Decker Core Nursing Classes

Sarah

Congratulations on making it to your core nursing classes- you have finally finished the prerequisites and this is what you have been waiting for! However, with so many courses sounding really similar and the start of clinicals we know it can get a bit confusing. Here is a breakdown of these classes by semester (the semsters are layed out for the traditonal nursing program, the BAT program takes the same classes but the semesters and clinical structures may be different).

Junior Year- Fall Semster

NURS 320- Socilazation I, Introduction to Professional Nursing

This is the first class in the three class Socialization series that teaches you how to be a professional nurse beyond the medical skills. In this first class you will learn about professionalism, the legal aspects of nursing, gain familiarity with patients from a variety of culutral backgrounds and more!

NURS 321- Nursing Assessment of Clients

This one is exciting- it is the first course with a clinical component! What that means is that this class will have a lecture and a lab/clinical section. In the lecture you will begin to learn how to care for patients with a variety of conditions. Building on the diadatic componenet you will begin the semster in the lab learning the physical skills you need to be a nurse. About halfway through the semster you put those skills to use and begin your first rotation at a nursing home gaining familiarity with the geriatric population!

NURS 322- The Client System of Nursing

This is a unique class that is largely presentation based. You will work in groups to each week either present or watch a presentation on a topic that relates to how we can best understand and care for patients. The class ranges from learning how to understand the health needs of a community to disease prevention and barriers in health care acess. You even get to go out into the local community and present your research!

NURS 251- Pathophysiology I

This is a class that alot of people are nervous about. It builds upon the chemistry, biology, and anatomy prerequisites to go in depth with the physiology of various medical conditions. You go system by system learning about a variety of conditions, how they manifest in the body, and subsequent treatments for them. It's a hard class but definently an important one!

Junior Year- Spring Semster

NURS 352- Practice of Nursing I and NURS 353- Practice of Nursing II

From this point on any "Practice of Nursing" class is a lecture with a clinical component. The lectures correlate to the clinical rotations attached to the class. In this semster you will complete another geriatric rotation, a medical-surgical rotation, a postpartum/labor and delivery rotation, and either a pediatric or behavioral health rotation. You will have two of these rotations at a time (clinical is now twice a week- each day being a different rotation) and then switch to the last set of two halfway through the semster. The lectures rotate throughout the semster with all of these topics to synch up with your clinical rotations as best as possible.

NURS 361: Pathophysiology II

This is a continuation of Pathophysiology I from the previous semster. While this may be the end of the sequence, you will use the information from these classes in the majority of the rest of your nursing classes and practice.

Senior Year- Fall Semster

NURS 360: Socialication II, Nursing Research

This is the second class in the socilization series that focuses on the importance of nursing research, how to understand research articles, and how the research is conducted.

NURS 362: Practice of Nursing III

In this class you will focus on medical-surgical nursing for the entire semster. You will continue learning how to care for a variety of patients in the lecture and complete a medical-surgical clinical that lasts the enitre semster (one day a week).

NURS 363: Practice of Nursing IV

In this class you will continue learning about Pediatric and Behavioral Health nursing as well as Community Health. You will complete a Community Health and a Pediatric or Behavioral Health (whichever placement you did not complete prior) clinical rotation that is also one day a week but switch halfway throughout the semster.

NURS 365: Pharmacology in Nursing

Pharmacology is when you dive into the medications that you have been seeing in lecture and within the clinical setting. In this class you learn about a variety of medications, their uses, adverse effects, and how they work within the body. Some students choose to take this class early, during the spring of their Junior year.

Senior Year- Spring Semster

NURS 470: Socilaization III, Professional Issues

This is the final class in the socialization series! It focuses on being a new graduate nurse and prepares you for the shift from nursing student to reigstred nurse.

NURS 471: Practice of Nursing V

This is the moment you have been waiting for- your last clinical placement otherwise known as your capstone! During the fall of your senior year you will have the chance to indicate prefrences for this experience based on past clinical experiences and now you get to spend the spring semster working on one unit multiple times a week, typically in 8 or 12 hour shifts. This is a great way to understand what it will be like to work as a nurse after graduation!