Master of Science in Nursing

2013-14 Curriculum

Chatham University Nursing Programs offer a Master of Science Degree in Nursing for preparation as world-ready educators, leaders, or informatic specialists. The Chatham University Nursing Program requires 21 credits of MSN Core courses and 15 credits in Leadership, Education, or Informatics tracks.

2013-14 Schedule Planner

MSN	Fall	Spring	Summer	Fall
Leadership Track (Full-time)	NUR 501	NUR 504	NUR 506	NUR 507
	NUR 502	NUR 505	NUR 640	NUR 650
	NUR 503	NUR 630	NUR 660	NUR 670

Informatics Track (Full-time)	NUR 501	NUR 504	NUR 506	NUR 507
	NUR 502	NUR 505	NUR 641	NUR 651
	NUR 503	NUR 631	NUR 661	NUR 671

Education Track (Full-time)	NUR 501	NUR 504	NUR 506	NUR 507
	NUR 502	NUR 505	NUR 652	NUR 642
	NUR 503	NUR 632	NUR 662	NUR 672

Course Descriptions

Required Courses (credits)

NUR 501	Scientific Underpinnings for Practice (3)
NUR 502	Advanced Pathophysiology/Pharmacology (3)
NUR 503	Informatics Foundation and Health Care Technology (3)
NUR 504	Organizational Quality & Systems Leadership (3)
NUR 505	Advanced Physical Assessment and Health Promotion (3)
NUR 506	Professional Role: Communication and Collaboration for Improving Patient Outcomes (3)
NUR 507	Health Policy and Advocacy (3)

Optional Course

Following successful completion of one of the MSN tracks, those students who would like to seek admission into the DNP program but do not have evidence of 500 academically supervised clinical hours may enroll in the following course as a means to complete the required hours. Please contact the MSN Program Coordinator or your Academic Advisor for more information.

NUR 697

Nursing Clinical Practicum (3)

The Nursing Clinical Practicum experience provides an opportunity for students to gain clinical experience related to a clinical area of interest, leading to advanced knowledge and experience. The student will select clinical areas matching their areas of interest, working under the guidance of a faculty or clinical coordinator and a preceptor. This course is designed for those planning admission to a DNP program to gain the 250 hours necessary for admission to the program.

Required Course Descriptions

NUR 501: Scientific Underpinnings for Practice
This course examines principles and processes of evidence-based practice as a strategy to guide clinical decision-making, initiate practice change and improve nursing practice, including translating, evaluating and disseminating the evidence. The development of an inquiring attitude towards their practice will be encouraged. Course elements include gaining knowledge of research design, statistical concepts and search strategies. The integration of nursing theory and theories from other disciplines will be emphasized.

NUR 502: Advanced Pathophysiology/Pharmacology
This course focuses on normal, acute, and chronic human physiological processes across the lifespan. Attention will be given to genetic/genomic content that may alter or result in an acute or chronic disease. Information gained in this course may assist the student in performing a physical health assessment based the symptomatology of various acute and chronic illnesses. In addition, the course will focus on pharmacological medications for the treatment of acute and chronic diseases. The essentials of drug actions will be reviewed. Genetic/genomic and pharmacogenomic topics will be reviewed in relation to the use of pharmacological medications.

NUR 503: Informatics Foundation & Health Care Technology
This course will assist health care professionals within a graduate program to develop a strong foundation of knowledge in understanding the impact technology and informatics has in the delivery of care across various health settings. Students will be introduced to current and emerging technologies while exploring the impact on patient outcomes and staff satisfaction. Key to this foundation of knowledge will be the graduate's ability to communicate, coordinate, and analyze change that results from the utilization of technology at point of care.

NUR 504: Organizational, Quality, & Systems Leadership
The course content includes theories, research, and applications that focus on managing organizational behavior, quality improvement, and systems leadership within and across all aspects of an integrated health care delivery system. This course provides an overview of these topics with an emphasis on leadership decision making. Course content is presented so that students can comprehend how patient care systems are structured, processes developed, and outcomes affected by the actions of health systems leaders and employees.

NUR 505: Advanced Physical Assessment and Health Promotion
This course focuses on health assessment of the adult, child, and infant. Concentration is focused on physical assessment techniques and taking a thorough health history in order to improve and ensure quality patient care. Genetic/genomic content will be reviewed accordingly with each physical system assessed as well as use of a pedigree for the family history portion of a health history. Content will also encompass clinical prevention and health population strategies that are culturally appropriate and evidence-based.

NUR 506: Professional Role: Communication & Collaboration for Improving Patient Outcomes
This course will assist nurses in graduate programs to develop, analyze and apply skills in collaboration and communication, including the Inter-professional Education Collaborative's core competencies, effective communication strategies based on complexity and transformational leadership theory, and skills of presentation and publication to improve patient care and advance the discipline of nursing.

NUR 507: Health Policy & Advocacy
In this course students analyze and synthesize innovative approaches to complex issues in health care delivery at the local, state, and federal levels. Concepts such as politics, policy, market forces, and advocacy are used to assess how system approaches can affect health care delivery. Introduces students to the influence nursing leaders have on transforming the nation's health care delivery at the individual, local, state, national, and global levels. Transformational leadership for political and policy activism are emphasized, while exploring emerging regional, national, and global health issues and trends.