NRS 110 - Introduction to Practical Nursing

4.5 Credits, 4.5 Contact Hours
4.5 lecture periods 0 lab periods
Introduces the nursing process and to the process of the client, health, environment and nursing while introducing them to behaviors that serve as the basis of an effective nursing practice. Includes being a safe practitioner, effective communicator, manager, teacher, and culturallly compentent/caring healthcare provider. Also includes professional and ethical issues of being a nurse, and applying nursing theory. 

 

Prerequisite(s): NRA 101  and HRP 102  HRP 104  
Corequisite(s): NRS 110LC , NRS 110LS  
Information: Students must be admitted into PCC Practical Nursing Program and obtain consent from the Department of Nursing before enrolling into this course.
    

1. Recognize the behavior of individuals or groups within nursing practice and the healthcare environment in a way that facilitates the achievement of shared goals. [leadership]
2. Describe scopes of practice and roles of other healthcare team members who help a patient/family achieve health goals utilizing specific delivery care models. [teamwork and collaboration]
3. Demonstrate behaviors that are consistent with standards of professional nursing practice. [professionalism]
4. Discuss and begin to use principles of effective communication, verbal and non-verbal, as part of developing therapeutic communication. [communication]
5. Define evidence-based practice and its relationship to clinical decision-making as a safe practitioner. [evidence-based practice]
6. Discuss and describe how information and technology are used to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making. [informatics]
7. Explain physical, psychological, social, and spiritual elements of patient-centered care. [patient-centered care]
8. Recognize how data is used to monitor the outcomes of care processes to continuously improve the quality and safety of healthcare systems. [quality improvement]
9. Recognize risk potential for patients and providers. [safety]
10. Identify various healthcare delivery setting and systems. [systems-based practice]
11. Calculate conversions between measurement systems commonly used in healthcare settings [Safety]
12.  Interpret prescriber’s orders, drug labels, and health care abbreviations. [Safety]
13. Calculate drug dosage amounts using basic formula, ratio and proportion, fractional equational dimensional analysis. [Safety]
14. Calculate drug dosage amounts relevant to specialty clinical areas. [Safety]

1. Introduction to foundations of nursing practice.
   1. Introduction to the Pima Community College Nursing Department philosophy and structure, evidence based practice, healthcare delivery systems, and health promotion in the individual, family and community.
   2. Basis of effective nursing practice.
      1. Safe practitioner.
      2. Effective communicator.
      3. Culturally competent and caring.
   3. Professional and ethical issues.
      1. Legal aspects of nursing.
      2. Value, ethics, and advocacy related to nursing.
      3. Nursing roles and practice.
      4. Documenting and reporting client care.
2. Introduction to the nursing process.
   1. Critical thinking.
   2. Nursing process for practical nursing scope of practice.
      1. Data Collection.
      2. Review nursing diagnosis.
      3. Planning.
      4. Implementation.
      5. Evaluation.
3. Concepts of health and the impact of internal and external environmental factors.
   1. The nurse is an /’. effective communicator.
   2. Apply the nursing process in the promotion of culturally competent and caring healthcare.
   3. Apply the nursing process in the promotion of spiritual well being.
4. Apply the nursing process to promote psychosocial health.
   1. Stress and coping.
   2. Complex psychosocial alterations in health who is being cared for in the community.
   3. Grief, loss, and death.
5. Applying the nursing process to promote physiological health.
   1. Mobility.
   2. Sensory perception.
   3. Vital signs.
   4. Rest and sleep.
   5. Nutrition.
   6. Pain and comfort.
   7. Oxygenation, ventilation, perfusion.
   8. Activity and exercise.
   9. Health and wellness.
   10. Infection prevention and control.
   11. Fecal and  urinary elimination.
   12. Skin integrity and wound care.
6. Nursing informatics and computer communications.
   1. Basic computer functions.
   2. Client documentation.
   3. Introduction to evidence based practice.
7. Basic mathematics review relevant to medication administration
8. Systems of measurement and measurement conversions.
   1. Metric system.
   2. Apothecary system.
   3. Household system.
9. Interpretation of medication labels and guidelines for safe administration of medication.
10. Methods of drug calculation.
    1. Basic formula.
    2. Ratio and proportion.
    3. Fractional equation.
11. Preparation of a solution of a desired concentration.
12. Concentrations, infusion rates, and time parameters for intravenous solution administration, including direct intravenous injection route.
13. Drug volumes and infusion rates based on drug concentration and volume per unit time.
14. Drug volumes and infusion rates based on drug dosage per kilogram of body weight per unit time.