NRS - Nursing

This is the third in the Integrative Health Colloquium series and will include an introduction to whole medicine systems.

Introduces students to the discipline of nursing, its historical development, theoretical base, relationship to the healthcare system, research processes, and legal/ethical boundaries. Designed to assist first year students in transitioning to University life by introducing academic expectations, foundational skills for the nursing major, and the process of active inquiry into issues in health.

Students are introduced to professional nursing and healthcare delivery. Academic expectations, foundational principles for the nursing major, and the process of active inquiry into healthcare issues are explored. Students investigate health perspectives, social justice, care of self and others, scientific basis for nursing, and professional socialization. Fee: $110

Students explore foundations of integrative health and wellness in this introductory course. A population health framework is used to explore theories and principles of health and wellness, nutrition, genetics, and the determinants of health.

Introductory nutrition course detailing nutrients and how the body handles them; diet planning principles that support good health; the special nutrient needs of people throughout the life cycle and with specific disease states; and practical clinical nursing applications relating to nutrition and patient care.

Introduction to human growth and development across the lifespan. Foundational for all clinical nursing courses, this course is an introduction to theories of human physical, cognitive and psychosocial development, and an exploration of integrative health lifestyle practices.

Students learn foundational nursing knowledge, attitudes, values, and health assessment skills to promote health and wellness across the lifespan. Students learn the complexity of the healthcare delivery system and the role of the professional nurse in that system. Students integrate and apply principles developed in NRS 116 and NRS 216 in delivering basic nursing care.

Students learn foundational knowledge about health and wellness across the lifespan. Students acquire foundational nursing knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide ethical, evidence-based care. Students begin to integrate nursing theory, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and integrative health principles in combined skills laboratory and simulation experiences. Fee: $380

Students in this seminar course will synthesize health assessment didactic and clinical learning. Students will participate in health assessment clinical reasoning learning activities. Evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics will be incorporated.

Students new to the University of Portland School of Nursing learn supportive knowledge and skills attained by four-year students in NRS 104, NRS 116, and NRS 216. Foundational cognitive and affective learning strategies will be incorporated to provide transfer students the necessary knowledge to enter upper division nursing.

Students in this advanced course apply the foundations of integrative health and wellness to a variety of populations across the lifespan. Students build upon knowledge from the prerequisite course applying population health frameworks to further explore theories and principles of health, wellness, nutrition, genetics and determinants of health. Fee: $110

Introduces nursing as a distinct discipline of knowledge and a unique profession that addresses the holistic needs of the client, including spirituality. Theories of nursing care are studied in relation to their significance to the practice of professional nursing. Aesthetic, personal, ethical, and empirical ways of knowing are examined, and serve as a basis to explore and raise pertinent questions.

Students in this course learn to use health promotion and prevention strategies in nursing practice to promote holistic health and wellness across the lifespan. Emphasis is on assessment, safety, and lifestyle management across the lifespan. Fee: $130

Students in this seminar course will have the opportunity to synthesize didactic and clinical learning.  Students are introduced to the concepts of clinical reasoning based on nursing research, evidence based practice, quality improvement, and informatics.  These concepts are explored for the influence they have in clinical decision making in health and wellness settings of nursing practice.

Students in this course learn to manage care of diverse patients with acute illness across the lifespan. Emphasis is on application, interpretation of client information, prioritization, and recognition of acute alterations of health status.

Students in this seminar course will have the opportunity to synthesize didactic and clinical learning. Students are introduced to the concepts of clinical reasoning based on nursing research, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics. These concepts are explored for the influence they have in clinical decision making in acute care settings of nursing practice.

This course introduces key concepts of population health promotion and cultural competence with an emphasis on diverse and vulnerable populations. Students apply these concepts through exploration of selected cultures. This course sets the foundation for NRS 424: Applied Population Health Nursing in a Multicultural Context.

Addresses effective communication with patients and coworkers. Students explore the impact of their values on patient care, learn assertive communication and conflict resolution techniques, develop skills in building nurse-client and interdisciplinary relationships, examine communication issues in health education and with individuals with different values/beliefs, analyze small group communication theories, and communication aspects of ethical and legal issues.

