. Utilize current technologies in the care environment to safety and quality initiatives.

This course explores the scientific principles and philosophical underpinnings of nursing practice relevant to the role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice. Concepts, models and theories from nursing and other disciplines will be applied to clinical practice problems. Students will analyze various approaches used in research and evaluate the quality of published research.  Students will develop search strategies to answer questions related to a selected topic of interest. Students will complete Protection of Human Subjects training.

Course Objectives:

1. Critically analyze the philosophical, theoretical and ethical foundations of advanced nursing practice.

2. Apply a concept analysis to a practice problem.

3. Integrate the scientific principles and philosophical underpinnings of nursing practice to a clinical problem.

4. Evaluate middle range nursing theories for application to clinical practice.

This online course provides present and future nurse leaders with an understanding of health policy as it relates to health care delivery and nursing practice. This course will analyze health policy environments and the rules, structure, and settings where policy is developed, as well as the political, economic, technological, national and global environments within which each setting operates. The students will analyze the interaction of the primary health policy individuals or groups including health care purchasers, health care providers, third party payers, consumers, special interest groups, and professional organizations. Students will assess the atmosphere in which policy is created and how compromise and bargaining shape policy decisions. Throughout the course, current policy initiatives involving health care delivery and nursing will be analyzed. The role of educational, political and organizational health care leaders in the change process and in the formation of health care policy decisions will be a theme.

Course objectives:

1. Differentiate the stages of policy planning, development, implementation, and evaluation.
2. Analyze a policy issue that can be addressed through policy intervention.
3. Explore the impact of the economic, social, and environmental factors on health care policy.
4. Relate policy initiatives to health care delivery and the area of research interest.
5. Evaluate ways policy changes may affect future nursing practice, research, and theory.

This course will focus on leadership and organizational theories with emphasis on application of the theories within advanced practice nursing. The course prepares nurse leaders to incorporate evidence-based information into practice to improve client outcomes. Strategies of quality improvement, best business practices, cultural competence, and managing ethical dilemmas will be emphasized.

Course objectives:

1. Explore organizational and systems culture related to the role of the Doctor of Nursing Practice.
2. Evaluate appropriate theories from nursing and related fields to identify factors that improve health care delivery.
3. Compare and contrast quality improvement strategies towards improving interdisciplinary communication.
4. Evaluate strategies for managing diversity and ethical dilemmas in patient care, healthcare organizations and research.
5. Analyze the cost-effectiveness of practice initiatives accounting for risk and improvement of health care outcomes.
6. Develop a plan to create and sustain change at the organizational and/or policy level.

This course focuses supervised clinical experiences to integrate the role of the DNP, focusing on translating research into practice as a means to improve the delivery of health care. Students investigate clinical problems, refine the literature review and capstone proposal. Students utilize reflective journals to demonstrate the role of the DNP in leadership, consultation, advocacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Course Objectives:

1. Systematically investigate a clinical question related to their selected area of nursing practice.
2. Synthesize nursing and related health policy, quality improvement, economic, ethical, or social theory to the identification of an existing direct clinical care or aggregate population health related problem to be addressed in the DNP Capstone project.
3. Analyze current state of science concerning the identified clinical question.
4. Demonstrate leadership, consultation, advocacy, and interdisciplinary collaboration during the clinical experience.
5. Design a therapeutic intervention within the selected are of clinical specialization, based on nursing and other sciences.

This course focuses on the continuation and of development of advanced practice at the expert level. Upon completion of this course, students should be prepared to sit for the national certification examination developed by the credentialing authority in a selected area of clinical specialization.

Course objectives:

1. Integrate expertise in clinical skills in the selected area of specialization, as defined by the appropriate credentialing authority.
2. Refine the state of science literature.
3. Evaluate an innovative therapeutic intervention within the selected are of clinical specialization.

First of a two-course sequence focusing on inferential statistics for students interested in understanding quantitative research in the health sciences. It is designed to enable students to apply experimental-design models toward solving practical problems and improving the efficiency of formulating and providing healthcare services. Educate students to generate, interpret, and evaluate clinical, biomedical, and healthcare-services research.

Course objectives:

1. Match empirical research questions to statistical methods.
2. Apply hypothesis-testing models to experimental and quasi-experimental research questions.
3. Use appropriate probability distributions, including z, t, and F.
4. Estimate parameters with adequate confidence intervals.
5. Test hypotheses using a wide variety of statistical models.
6. Use different versions of analysis of variance as applied to the health sciences.

During the capstone course students will defend the DNP capstone project in a scholarly oral presentation. Students will complete the professional portfolio and final reflection paper.

Course objectives:

1. Demonstrate advanced clinical judgment, expertise and specialization in a defined content area.
2. Utilize advanced levels of systems thinking and accountability in designing, delivering, and evaluating evidence-based care to improve health care quality, safety, and outcomes.
3. Apply leadership in the development and implementation of patient-driven, institutional, local, state, federal, and/or international health policy in a select content/specialty area.
4. Defend the DNP capstone project in a scholarly oral presentation.
5. Disseminate clinical scholarship through oral and written communication.

Students who cannot demonstrate 400 practice hours in their MSN program must complete NSG 7441 and/or NSG 7442. Individual student practice experiences will be developed with the program director and preceptor in order for the student to meet practice hours in their area of specialization. This will include, but not be limited to students with an MSN in nursing administration or nursing education without documented clinical hours.

1. Integrate expertise in clinical skills in the selected area of specialization, as defined by the appropriate credentialing authorities.

Students who cannot demonstrate 400 practice hours in their MSN program must complete NSG 7441 and/or NSG 7442. Individual student practice experiences will be developed with the program director and preceptor in order for the student to meet practice hours in their area of specialization. This will include, but not be limited to students with an MSN in nursing administration or nursing education without documented clinical hours.

1. Integrate expertise in clinical skills in the selected area of specialization, as defined by the appropriate credentialing authorities.