Courses
This seminar course provides a collaborative learning environment to critically analyze, interpret, and discuss applications of healthcare data analytics in order to identify gaps in quality care as the foundation for the DNP Project. Students develop advanced skills in data-driven problem identification and needs assessment, integrating theoretical frameworks. The seminar emphasizes reflective practice, critical thinking about data quality, analytical approaches, and ethical considerations in healthcare data utilization, and translation of analytical findings into actionable healthcare improvements.
This clinical practicum provides supervised experiential learning in applying data analytics principles within healthcare settings to identify a gap in quality care. The practicum emphasizes practical application of statistical knowledge, informatics principles, and financial concepts, focusing on healthcare data collection, analysis, interpretation, and application to inform quality improvement, financial decision-making, and technology integration for the DNP Project.
This seminar course provides a collaborative learning environment focused on developing a comprehensive DNP project proposal. Students will engage in advanced literature search strategies, critical analysis of quality improvement methodologies, and systematic proposal development. The course emphasizes reflective practice, rigorous inquiry and scholarly writing to translate evidence into well-crafted, methodologically sound project proposals.
This clinical practicum provides supervised experiential learning to actively develop and refine their DNP project proposal. The practicum emphasizes the practical application of systematic project planning and development strategies, focusing on translating theoretical knowledge into a comprehensive, implementable quality improvement initiative.
This seminar course provides a collaborative learning environment supporting the implementation of the DNP project proposal in a practice environment. Students will translate evidence-based project plans into practical interventions, emphasizing systematic implementation strategies, stakeholder engagement, and quality improvement methodologies. The course emphasizes reflective practice, navigating implementation challenges, collecting rigorous project data, and maintaining scholarly rigor throughout project implementation.
This clinical practicum provides supervised experiential learning for implementing the DNP project proposal in a practice environment. The practicum emphasizes pragmatic project management, adaptive problem-solving, data-driven performance resolution, and the integration of quality improvement initiatives in complex environments.
This seminar course provides a collaborative learning environment for analyzing and disseminating quality improvement project outcomes. The course emphasizes reflective practice, critical analysis of project results, and professional communication strategies to effectively share project findings with diverse healthcare stakeholders. Students will develop advanced skills in translating project outcomes into meaningful contributions to nursing knowledge and healthcare practice.
This clinical practicum provides students with supervised experiential learning in evaluating and disseminating their quality improvement project. Students will collect and analyze data, evaluate outcomes, and develop sustainability and dissemination strategies.
This clinical practicum provides opportunities for the student to provide comprehensive care to patients, utilizing clinical judgement, communication skills, nursing knowledge, and evidence-based practice. Incorporating principles of health equity and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) into clinical encounters is expected.
The DNP Portfolio Advisement I seminar is designed to provide DNP students with guidance to demonstrate achievement of intended program outcomes and advanced practice competencies through written case narratives from clinical based encounters and oral presentation. The student will be assigned an advisor who will review all case narrative work and provide guidance as indicated.
This clinical practicum is designed for the student to demonstrate their ability to provide comprehensive care to patients with multiple co-morbid conditions. The student is expected to apply clinical judgement, communication skills, nursing knowledge and evidence-based practice when developing plans of care. Incorporating principles of health equity and social determinants of health (SDOH) in clinical encounters is expected.
The DNP Portfolio Advisement II seminar is designed to provide DNP students with guidance to demonstrate achievement of intended program outcomes and advanced practice competencies through written case narratives from clinical based encounters and oral presentation. The student will be assigned an advisor who will review all case narrative work and provide guidance as indicated.
This course introduces students to the methods used in studying health policy and health services research in the context of critiquing the contributions of research to the development of health policy. In addition to a critical review of methods and results of health services and policy research, the course examines the relationship among science, policy and politics, and identifies critical questions shaping the future policy research agenda.
This course endeavors to link clinical practice in nursing with policy issues by exploring a series of topical clinical issues that have significant health systems and health policy implications. Each seminar topic will address policy questions at four levels: the delivery system (across settings), cultural and ethnic groups, state and regional levels, and national level policies.
The course is designed to introduce the advanced statistical methods commonly used in health care research. The selected topics include multiple regression, logistic regression, analysis of covariance, factor analysis, and survival analysis. The focus of the course is on application of these statistical methods in biomedical and nursing research, execution of statistical analysis using statistical software, and interpretation of results from computer outputs.