Students learn foundational knowledge about promoting and protecting the health of adult and elderly clients. Students acquire basic foundational nursing knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide ethical evidence-based care. Students begin to integrate nursing theory, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and integrative health principles in the 45 hours of combined laboratory and clinical experience. Fee: $415

This course focuses on the theoretical bases and clinical manifestations of pathophysiology, with an emphasis on the individual's genetics, genomics, and effective and ineffective adaptation to internal and external environments.

Principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapeutics are examined in relation to drug therapy. Drug therapy is presented as an integral component of nursing practice. Application of nursing pharmacology knowledge is made to clients with selected health and illness problems.

Students learn management of patients and families across the lifespan with a focus on the principles of health and wellness promotion and disease prevention. Emphasis is on assessment, analysis, client education, client health trajectory, and levels of prevention. Fee: $110

Students learn management of patients and families across the lifespan with a focus on the principles of acute illness management and acute exacerbations of chronic illnesses. Emphasis is on assessment, analysis, education, client health trajectory, and levels of prevention. Fee: $110

Focuses on the nursing care of clients with acute or chronic mental illnesses. Promotion, maintenance and restoration of mental health throughout the lifespan are addressed. Professional, legal and ethical issues in psychiatric mental health nursing are examined. Includes 90 hours of clinical experience.

Students learn nursing management of adult and elderly clients experiencing disruptions in health across the continuum of care. Emphasis is on assessment, analysis and interpretation of clinical data and client teaching using an illness trajectory perspective. Includes 135 hours of clinical experience. Fee: $50

Students examine the functional changes that accompany abnormal physiological states, and principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapeutics. Topics include disease theory, genetics, genomics, and environmental adaptations to promote health and wellness for individuals and population. This introductory course provides a foundation for application to nursing practice.

Students examine the functional changes that accompany abnormal physiological states, and principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapeutics. Topics include disease theory, genetics, genomics and environmental adaptations to promote health and wellness for individuals and populations. This advanced course provides enhanced opportunities for critical thinking in nursing practice.

This course prepares students for re-entry into clinical nursing courses.  Students will practice and demonstrate competency in fundamental knowledge, skills and attitudes required for successful progression. Graded on a P/NP basis. Fee: $115

Students in this course will manage care for diverse patients with chronic illnesses across the lifespan. Emphasis is on care transitions, care coordination, case management, prioritization, and delegation of care, as well as chronic illness management. Students will work with community partners to identify and utilize community assets to meet population needs. Fee: $50

Students in this seminar course will have the opportunity to synthesize didactic and clinical learning. Students further incorporate into developing nursing practice the concepts of clinical reasoning based on nursing research, evidence based practice, quality improvement, and informatics. Concepts are explored regarding influence in clinical decision making in chronic illness management, care transitions, and care coordination across the lifespan.

Students in this course will demonstrate successful completion of all School of Nursing program outcomes while working with multiple clients or a population typical of those that would be assigned to a beginning professional nurse. The course includes a 180 hour clinical immersion.

Students in this seminar course will have the opportunity to synthesize didactic and clinical learning. Students fully implement the concepts of clinical reasoning based on nursing research, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics into nursing practice. These concepts are explored for the influence they have on clinical decision making in nursing practice in care settings across the healthcare continuum.

This course explores the process of evidence-based nursing practice. Principles of measurement and statistics are examined. Multiple ways of knowing serve as a framework to explore theory-guided, evidence-based findings utilized in nursing practice.

Students learn management of patients with chronic illnesses across the lifespan with a focus on the principles of complex case management, care coordination, and care transitions. Emphasis is on assessment, analysis, education, client health trajectory, and levels of prevention. Fee: $140

Students explore how families experience and manage life and health transitions, promote the health of their family and its members and what resources families use and need to maintain balance and function. The family nurse role is explored and practiced through assessments of families, written reflections, and discussions that facilitate the application of theory.

Students learn the nursing management of adult and elderly clients experiencing multi-system syndromes and healthcare problems.  Emphasis is on clinical reasoning in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the nursing care for multiple complex adult clients. Includes 135 hours of clinical experience. Fee: $160.

