The Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Curriculum
Misericordia University’s 16 month Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program comprises 54 credit hours over the course of four full-time semesters. Our accelerated nursing curriculum offers a solid mix of online and onsite instruction taught by experienced, highly supportive faculty to prepare you to take the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam once you graduate.
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| Semester 1 | Credits |
|---|---|
| NSG 201 Foundations Essential to Professional Nursing Practice This course emphasizes basic nursing concepts and identifies select functional health patterns, such as activity-exercise, nutritional-metabolic, elimination, and sleep-rest functional health patterns. Basic theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are taught and implemented within a nursing practice framework. Competencies in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills are developed and refined in clinical practice settings and/or simulated clinical situations. | 3 |
| NSG 305 Physical Assessment This course examines techniques used by nurses in the ongoing assessment of patient health status. Emphasis is placed on interviewing skills, obtaining health histories, and employing physical assessment techniques used across the lifespan. (Two credits lecture and one credit laboratory.) | 3 |
| NSG 300 Conceptual Basis of Nursing Practice This course presents an overview of major health professions, with a focus on nursing. The emphasis in this course is assisting the student with developing a theoretical base for professional nursing practice based on Gordon’s functional health patterns. Students are introduced to the nursing metaparadigm, nursing theorists, and the nursing process as a foundation for baccalaureate nursing practice. | 2 |
| NSG 320 Principles of Pharmacology This course develops the student’s knowledge and understanding of the essential principles of pharmacology. The course will focus on therapeutic classifications; characteristic drug groups; physiologic influences on drug effects; principles of therapy; drug interactions; and the legal, ethical, and economic issues of drug therapy. | 3 |
| Total | 11 |
| Semester 2 | Credits |
|---|---|
| NSG 302 Functional Health Patterns — Psychiatric Nursing This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns of patients with psychiatric-mental health problems, including health perception/health management; cognitive-perceptual; sleep-rest; self-perception/self-concept; role-relationship; sexuality-reproductive; value-belief; and coping/stress tolerance. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for patients with acute and chronic mental health disorders. Emphasis is placed on the psychobiology, psychiatric genetics, and psychosocial therapeutic modalities used in the nursing care of adults and children with psychiatric disorders. Students apply principles of psychopharmacology and use critical thinking skills to examine current research evidence and legal-ethical issues that influence the planning and delivery of nursing care to patients in the psychiatric setting. (Two credits lecture and two credits clinical.) | 4 |
| NSG 301 Functional Health Patterns — Adults I This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns, including coping and stress tolerance; cognitive-perceptual; nutritional/metabolic; activity and exercise; and elimination. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for adult patients with acute and chronic illness in medical surgical settings. Emphasis is placed on the autonomic nervous, integumentary, musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal systems, in addition to pain and infectious disease as health problems of adults. Students apply principles of pharmacology and use critical thinking skills to examine current research evidence and legal-ethical issues that influence the planning and delivery of nursing care to adults and their families. (Three credits lecture and three credits clinical/laboratory) | 6 |
| NSG 303 Functional Health Patterns — Adults II This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns, including cognitive-perceptual; nutritional/metabolic; and activity and exercise. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for adult patients with acute and chronic illness in medical surgical settings. Emphasis is placed on the metabolic, cardiovascular, sensory, autoimmune, and respiratory problems of adults. Students will work in a variety of settings, including caring for patients in the perioperative period. Students apply principles of pharmacology and use critical thinking skills to examine current research evidence and legal-ethical issues that influence the planning and delivery of nursing care to adults and their families. (Three credits lecture and three credits clinical/laboratory.) | 6 |
| Total | 16 |
| Semester 3 | Credits |
|---|---|
| NSG 401 Functional Health Patterns — Adults III This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns, including coping and stress tolerance; cognitive-perceptual; health perception-health management, nutritional/metabolic; activity and exercise; and elimination. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for adult patients with acute and chronic illness in medical surgical settings. Emphasis is placed on altered cellular proliferation and on alterations in endocrine, neurologic, oncologic, renal, and hepatic function as health problems of adults. Students apply principles of pharmacology and use critical thinking skills to examine current research evidence and legal-ethical issues that influence the planning and delivery of nursing care to adults and their families. (Three credits lecture and two credits clinical.) | 5 |