Interdisciplinary research is an approach to advancing scientific knowledge in which researchers from different disciplines work at the borders of those disciplines in order to address complex questions and problems. Successful interdisciplinary efforts require mastery of specific competencies. This seminar will introduce students to competencies in interdisciplinary research through a combination of readings, case studies, and lectures in each necessary aspect, chosen from fields essential to successful interdisciplinary research. It is intended to assist learners to understand why and how different professional disciplines must work together to generate and disseminate knowledge. We will examine: different conceptualizations of interdisciplinary; barriers to and facilitators of interdisciplinary research; approaches, benefits, and limitations of collaboration and team science; methods for measuring interdisciplinary collaboration; the intersection of translational and interdisciplinary scientific strategies; and individual researchers' experiences with and evaluations of their own interdisciplinary scientific projects. Learners will develop a set of skills to be effective members and leaders of interdisciplinary research teams.
This course is intended to provide a strong foundation in the concepts of genetics and clinical applicability of genomic concepts commonly seen in advance practice nurses’ clinical practice. Both classical Mendelian and molecular genetics will be examined, in order to provide a knowledge base that will enable the advanced practice nurse to integrate genetic and genomic knowledge into clinical practice. Using a case discussion approach, clinical issues of genetics testing, genetic exceptionalism, individualized risk assessments and predictions are explored throughout their life span.
This course will address aspects of nursing research from the perspective of preparing researchers to design and carry out studies and preparing clinicians to use research and data to develop interventions for patients and to evaluate evidence for practice. Included are: the research process; formulation of researchable questions and hypotheses; types of research variables; sampling designs and power analyses; and the uses, strengths and weaknesses of experimental, quasi-experimental, and epidemiologic designs.
This introductory, overview course examines methodologic and design aspects of qualitative nursing research. Students will study published, qualitative, empirical research in nursing and related disciplines with emphasis on paradigm distinctions, theoretical perspectives, various research approaches, designs and methods, critique of research reports, and ethical issues in qualitative research. Learning experiences include fieldwork exercises and proposal development.
This course provides an overview of quantitative methods and their applications for studying the burden of diseases (BOD) and conducting cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). The course emphasizes causes, consequences of mortality, morbidity, and disability, and risk assessments. Students will learn basic methods used for comparative analysis of health impacts associated with diseases, injuries, and risky behaviors, and will be able to apply the knowledge of BOD measurements to assess effectiveness of treatments and interventions of specific diseases, develop needed policy recommendations, and address prevention and intervention strategies targeted to specific population or region.
Students will also learn sociocultural, economic and environmental factors that affect health outcomes and how disease burdens are linked to economy, policy and environment. The transdisciplinary knowledge and hands-on skills learned from this course will enable students to pursue interest in health care research and practice.
Social determinants of health are an important component of nursing science and of strategies to address health equity. The course is intended to provide a hands‐on introduction to and analysis of social determinants of health data using computational methods. This will include strengths and weaknesses of the variety of existing data sources used to capture social determinants of health and computational methods to analyze social determinants of health data.
This course will provide an overview of intervention development through social and behavioral science theories. Students will use intervention development processes incorporating informatics and data science to address problems of clinical or public health significance. This will include understanding how a needs assessment (involving community and practice-based partners) identifies both a health problem and the social, behavioral and ecological factors that contribute to it. Students will learn how to define the targets for change with at-risk groups, and create change matrices (blueprints) for interventions, including performance objectives. Students will identify theory-informed methods and practical applications for those methods, including the delivery characteristics and modes (i.e., online, in-person) for intervention delivery that consider culturally relevant program materials. Students will learn logic models for program evaluation and understand the value of considering intervention sustainability at each stage of program development. Students will work in a group, apply the intervention development process to develop a hypothetical intervention case.
This course examines the empirical foundation of advanced nursing practice, analyzing nursing theories, their concepts, and the applicability to observe clinical nursing. Focus will be placed on development of critical thinking skills in analyzing extant practice for theory implications. Students will examine various frameworks for the development, definition, analysis, and synthesis of theories and concepts, as well as assessing theory applications through direct clinical observation. Focus will be placed on development and analysis of selected concepts.
This course provides an in-depth examination of qualitative study designs and methods through a combination of theoretical discussion and hands-on practical experience. Topics include paradigm distinctions, theoretical perspectives, designs and methods, critique of research reports, and ethical issues in qualitative research.
Building upon the foundations provided in the quantitative and qualitative research method courses, in this course students examine advanced methods and frameworks frequently used in studying health policy, health services research problems and comparative effectiveness research. In addition to a critical review of the methods, the course examines the relationship among science, policy and healthcare delivery, and identifies critical questions shaping the future policy research agenda.