Previous knowledge is integrated into a specialized knowledge base of maternal-child nursing. Normal physiological and disease processes are examined within the family as context with an emphasis on health promotion and maintenance. Family focused care nursing to childbearing and childrearing families will be delivered in acute care and community based clinical settings. Includes 90 hours of clinical experience. Fee: $10

This course prepares students to apply the concepts and processes of population health nursing in a multicultural setting, with an emphasis on vulnerable populations. In the clinical component of this course, students will work with community partners to identify and utilize community assets to meet population needs. Includes 90 hours of clinical experience. Fee: $160

This course focuses on nursing leadership in the delivery of healthcare and development of the nursing profession. Theoretical principles are applied to effectively coordinate, delegate, communicate, utilize resources, and promote quality and safety as a professional nurse.

This course focuses on the learner's refinement of self-appraisal skills and creation of a personal learning plan for successful transition to professional nursing practice and life-long learning. Students will demonstrate knowledge and application of UP SON program outcomes.

Students in this course will be prepared to provide nursing care to populations through the lens of social justice. Framed in the ecological model, students will apply the nursing process to the care of vulnerable populations and design evidence based interventions for equitable health outcomes.

Students in this course will realize the full scope of baccalaureate nursing practice. Students will expand their understanding of nursing in promoting a culture of health. Students will explore collaborative structures in communication, technology, and data to lead sustainable change.

Students will create a road map for advancement of the individual nurse, populations served and profession of nursing. Students will be exposed to multiple pathways for professional growth and practice and will develop methods to maintain resilience and balance, and establish a pattern of reflection and life-long learning.

Credit arranged.

Credit arranged.

These courses involve a variety of healthcare topics. Some courses may be open to non-nursing students at the discretion of the instructor.

This course focuses on holistic health and frameworks/strategies for leadership in health promotion and education.  Interdisciplinary experts will facilitate learning about physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  Through critical reflection and applied educational strategies, students will gain proficiency in wellness promotion. Course is graded P/NP.

Students demonstrate successful completion of all School of Nursing program outcomes while working with multiple clients or a population typical of those that would be assigned to a beginning professional nurse. The course includes a 180 hour clinical immersion.

This course focuses on the role development of the nurse practitioner as an advanced practice nurse prepared at the doctor of nursing practice degree level. Historical, legal, ethical, social, and policy aspects of the role will be examined. Topics such as hallmark competencies, professional behaviors, financial relationships with health systems and interdisciplinary relationships also will be included. Fee: $95

This course provides the theoretical and practical foundation that guides the formation of a DNP-prepared leader. Leadership theories and processes will be appraised for applicability within a complex healthcare environment. Factors that impact the leader’s ability to design and evaluate safe, quality, cost-effective care will be analyzed. The development of personal leadership will be explored.

Scientific underpinnings from a variety of disciplines will be explored as they apply to the scholarship and practice of advanced nursing practice. Theoretical foundations of nursing and related disciplines will be applied to enhance health and healthcare delivery in a variety of settings among diverse populations.

Analytical methods will be examined to appraise multiple sources of evidence to determine its applicability for translating the evidence into practice to improve health outcomes and health delivery systems. Epidemiological concepts, statistical analyses and appraisal processes are foundational for this course.

Quality improvement concepts, principles, models and strategies used to improve processes for healthcare delivery and quality of health outcomes will be explored. The process of new program development and evaluation will be examined.

This course is designed to provide students with the advanced pathophysiological foundation required for understanding diseases and genetic implications across the lifespan. Focus will be placed on key pathophysiologic processes common to many diseases, specific pathophysiologic processes underlying diseases commonly encountered by nurse practitioners, and the human biopsychosocial response to these processes. Fee: $100

This course focuses on the clinical application of pharmacotherapeutics commonly prescribed by nurse practitioners in primary care settings, including drug selection, dosing, monitoring, evaluation, and patient education. This course examines the nurse practitioner role as prescriber.

This course explores the clinical indications, potential risks, and evidence for alternative approaches to herbal and dietary supplement therapies. Conceptual approaches to herbal therapy and botanical medicine are explored. Emphasis is on the safety of herbs and supplements.

This course focuses on the development of clinical decision making skills related to physical diagnosing. The advanced health assessment process includes appropriate histories, physical exams, labs/ diagnostic testing, use of screening tools, diagnosing physical variations and abnormalities, identification of health needs, and documentation for multiple patient presentations across the lifespan. Fee: $230

This course focuses on complexities of healthcare organizational systems and their impact on approaches to care delivery and relativeness to quality and safety outcomes. Principles of organizational culture, resource management and organizational policy will be explored.

