Gerontological Nurse Practitioner

Courses

ALNU 5009. Health Assessment Throughout the Life Span (3 credits) - Corequisite: ALNU 5010. Advanced health assessment focuses on the assessment of the total health status of individual and family clients throughout the life span. Emphasis is placed on the decision-making processes to differentiate normal from abnormal health status. Content includes predictable pathological findings and the mechanisms underlying them. (Fall)

ALNU 5010. Health Assessment Throughout the Life Span Practicum (3 credits) - Corequisite: ALNU 5009. This practicum provides the student with opportunities to conduct advanced health assessment focusing on the assessment of the total health status of individual and family clients throughout the life span. Emphasis is placed on the decision-making processes which differentiate normal from abnormal health status. The practicum includes extensive laboratory practice and clinical placements. (Fall)

ALNU 5013. Life Span Assessment and Clinical Management: Older Adults (2 credits) - Prerequisites: ALNU 5009 & 5010, PMNU 5000. This course focuses on nursing and health care management of the older adult in underserved, rural, and urban populations. Course content includes physiological, pathological, and psychosocial changes relative to problems of health maintenance, minor acute illnesses, chronicity, and life transitions. Emphasis is given to intervention and evaluation strategies which enhance direct and indirect care coordination of services, and holistic care for older adults and their families. (Summer)

ALNU 5014. Life Span Assessment and Clinical Management: Older Adult Practicum (3 credits) - Prerequisites: ALNU 5009 & 5010, PMNU 5000. Pre-corequisite: ALNU 5013, 5016, & 5018. This practicum is designed to provide the student with opportunities to deliver advanced nursing care to older adults, including the underserved, in rural and urban settings. Clinical practice focuses on interdisciplinary teamwork for maintaining function through multidimensional assessment, treatment, follow-up, and evaluation. (Summer)

ALNU 5016. Pathophysiology for Nursing Diagnoses and Interventions (3 credits) - This course is a study of the reaction of the body as a whole to disease throughout the life span. The focus is on alterations in biological processes which affect the body's dynamic equilibrium and a conceptual approach that is designed to integrate knowledge from the basic and clinical sciences. Alterations at the cellular and organ level are presented. These alterations include genetic, metabolic, infectious, immunologic, degenerative, and neoplastic processes. (Fall/Spring)

ALNU 5018. Advanced Clinical Pharmacology (3 credits) - An advanced pharmacology and therapeutics course specifically designed for the student in a nurse practitioner program. The course provides an intense exploration of pharmacological agents used to treat common recurrent health problems of clients across the life span. Indications, contraindications, and interactions of pharmacological agents most utilized in primary health care settings will be presented. The professional role of the nurse practitioner in relation to prescriptive authority will be examined. (Fall/Spring)

ALNU 5021. Case Management (2 credits) - Prerequisite: Graduate status or permission of instructor. This course focuses on the current and evolving role of the professional in case management and in the managed care environment. Dimensions of the case management role will be explored through class discussion, oral and written presentation, and expert testimony. Students will have the opportunity to explore the process of case management from a variety of theoretical perspectives, and they also will have the opportunity to examine emerging trends. (Fall/Spring)

ALNU 5022. Case Management Practicum (3 credits) - Pre-corequisite: ALNU 5021. This course focuses on the implementation of the case management role. The student will have the opportunity to practice case management with selected clients in a variety of settings appropriate to the student's area of study. The student will gain experience in evaluating different philosophies and methods of case management implementation.

ALNU 5031. Care of the Older Adult in Structured Settings (2 credits) - Prerequisites: PMNU 5000, ALNU 5009 and 5010. This course focuses on nursing and health care management of the older adult in acute and long term care settings. Content includes issues that arise with institutionalization, techniques to maintain autonomy and function as well as regulatory, reimbursement and ethical issues that affect older adults in structured settings.

ALNU 5032. Practicum in the Care of the Older Adult in Structured Settings (3 credits) - Prerequisties: PMNU 5000, ALNU 5009 and 5010. Pre-corequisites: ALNU 5031, 5016 & 5018. This course focuses on the clinical practice of nursing and health care management of the older adult in acute, extended and long-term care settings in rural and urban areas. Emphasis is given to differential diagnosis and treatment of common complex problems.

FCNU 5950. Internship in Advanced Nursing Practice (4 credits) — Prerequisite: All required clinical courses. This internship experience focuses on the synthesis of previously gained knowledge and skills in the provision of advanced nursing care to individuals, families, and communities. Emphasis is placed on health promotion, disease prevention, and clinical management of clients with common acute and chronic illness. (Fall)

PMNU 5000. Conceptual Systems for Advanced Nursing Practice (2 credits) — The philosophical dimensions of the processes of ways of knowing and conceptualization which are linked to research and practice are introduced. Analysis and evaluation of nursing and related concepts, theories, and models are correlated with theory development, research, and practice. (Fall)

PMNU 5001. Nursing Research and Design (3 credits) - This course includes a study of the methodology of research in nursing, evaluation of research designs, and the critical appraisal of the results of research. Emphasis is on the analysis and application of the research process to nursing theory and nursing practice. (Summer/Fall)

PMNU 5002. Health Care Delivery Systems (3 credits) — An overview of various health care delivery systems operating in the United States and health policy mechanisms will be provided. The student will be expected to identify and analyze key economic, educational, ethical, social, and political forces which have influenced nursing and the health care delivery systems affecting diverse groups in this region and the nation as a whole. (Fall)

PMNU 5004. Seminar in Professional Roles(1 credit) — Issues and concepts inherent in various advanced practice roles are explored, analyzed, and evaluated. Discussion will focus on issues generated by role conflict and ambiguities in practice. Topics which promote the development of negotiation, entrepreneurial, contract development, and financial management skills will also be addressed in relation to the practice roles of care-giving, collaborating, consulting, teaching, investigating, advocacy, and leadership. (Fall)

PMNU 5402. Behavioral Health Concepts for Adults (3 credits) — This course is designed to provide advanced practice nurses with the necessary knowledge base to provide care for adults and their families experiencing complex behavioral health problems. Content will emphasize critical thinking and decision making skills through the application of developmental, biological, interpersonal, and intrapersonal theory to behavioral health care nursing. (Spring)