Course: Nursing 4544: Nursing Practicum IV
Fall, 1997
Revised Spring, 1997

Description:

This course provides the opportunity to comprehensively integrate professional nurse behaviors while delivering nursing care in diverse settings to clients with both simple and complex health problems. Nursing care will encompass health promotion, maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation and illness prevention for individuals, families and communities. Clinical laboratory experiences take place in complex/chronic in-patient and community settings. The practicum seminar integrates the nursing process and human needs fulfillment framework with actual and simulated case study presentation.

Credit Hours

Five semester hours (4 semester hours [12 clock hours] clinical lab and one seminar hour)

Placement

Semester Four

Requisites

Prerequisites: All courses in Semesters I, II, III

Prerequisites or Co-requisites: Nursing 4240, 4348, 4440

Laboratory Experiences

A variety of in-patient and community settings

Clinical Objectives

1. Apply the nursing process to facilitate human need fulfillment for individuals, families, groups and communities with complex problems utilizing advanced nursing skills
2. Synthesize knowledge from the theories and research of nursing, the humanities, and physical and behavioral sciences when applying the nursing process.
3. Display responsibility and accountability in providing complex nursing care in diverse settings.
4. Identify opportunities for coordination, delegation and (or) referral in the provision of client care.
5. Use critical thinking skill in collaboration with other health team members in providing care to the client.
6. Perform ongoing self-evaluation of professional nursing practice.
7. Identify the contributions of professional nursing organizations to clinical practice.
8. Integrate the nursing process and the human needs framework across various clinical settings.

Requirements and Evaluation Methods

The student is required to come prepared as directed by the nursing instructor assigned to the particular clinical site. Practicum performance will be graded using the clinical performance evaluation tool. The practicum grade will be determined with input from all of your practicum instructors. The senior seminar project will integrate the practicum experience along with the co-requisites. The student is held responsible for satisfactory performance of all skills and knowledge taught in pre- and co-requisite courses. Assignments to facilitate the learning experience will be at the discretion of the instructor and student performance on these will be used when determining the practicum grade. Post conferences will be scheduled, as appropriate, by the faculty.

Point deduction for assignments submitted late and unattended post conferences is at the discretion of the faculty:

Practicum Evaluation	80%
Senior Seminar Project	20%

Senior Seminar Project

The senior seminar project is an important component of Nursing Practicum IV for enhancing critical thinking and decision making skills. It is expected that each student will participate throughout the semester and in the final presentation sessions. Written surveys, teaching materials, booklets, posters, etc. must be approved by primary instructor prior to use or distribution.

Professional Behaviors

As professionals, students are expected to demonstrate the following behaviors. Failure to demonstrate any of these behaviors will result in lowering of the numerical grade for the course or a failure in the course.

1. Protect confidentiality of the client.
2. Respect the property of clients and agencies.
3. Responsibility for own actions, i.e., promptness, notifying agencies and instructor of unavoidable absences, making adequate preparation for patient care, reporting errors for corrective action, etc.
4. Responsibility for obtaining needed knowledge, skills, and learning experiences through appropriate channels
5. Responsibility for professional attitude, behavior and appearance in the practicum setting.
6. Accountability by abiding by appropriate policies and procedures of the agencies, Baylor University School of Nursing and the University.
7. Accountability by adhering to the Code of Ethics of the American Nurses' Association.

Statement of Unsafe Practice

Unsafe practice jeopardizes the client's well-being. If a student is deemed unsafe in the clinical setting, he/she may be asked to leave the unit by the instructor. The student must comply and the day will be counted as an absence. Examples of unsafe behaviors may consist of but are not limited to:

1. Coming unprepared for patient care, i.e. not knowing medications or not understanding the relationship of pathology to patient care.
2. Overstepping the boundaries, i.e. doing something for which the student is unprepared.
3. Not in compliance with policies (school or agency)

Senior Seminar Project is considered in the grade only with satisfactory performance in the clinical area.

Attendance

One hundred percent (100%) attendance is expected in all clinicals and seminars. Exceptions may be made for circumstances such as illness and deaths in the family. Absences may result in the decrease of the final grade. No student will receive a passing grade if attendance is less than 90%.

Instructional Methods

1. Care of selected clients in assigned settings.
2. Selected observation experiences.
3. Written and/or verbal assignments.
4. 1:1 problem solving.
5. Supervised clinical activities.
6. Senior seminar project including presentation.
7. Assigned preceptors.
8. Other as deemed appropriate by your instructor