This course focuses on developing and enhancing the student's ability to be inquisitive scholars, engaged healthcare practitioners, and ethical leaders through the synthesis, integration, and evaluation of evidence to determine best practice that informs nursing practice at an advanced level. Students engage in meaningful and creative inquiry, critique health-related research, explore the ethical principles, and develop insights into the methodologic processes involved in conducting research and quality improvement activities.

This course analyzes leadership characteristics and their relationship with clinical excellence and data-driven, high-quality patient outcomes. Students interpret complex health issues, create evidence-informed interventions that aim to direct change and improve health outcomes and analyze the professional nurse's roles and responsibilities in a rapidly-changing, complex healthcare system.

In this project-based learning course students integrate design-thinking principles and human factors to examine the quality improvement process. Integrating direct client care experiences into the design process, students analyze existing healthcare inefficiencies that lead to poor health outcomes and create a needs-based plan that aims to improve related health outcomes for a specific population. Prerequisite: 560.

This project-based course builds on the student's previous quality improvement work. It emphasizes change management strategies and design-thinking principles to develop a quality improvement plan. Students develop the plan up to implementation, complete with a needs assessment, literature review, intervention, expected outcomes and process for evaluation. Prerequisite: 671.

This seminar serves as a clinical conference companion to the FNP practicum experience. Special topics and assignments focus on issues and learning needs presenting themselves in the clinical area. Procedural skills necessary for NP practice are introduced.

This course offers continuing clinical experience and focuses on expanding upon and refining clinical decision-making skills in the management of acute, emergent, and chronic health problems in persons from adolescence through older adulthood in acute care settings. Health promotion and disease prevention strategies are incorporated; culturally sensitive care is emphasized. Preequisites: 618.

The pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapeutics of various drug categories are examined. General principles applicable across the life span will be addressed. Administration and teaching issues in the use of pharmacologic agents are emphasized. Principles of drug selection and monitoring in the treatment of common problems are integrated. Issues and practices regarding the use of over-the-counter and herbal therapies are included. The role of the advanced practice nurse in practicing legally and safely with prescriptive authority is addressed.

This course builds on the foundation of evidence-based prescribing by applying advanced concepts of prescribing and monitoring agents for the acute or critically ill individual. A focus will include introducing neoplastic agents, intravenous dosing and fluid and electrolyte management, as well as standards for emergency care such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS). Prerequisite: 605.

The focus of this course is on the assessment, differential diagnosis, and management of complex acute and chronic health problems. Evidence-based practice principles are integrated in order to provide comprehensive and collaborative primary care to persons from adolescence through older adulthood. Health promotion and disease prevention strategies are incorporated; culturally sensitive care is emphasized.

This course will analyze various issues related to providing advanced nursing care for older adult populations in any setting. While the issues may vary depending on participants' interest areas, topics such as end of life care, geriatric syndromes, polypharmacy, dementia and delirium, frailty, and quality of life will be typical. Specific focus on the required adult-gerontology advanced nursing practice care competencies will be emphasized.