Nursing: RN-to-BSN

This is an introductory bridge course for RN-BSN students. Core concepts of professional nursing practice are explored and analyzed within the framework of selected theories, trends, and issues of contemporary professional nursing practice.

This course more fully explores the pathophysiology of selected human diseases across the lifespan based on global, national, and local health data. Clinical reasoning and judgment will be promoted through examination of correlation of disease, symptomology, and pharmacology therapy and cost-effective quality care. Concepts of pharmacology and evidence-based drug therapy are integrated.

The Health Assessment course is designed to provide the RN student with the knowledge and skills to perform a comprehensive health assessment. This course will expand upon prior knowledge of health assessment and will address cultural, developmental, psychosocial, environmental and societal factors inherent in promoting health across the lifespan. Techniques of data collection and documentation will be expanded upon to enhance critical thinking skills. This course will then shift the paradigm focus from the individual to the community with a focus on prevention and early detection of disease. Students will be introduced to the health care needs of diverse and vulnerable populations.

Interdisciplinary communication within the present-day healthcare arena encompasses many forms. The professional Nurse as an effective communicator has to be able to deliver clear and concise communication, which is essential to safe patient care. This course will examine the role and impact that effective communication skills have on patient care outcomes and in clinical practice. In addition, communication and informatics as they relate to professional Nursing will be explored. The concepts and skills of communication, informatics, and information literacy will be presented.

• 3 credits
• PREREQUISITES: MAT 3410

This course will explore key organizational structures and operation of healthcare within the United States with a focus on quality of healthcare and error reduction. This course will provide an overview of the functions of leadership and management within a changing healthcare environment. Emphasis will be placed on current issues that affect leadership and management in the practice setting. The science of management and the integration of leadership principles are explored within the context of clinical microsystems.

This course explores the concepts of community health, epidemiology, and data determinates of health when providing interdisciplinary population focused care. The tenets of creating a culture of health will be explored, including the Robert Wood Foundation principles of creating a Culture of Health connecting health and social, economic, physical, and environmental factors. This course will provide a foundation of further graduate education in population health.

This professional course elective can be satisfied by taking one of the following two courses at Labouré:

NUR 4337: Opioid Disuse Syndrome and the Epidemic

This course will explore healthcare organizational structures and medical and non-medical and alternative treatments and health prevention strategies for opioid misuse within the United States with a focus on quality and safety of healthcare provision across the lifespan. This course will provide an overview of the opioid crisis within a changing healthcare environment. Barriers affecting systems issues, clinicians, patients/families and health insurance coverage. Emphasis will be placed on current ethical and legal issues that affect nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, physical therapists, addiction counselors, and recovery coaches in varied practice settings. The science of addiction treatment, exposure, use/misuse of opioid management and the integration of nursing principles are explored within the context of clinical microsystems.

OR

NUR 4338: Topics in Nursing

This course will explore topics not always discussed in Associate degree nursing courses. Topics may include exploring phenomena in nursing as death doula - hospice nurses and their patient's end of life vision, the historical perspective of nurses as witches, unusual nursing careers (flight nurse, Disney nurse, transgender youth nurse, yacht nurse), image of nursing in relation to folklore and oppressed group behavior, healing modalities (such as pet, art, music therapy), and exploring current healthcare topics. 

This course and mentorship experience offers the student the opportunity to identify a substantive research problem related to improving patient outcomes in healthcare, and will assist the student to synthesize concepts and knowledge learned in the RN-BSN program. The student will work in conjunction with a mentor to identify a current healthcare research problem. The previous Nursing research course serves as the foundation for implementing the principles of evidence-based practice. The student will begin to develop the first three phases on an evidence-based proposal. Mentorship project: Students need to complete a total of 45 mentorship hours. 

This course introduces the various methods used to collect, organize, summarize, interpret and reach conclusions about data. An emphasis is placed on demonstrating that statistics is more than mathematical calculations. By using examples gathered from real life, students learn to use statistical methods as analytical tools to develop generalizations and meaningful conclusions in their field of study.

Choose one (1) of the following courses: 

ETH 3210: Ethical Domains and Dilemmas

This course compares and contrasts views of human nature that underlie social, business, and personal ethical dilemmas. Catholic philosophical perspectives are explored as they relate to the formation of human agents and the performance of human actions. Course readings are analyzed and evaluated for meaning, implications, and consequences of views of human nature as they impact theories of ethics within a sampling of historical turning points. Case studies, selections, and accounts of major contributions to human knowledge and understanding are analyzed from the perspectives of varied schools of ethics. Cultural relativism, utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue theory and contemporary theories of justice, among other schools of thought, are studied within contexts, categories of understanding or domains, and themes of human nature.

OR

THE 3010: Religion, Medicine, and Ethics

This course offers an interdisciplinary analysis of the intersections of Religion, Medicine, and Ethics. In particular, it will offer an alternative to the Western trend to bifurcate spiritual care from physical care. As Max Weber pointed out a century ago, modern society treats the human being as a substance to be manipulated and controlled. The current technocratic paradigm views healthcare as merely the application of the latest scientific knowledge and technique without concern for the spiritual nature of the human being. In juxtaposition to this current trend, this course will explore how illness, health and healing are religious experiences requiring analysis through a theological-ethical paradigm. We will demonstrate the need for a complementary understanding of the roles of medicine and religion in order to incorporate holistic care into more clinical settings. Specifically, this course will highlight the importance of integrating a holistic approach to health and wellbeing that addresses the physical, spiritual, social and emotional dimensions of the patient. Lastly, this course will examine how health and wellbeing were constitutive elements of the Christian faith and the need to recover religious practices aimed at restoring holistic wellbeing.

Elective requirements for the RN-to-BSN program are 12 credits of Humanities, Social Science or Natural Science courses. These could be any four 3-credit courses in the Humanities, Social Science, or Natural Science fields. Students can complete these electives through transfer credit, taking them at Labouré College of Healthcare, or a combination of both. 

For students taking these courses at Labouré, they may select some of the courses listed in the catalog here.

Humanities encompasses courses in English, literature, history, art, music, philosophy, religion or theology. 
Social Sciences encompass courses in psychology, sociology, political science, economics, or anthropology. 
Natural Sciences encompass courses in biology, chemistry, or physics.

• 4 credits
• PREREQUISITES: All 4000- level general education courses, all 3000 level nursing courses, and all 4000 level courses except for NUR 4336 which can be taken concurrently.