In this clinical course students apply the principles of patient/family assessment, diagnosis, and management of adults with acute and simple chronic illnesses. The focused work-up format is used with an emphasis on differential diagnosis. Students complete 180 hours of supervised clinical experience. Graded on a P/NP basis.

In this clinical course students build on the competencies of FNP Clinical I and incorporate assessment, management and referral of patients with acute or chronic mental illness and management of conditions specific to gender (i.e. pregnancy and lactation). Students complete 120 hours of supervised clinical experience. (Graded on a P/NP basis.)

In this clinical course students build on the competencies of FNP Clinical I and II and apply the principles of patient/family assessment, diagnosis, and management of common acute and chronic conditions in pediatric patients. Focus is placed on clinical evaluation of pediatric growth and development, providing anticipatory guidance for well-children and adolescents. Includes 120 hours of supervised clinical experience. (Graded on a P/NP basis.)

In this clinical course students build on the competencies from FNP clinical I, II and III to apply the principles of assessment, diagnosis, and management of adults and older adults with complex and chronic illness. The expanded work-up format is used and includes assessments of self-management, living w/chronic illness, and interprofessional treatment modalities. Includes 180 hours of supervised clinical experience. (Graded on a P/NP basis.)

The influence of healthcare and other policies on organizations and the nursing profession will be analyzed from multiple perspectives including, ethical, social justice, financial and professional impact. The process of policy formation will be examined and applied. The roles of advocate and political activist in promoting innovative and just policies will be fostered.

This course addresses the application and critical impact of informatics on healthcare delivery and healthcare systems. Health information systems and technology to improve health outcomes and approaches to healthcare delivery will be examined. Current and potential future issues that impact the role and use of informatics and technology in healthcare will be analyzed.

The development, implementation and evaluation of health promotion/illness prevention programs and interventions for populations at the microsystem level are the foci of this course. Analysis of epidemiological and research data related to populations, concepts of public health including environmental, occupational health and disaster preparedness and determinants of health are examined as essential components of programs for population health.

In this course, students acquire knowledge, skills, concepts and strategies from implementation and dissemination sciences to translate evidence into practice.

DNP Scholarly Project focuses on practice change in primary care, reflects the integration of coursework and DNP Essentials, and serves as a “foundation for future scholarly practice” (AACN, 2006, p.20). The project includes planning, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Students register a minimum of 3 semesters and continue registering until successful completion and dissemination of the final project. Graded on a P/NP basis.

This course covers the assessment, diagnosis, and management of adults with acute conditions within a family context. The focused work-up format will be used with an emphasis on differential diagnosing. Fee: $155

This course addresses gender specific healthcare needs. Biological sciences and gender theories will be examined in developing and implementing appropriate health strategies. This course includes preventative care practices, assessment, diagnosis and management of common gender specific conditions.

This course focuses on the assessment and appropriate diagnosis of mental health conditions encountered in the primary care setting. Emphasis is on differentiating between appropriate referral to a mental health professional or management by the family nurse practitioner. Safety, ethical, legal and policy issues will be examined.

This course addresses well child and adolescent healthcare as well as the assessment, diagnosis, and management of acute and chronic conditions. Integrative perspectives for facilitating wellness, restoration of health, and the management of chronic and acute conditions in children and adolescents will also be explored.

This course covers the assessment, diagnosis, and management of adults and older adults with complex and chronic conditions. The expanded work-up format will be used and will include self-management, living with chronic illness, and multiple treatment modalities. Best practices for chronic care management will be emphasized.

This course prepares DNP students for independent, entry-level FNP practice. Clinical expectations include successful application of previous NP specialty and integrative health courses and progression of clinical knowledge and competencies with increasingly complex client situations. Students will also demonstrate integration and application of DNP program competencies. Includes 360 clinical hours.

This course explores integrative perspectives for facilitating wellness, restoration of health, and the management of chronic and acute conditions in adults. Strategies include mind body approaches, nutrition, spirituality, complementary and alternative modalities and botanicals. The course examines opportunities for nurse practitioner students to incorporate integrative health principles into their practices.

This is the first of two residency courses. Each course is devoted to the integration and demonstration of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program competencies for post master’s NP students. Students will demonstrate the most advanced level of NP practice and the application of DNP competencies within their personal NP practice and at the macrosystem level. Includes 180 residency hours. Fee: $50

This is the second of two residency courses for Post-Master’s NP students. Includes 180 residency hours.