NRS 111 - Foundations of Nursing in Chronic Illness I

2 Credit(s)

Prerequisite(s): NRS 110, NRS 110C

Corequisite(s): NRS 230, NRS 232

Course Description: This course introduces assessment and common interventions (including technical procedures) for patients with chronic illnesses common across the life span in multiple ethnic groups. The patient and family’s “lived experience” of the condition is explored. Clinical practice guidelines and research evidence are used to guide clinical judgments in care of individuals with chronic conditions. Multidisciplinary team roles and responsibilities are considered in the context of delivering safe, high quality health care to individuals with chronic conditions (includes practical and legal aspects of delegation). Cultural, ethical, legal and health care delivery issues are explored through case scenarios and clinical practice. Case exemplars include children with asthma, adolescents with a mood disorder, adults with type 2 diabetes, and older adults with dementia. The course includes classroom and clinical learning experiences.

Course Level: Career/Tech Preparatory

Course Learning Outcomes:

CLO#1: Conduct a health assessment that is patient-centered and family-centered and both developmentally and culturally appropriate, interpret, and use the resulting health data, focusing on:
- mental and functional status, ADLs and IADLs
- coping/adaptive strategies used by patient/family
- lived experience of chronic illness, including recognition of stigma and its impact on vulnerability and maintaining health,
- impact of condition on family functioning, and
- specific lab value interpretation and medication concerns such as polypharmacy.
CLO#2: Provide safe and effective, developmentally and culturally appropriate care to patients with chronic illness including:
- safely and effectively assisting clients with ADLs & IADLs,
- identifying and providing for comfort needs (physical and emotional),
- teaching patients/families about interventions for managing symptoms such as chronic pain, fatigue,
- teaching patients/families about self-assessment and self-management in highly prevalent chronic conditions such as (but not limited to) congestive heart failure, dementia, type 2 diabetes, depression, and obesity. (ILO: Information Literacy)
CLO#3: Develop and implement a patient-centered and family-oriented plan of care for a patient with a chronic illness that incorporates evidence-based intervention strategies, assessment data, child and family developmental considerations, and demonstrates a deep understanding of the patient’s perspective and illness experience, within the framework of exacerbation, trajectory, and plateau.
CLO#4: Apply ANA Code of Ethics and nursing values in the care of persons with a chronic illness or disability.
CLO#5: Identify roles and functions of members of the health care team in order to provide care for the chronically ill.