Acute Care and Gerontological Advanced Practice Nursing Clinical Practicum I

This precepted clinical practicum provides students the opportunity to obtain a comprehensive health history, apply advanced physical assessment skills, and utilize advanced physiology/pathophysiology, and pharmacology knowledge to promote health, prevent illness, and manage acutely ill in adults and older adults. Selected health promotion, stress and coping, cultural theories and evidence-based findings will be applied to manage acute health conditions of adults and older adults from diverse backgrounds (e.g. age, culture, ethnicity, race, sexuality, and socioeconomic status). Emphasis will be placed on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of health promotion and disease prevention. Students will evaluate laboratory and diagnostic data to determine health status and prioritize differential and nursing diagnoses. Regular seminars provide a forum for students to receive instructions, consultation, and supervision from faculty and to share this learning process with their classmates. Seminars build upon an evidence-based practice model and emphasize diagnostic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making. Case studies examples are used as the basis for discussion. Students will be placed with clinical preceptors appropriate to their role (e.g. CNS or NP).