General Information

• Name: Medical Surgical Nursing I Theory
• Discipline: Nursing (NURS)
• Units (Credits): 3
• Schedule History: See when this course was offered over the last three years.
• Transfer Information: Courses with numbers 100 to 299: This course is designed to apply toward a WNC degree and/or transfer to other schools within the Nevada System of Higher Education, depending on the degree chosen and other courses completed. It may transfer to colleges and universities outside Nevada. For information about how this course can transfer and apply to your program of study, please contact a counselor.
• Academic Division: Nursing and Allied Health

Prerequisites and Recommended Courses

• Prerequisites: admission to the nursing program
• Corequisites: NURS 166 & NURS 167

Course Outline

I: Catalog Course Description

Assists students to integrate knowledge derived from the bio/psycho/social sciences, humanities, nursing and current literature to achieve safe, competent care of adult patients experiencing common alterations in body systems. Organized by the nursing process to achieve best practice outcomes in an acute care medical/surgical setting. Particular emphasis is placed on the concepts of holistic care, patient education, and discharge planning.

II: Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of NURS 166 the student will be able to:

• Integrate reserach findings for evidence based practice that leads to best practice outcomes.
• Utilize therapeutic communication skills when interacting with patients and their families.
• Identify a patient's unique responses to selected illnesses and disorders across their lifespan.
• Integrate cultural, family, environmental and developmental factors, which affect a patient's responses to illness and disorders, in a nursing plan of care.
• Prioritize interventions using Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the plan of care for pediatric and adult patients responding to selected illnesses and disorders.
• Manage the patient's care through collaboration with other healthcare professionals.
• Communicate and document accurate information to other healthcare professionals.
• Apply principles of patients' rights within the ethical/legal framework of nursing in a plan of care.
• Demonstrate development of critical thinking skills through the use of the nursing process for specific illnesses/disorders.
• Discuss nursing strategies that promote cost effective care.
• Recognize accountability for identification of self-learning needs and professional development.
• Design a patient teaching guide for a specific illness that utilizes the principles of teaching/learning.
• Develop a discharge plan of care for a patient that anticipates a patient's continusing health care needs and the available community resources.

III: Course Linkage

Linkage of course to educational program mission and at least one educational program outcome.

Linkage of course to the Associate of Applied Sciences Degree Mission and Outcomes, Nursing Program Mission and Nursing Program Outcomes and General Education Outcomes.

Link to the Associate of Applied Sciences Degree Mission and Outcomes

The purpose of the Assocate of Applied Science degree is to provide employment-related knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in a chosen field of study.

Students who complete programs in occupational areas are expected to demonstrate that they

1. Know subject area of the degree
2. Are able to acquire skills and perform tasks necessary for employment or career enhancement

Link to the Nursing Program Mission

The mission of the nursing program at Western Nevada College is to meet the nursing educational needs of the service area. The program prepares qualified students to function as entry-level registered nurses and transfer to higher degree programs.

Graduates are prepared to function in a variety of health care settings, providing culturally sensitive, holistic nursing care to individuals and families across the lifespan. The nursing faculty supports graduate competency in an evolving and complex health care environment by facilitating the students' development of clinical judgement, promoting professional behaviors, and fostering the value of lifelong learning.

Link to at least one Nursing Program Educational Outcome

Utilize the nursing process in a competent and caring manner to safely meet the the bio/psycho/social/cultural and spiritual needs of patients across the lifespan in a variety of health care settings.

Integrate knowledge derived from the bio/psycho/social sciences, humanities and nursing to achieve deliberative and competent decision-making that is grounded in evidence based practice to achieve best practice outcomes.

Link to at least one general education outcome

Have effective and efficient learning skills, including the location and evaluation of information.

Have college-level skills in reading, writing, and oral communication
appropriate to their degree and/or emphasis.