The course will explore the methods used to study clinical and other phenomena. Included will be discussion of issues related to instrumentation, both qualitative and quantitative, access to patient populations including clinical trials, validity, reliability, and ethical aspects of research.
This course provides a foundation for quantitative research methods and design. Research process topics examined include: appraisal of the quality of existing evidence; identification of gaps in the literature; formulation of researchable questions and testable hypotheses; types of research variables; sampling designs and power analyses; and the uses, strengths, and weaknesses of various experimental and quasi-experimental research designs.
This foundational course will examine the philosophy of nursing knowledge including foundations of nursing theory, concept development, and its application to research. Students will explore approaches to the analysis and development of concepts and the application of nursing concepts and frameworks to clinical practice and research. Ideas, assumptions, events, people, and writings are examined for their influence, inter-relationships, and significance to nursing. Types of reasoning will be evaluated within the context of nursing and health. Major theories, frameworks, and concepts of nursing and health and their implication for research will be discussed. The focus of the course will be on development of critical thinking skills in analyzing key elements of philosophies, concepts, and conceptual frameworks.
In this foundational course students will study the links between theory and the psychosocial and biophysical measures used in nursing research. Students will employ the principles of classical test theory and item response theory to evaluate the reliability and validity of measurement. Application of computational techniques will be covered in the lab portion of the course. Course topics include types and uses of measures, item/scale development and validation, survey methods, reporting for publication, and the relationships between measurement and research ethics, cultural competency, and health disparities.
This foundational course will examine the philosophy of nursing knowledge including foundations of nursing theory; concept development; and its application to research. Students will explore approaches to the analysis and development of concepts and the application of nursing concepts and frameworks to clinical practice and research. Ideas, assumptions, events, people, and writings are examined for their influence, inter-relationships and significance to nursing. Types of reasoning will be evaluated within the context of nursing and health. Major theories, frameworks and concepts of nursing and health, and their implication for research will be discussed. The focus of the course will be on development of critical thinking skills in analyzing key elements of philosophies, concepts and conceptual frameworks.
In this foundational course students will study the links between theory and the psychosocial and biophysical measures used in nursing research. Students will employ the principles of classical test theory and item response theory to evaluate the reliability and validity of measurement. Application of computational techniques will be covered in the lab portion of the course. Course topics include types and uses of measures, item/scale development and validation, survey methods, reporting for publication, and the relationships between measurement and research ethics, cultural competency, and health disparities.
Building upon the foundational knowledge acquired in the quantitative and qualitative research method courses, this course will introduce advanced research methods in nursing research. It explores three pivotal areas in nursing research: Health Services Research, Omics Research, and Data Science Research. Students will learn theoretical principles or frameworks for the three advanced methods, and critically review the commonly used research methods. Additionally, the course examines the interplay between science, policy, and healthcare delivery and identifies critical questions shaping the future policy research agenda.
This one year palliative and end of life care clinical fellowship will provide the post-clinical DNP graduate with a comprehensive experience in clinical practice across sites. Fellows will rotate through inpatient, long term, community and home care settings where the focus will be pain and symptom management, quality of life, and bereavement care. A multidisciplinary team under the direction of CUSON faculty will integrate education, research, and innovative clinical programs into the delivery of palliative and end of life care for adult patients and their families. Fellows must commit to a minimum of two days per week in the clinical setting and classroom.
This course is designed to provide the students with the knowledge to apply the best available evidence to clinical practice problems and the information technology to support evidence-based practice. Course content includes critical appraisal skills to determine the quality of the research for usability in practice, to determine if the findings have applicability in a specific practice, and what the findings mean for the patient. Overview of informatics topics of most relevance to evidence-based practice will be presented. Topics include: standardized clinical terminology; health care standards; electronic health records; retrieval and critical analysis of digital data, information, and knowledge; clinical decision making; and decision support including decision analysis.
No longer offered. Please see N9405. Formerly known as Practice Management and Information.
This course focuses on theories and methodologies for designing, implementing, and evaluating continuous quality improvement initiatives that enhance patient safety, experience, and outcomes. Students analyze quality measurement frameworks, regulatory requirements, and accreditation standards, systems thinking, human factors engineering, implementation science, and high-reliability principles essential for sustainable quality improvement. The course emphasizes creating a culture of excellence that transforms healthcare delivery and advances population health.