| NSG 402 Functional Health Patterns — Childbearing and Family This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the psychosocial sciences, focusing on sexuality and the reproductive functional health patterns of women and their families to achieve a positive pregnancy outcome and a safe fetal environment. Emphasis is placed on normal and abnormal childbirth processes to provide students with the knowledge and basic obstetrical skills to care for women, newborns, and families experiencing a normal obstetrical course and for those experiencing complications. Students examine human genetics, the application of current research evidence, principles of pharmacology, and legal-ethical issues influencing the planning and delivery of nursing care to pregnant women, newborns, and families. In the clinical component of the course, emphasis is placed on the role of the professional nurse working in the obstetrical specialty, the application of the nursing process in providing nursing care to pregnant women, newborns, and families, and the enhancement of critical thinking skills, therapeutic nursing interventions, select pharmacotherapies, effective communication, and interpersonal skills. (Two credits lecture and two credits clinical.) | 4 |
| NSG 304 Functional Health Patterns — Pediatric Nursing This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns in children from infancy through young adulthood. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for pediatric patients with acute and chronic illness and their families in a variety of pediatric settings. Emphasis is placed on normal growth and development. Students examine the applications of current research evidence, principles of pharmacology, and the legal-ethical issues influencing the planning and delivery of nursing care to pediatric patients and their families. (Two credits lecture and two credits clinical/laboratory.) | 4 |
| Total | 13 |
| Semester 4 | Credits |
|---|---|
| NSG 404 Functional Health Patterns — Adults IV This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring selected alterations in functional health patterns, including nutritional/metabolic; activity-exercise; elimination; cognitive-perceptual; health perception-health management patterns; coping and stress tolerance; and value-belief patterns. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for adult patients with acute and chronic illness in medical surgical settings. Emphasis is placed on the normal aging process, the pathophysiologic changes of adults with complex health problems, and critical alterations in cardiovascular, integumentary, hematological, and multisystem dysfunction. Students apply principles of pharmacology and use critical thinking skills to examine current research evidence and legal-ethical issues that influence the planning and delivery of nursing care to adults and their families. (Three credits lecture and two credits clinical.) | 5 |
| NSG 403 Functional Health Patterns — Aggregates and Populations This course builds on previous knowledge and skills from nursing, the basic sciences, and the social sciences, exploring alterations in functional health patterns, including self-perception, self-concept; sexuality-reproductive; coping-stress tolerance; health perception-health management; value-belief; cognitive-perceptual; and role relationship. Theoretical, scientific, and humanistic principles are used to achieve positive health outcomes for individuals, families, aggregates, communities, and populations. Emphasis is placed on population-centered health care in the community. The values of public health nursing concepts are embedded within the implementation of community-oriented nursing practice. In the clinical component of the course, nursing practice takes place in a variety of public settings. Perspectives in global health care are considered in relation to a population-based approach, major health problems, and burdens of disease. Students examine the application of current research evidence, principles of pharmacology, and the legal and ethical issues influencing the planning and delivery of health care to individuals, families, aggregates, communities, and populations. The role of the nurse as community leader is emphasized. (Two credits lecture and one credit clinical.) | 3 |
| NSG 405 Functional Health Patterns — Baccalaureate Capstone This capstone course focuses on facilitating the transition from student to professional nurse in the contemporary health care environment. Strategies for success on the national licensing examination are designed and implemented. Students are introduced to leadership and management concepts as they apply to professional practice and the health care milieu. Critical analysis of legal, ethical, and diversity issues in health care is emphasized. | 3 |
| NSG 410W Nursing Research for Evidence-Based Practice This introductory course is designed to prepare students to become consumers and critical evaluators of research, basing care on evidence. Emphasis is placed on the components of quantitative and qualitative research processes, the concepts and terms associated with these processes, and the competencies necessary to read, evaluate, and interpret research findings for practice. Building on critical thinking skills, this course will expand students’ knowledge by assisting them with developing and using the principles of evidence-based health care to address problems in professional practice. | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
Total Nursing Credits: 54