Nursing (NURS) 530

Overview

Nursing 530 is the final course of the Nurse Practitioner program. In this course you will review the characteristics and competencies of related to nurse practitioners, evaluate your strengths in these competencies and analyze issues related to the development of the role of NPs. As well, you will develop a funding proposal for a project related to advanced nursing practice.

Outline

NURS 530 consists of the following 4 units:

Unit 1: Nurse Practitioner Comprehensive Examination
Upon completion of all courses of the NP program, you are required to complete a comprehensive examination. The examination evaluates your knowledge in both the clinical services and community health development components of advanced nursing practice. You must pass the comprehensive examination in order to receive a final course grade for NURS 530. This unit will provide information about the examination and suggestions to assist you in preparing for the examination.

Unit 2: Nurse Practitioner Implementations, Current Trends and Role Socialization
Issues related to entrepreneurial opportunities and regulation of practice will be explored. The unit closes with a look at issues that may influence your future as a Nurse Practitioner. Seminars related to establishing an NP practice will be presented as part of this unit.

Unit 3: Project Development / Proposal Writing for Nurse Practitioners
This unit will help you learn how to develop a project funding proposal. As the previous units (and other NP courses) have discussed, not only will you be expected to critically review research and utilize research findings in your practice, you will likely be expected to identify the need for and facilitate the development of a research-based project / funding proposal in your work setting.

Unit 4: Nurse Practitioner Role Implementation and Evaluation
In this final unit of NURS 530, you will consider your future as a nurse practitioner. In this unit, you will study issues related to implementation of the nurse practitioner role, including phases of role development, administrative support for the role and evaluation of nurse practitioner practice.

Learning outcomes

In this course, you will access health-related websites worldwide. You will also participate in email and computer conferencing with other students. Students are expected to connect to an Internet Service Provider at their own expense.

Objectives

NURS 530 is designed to help students achieve the following course goals. Describe strategies for the application of the competencies of nurse practitioners (NP) in practice, specifically,

1. Outline issues related to implementation and evaluation of NP roles in the context of the Canadian health care system.
2. Discuss the professional identity of the NP and socialization into the role.
3. Examine concepts related to interdisciplinary practice in the health care system.
4. Develop awareness of how NP practice incorporates various approaches to research in the clinical environment and create strategies for the future implementation of this core competency into practice.
5. Analyze current issues influencing NP practice, particularly in relation to continuing competence, quality assurance and improvement, organizational culture and safety in practice and life-long learning.
6. Discuss the approach to the client when conferring a diagnosis and management with sensitivity to the patient experience, cultural context and within the philosophy of client-centered care.
7. Demonstrate integration of medical and nursing management of health concerns of clients, families and communities.
8. As part of leadership, identify and advocate for the process for changing health policy with particular attention to the influence of consumers, health care providers and the general public on policy decisions.
9. Identify strategies for quality improvement in health care delivery.

Evaluation

The assessment structure for NURS 530 is based on the following course activities, with the percentage weighting of each activity as indicated. Your final grade for the course will be a composite mark based on your performance on these course activities. You must achieve a composite course grade of 70% in order to pass the course. Note that the composite course grade is calculated using the mark attained on the first writing of the comprehensive examination, regardless of the mark attained on a rewrite of the examination.

Activity	Weight
Conference Participation	10%
Assignment 1 Overview of the Project Proposal	20%
Assignment 2 Project Funding Proposal	40%
Comprehensive Examination	30%
Total	100%

In order to be eligible to receive a passing grade for NURS 530, you must achieve a minimum mark of 70% on conference participation, a minimum average mark of 70% on the two written assignments, and a minimum mark of 70% on the comprehensive exam.

If the minimum mark is not achieved on any element of the assessment structure (conference participation, written assignments, or comprehensive exam), then a failing grade will be assigned for NURS 530. If the student re-registers in NURS 530, then all elements of the course must be repeated (conference participation, written assignments, and exam).

Conference Participation (10%)

Feedback regarding conference participation will be ongoing. Quality of input (not quantity) is the goal. Feedback will focus on the student's ability to provide organized and original contributions that reflect analysis and synthesis of the material presented.

Participation Criteria

Participation will be measured against the following criteria:

1. Complete online contributions during the unit conference timeframe.
2. Respond to online discussions at least twice each week.
3. Contribute original thoughts or ideas to online discussions.
4. Cite relevant resources to validate points made.
5. Demonstrate openness to divergent points of view.
6. Be respectful of the perceptions of others.
7. Integrate material from previous units to formulate ideas and generate dialogue.
8. Present responses that follow the rules of grammar and spelling in the online contributions.

Students are expected to post a minimum of once per week: either an original scholarly post with references OR one scholarly response with references. Posts should be 300 words or less. Please note that cutting and pasting material from another source and placing it in your posting without quotation marks is not acceptable. Postings should represent your analysis of the literature and not simply be a quote from another source. The minimum required postings per unit must be submitted to receive a passing grade on this component of the course

Assignment 1: Overview of Project Proposal (20%)

Assignment 2 for NURS530 consists of writing a funding proposal for a community health development project. This project should have relevance / importance for nurse practitioners. For Assignment 1, you are asked to identify the topic of your funding proposal and to submit foundation pieces of the proposal including: identified problem, description of the target population and project overview.

Assignment 2: Project Funding Proposal (40%)

For this assignment, you will finish the development of a funding proposal for the project / program of your choice including: goals and objectives, expected outcomes, project description, project evaluation, dissemination plan and a budget.

Comprehensive Examination (30%)

The examination evaluates students' knowledge in both the clinical and community health components of advanced nursing practice. Students must pass the comprehensive examination (passing grade is 70%) in order to graduate from the Nurse Practitioner program.

Materials

Online Materials

Introduction: Provides essential information about the course materials, the design of the course, and the procedures you should follow to complete the course successfully.

• Introduction: Provides essential information about the course materials, the design of the course, and the procedures you should follow to complete the course successfully.
• Schedule: Outlines the timing of course activities.
• Units: There are 5 units in this course.
• Assessment: Outlines the assignments/evaluation procedures of the course.
• Reference: Listing of required readings, websites, and citations included in the units.

Other Materials

Additional materials provided with earlier courses will be accessed as appropriate.

Technical Requirements

Computer System

In order to successfully complete this course, you must own or have ready access to certain computer hardware and software programs. For complete and up-to-date information on the minimum computer requirements required to complete the graduate nursing courses, visit the Faculty of Health Disciplines technical site.

Important links

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