This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge and skills necessary to serve as a member and lead interdisciplinary groups in organizational assessment to identify systems issues and facilitate organization-wide changes in practice delivery utilizing quality improvement strategies. Course content focusses on understanding systems concepts and thinking to achieve results in complex health care delivery systems. Frameworks, approaches, and tools that foster critical thinking are examined as mechanisms to formulate vital questions, gather and assess relevant information, develop well-reasoned conclusions, test conclusions against relevant standards, compare conclusions with alternative systems of thought, and communicate effectively throughout the process.
This seminar course provides a collaborative learning environment to critically analyze, interpret, and discuss applications of leadership principles in practice. Students will engage in comprehensive analysis of leadership theories, organizational dynamics, and strategic approaches to healthcare management.
This clinical practicum provides supervised experiential learning in applying leadership principles within healthcare settings. The practicum emphasizes practical application of leadership and organization behavior theories, strategic planning, and health policy analysis in preparation for advanced leadership roles.
This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge to apply the best available evidence to resolve clinical practice problems and to use information technology to support evidence-based practice. Course content includes critical appraisal skills to determine the quality of the research fro usability in practice, to determine if the findings have applicability in a specific practice and what the findings mean for the patient. Overview of informatics topics of most relevance to evidence-based practice will be presented. Topics include: standardized clinical terminology; health care standards; electronic health records; retrieval and critical analysis of digital data, information, and knowledge; clinical decision making and decision support including decision analysis.
This course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge and skills regarding the uses of information technology to support evidence-based practice. The course will provide an overview of informatics topics of most relevance to evidence-based practice including: computer systems and system development; standardized clinical terminology; informatics standards; electronic health records; retrieval and critical analysis of digital data, information, and knowledge; clinical decision making; decision support; decision analysis; shared decision making; and computer aided instruction.
Utilizing a symptom-based approach, this course will examine the diagnosis and management of patients with complex diagnoses and comorbid conditions in the context of family, community and culture. The course will emphasize principles of primary care, including "provision of integrated and accessible health care services" (IOM, 1996). The accountability and ethical implications in the provision of comprehensive care to a population of ambulatory patients will be emphasized. Cultural diversity, epidemiology, differing health belief models, and alternative therapies will be explored as an integral part of primary care.
This practicum is a clinical field experience designed to provide the opportunity for students to apply the knowledge of diagnosis and management of ambulatory patients with complex diagnoses and comorbid conditions in the context of family, community and culture. The clinical experience will emphasize principles of primary care including integration, accessibility, accountability and ethical decision making. Sites for this clinical experience will include hospital based clinics, ambulatory centers and private offices.
Using symptom-based case studies, the seminar format will encourage students to integrate knowledge of clinical and scientific methodology, pathophysiology, principles of practice management, evidence-based practice, and ethical decision-making to determine differential diagnoses, therapeutic interventions, and coordinated patient management. The discussion will promote the synthesis of all factors that have some bearing on and provide a rationale for clinical decision-making.
Utilizing a symptom-based approach this course will examine the diagnosis and management of patients with complex diagnoses and/or comorbid conditions who present with acute changes in health status requiring interventions available only in an acute care setting. Discussion will focus on sophisticated evaluation techniques, appropriate clinical monitoring of vital functions, and the therapeutic interventions available in the acute care setting. The accountability and ethical implications in the facilitation and coordination of comprehensive care for a population of acutely ill patients will be emphasized. Transitioning the patient to the appropriate level of care following resolution of the acute illness will be discussed
This required seminar is designed to further develop the role of advanced practice DNP students through case presentations. Using the CUSON DNP Competencies in Comprehensive Care as the framework, students will analyze clinical decision-making and utilizing evidence for best clinical practices.
This clinical is designed to provide students the opportunity to manage patients in a specialty-care or global health care setting.
This course will focus on persons who are unable to function independently due to age related alteration in mental and physical status, developmental, perceptual and physical disability and chronic, degenerative illness. Diagnosis and management of this population of patients within the context of hospice care, home care, skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation centers, group homes, day care facilities and other health related assisted living facilities will be presented. The impact of altered clinical presentation and multiple coexisting problems on diagnosis, management, and ethical decision making will be discussed.
An in-depth understanding of the complexity of chronic illness management will be emphasized. Content will include discussion of current and innovative models of care delivery, issues impacting patients, caregivers and advanced practice nurses, care systems that enhance outcomes, and use of an interdisciplinary approach to chronic illness management for persons across the lifespan.