FOR PHYLLIS YOUNG

Table of Contents The Mission Statement of the College 3 The Mission Statement of the Nursing School 3 The Purpose Statement of the School 3 Program Description 3 The Student Learning Outcomes 4 Progression Examinations and Assessments 5 Clinical Experience Requirements 6 Clinical Site Selection 6 Clinical Setting Orientation 6 Required Materials 7 Clinical Assignments 7 Clinical Agency and Logs Documentation of Activities 7 Agency Documentation 7 Clinical Logs 7 Clinical Evaluation 8 Clinical Absences 8 Professional Dress Policy 8 Serious Professional Behavior or Performance Issues 9 Simulation Learning Centers 9

Nursing Program Manual for the University of Phoenix

The mission of the college is to provide the post and pre-licensure nursing, health care support and health care administration certificates, courses and programs (Lindquist, 2006). The college is committed to providing relevant, innovative education that will address and anticipate the various needs of the healthcare industry, the needs of adults and their employers.

The Nursing school aims at nurturing and promoting nursing leadership to its students through the delivery and development of different educational opportunities that will mainly embody the value of leadership, excellence in practice and caring in the nursing profession.

The main purpose of the Phoenix University Nursing School is to educate its students into the best educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will help them in advancing their nursing profession (Breneman, 2006).

The Bachelors of Science in Nursing program at the University of Phoenix is a fully accredited program by the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education. It has qualified to have a special progression for the Vocational Nurse/Practical Nurse which enables it to achieve the Bachelors of Science Degree (Olsen, 2002). The program mainly centers on skills, experiences of the practical nurse that are transitioning to the professional nursing role and also the basic education. The curriculum of this program has been founded upon a foundation of physical, social, and biological sciences that are mainly known for their contribution to the nursing science. The components of the liberal arts in this program such as cultural, intellectual, and social aspects serve as a tool of development. Finally, the main contents of the program will primarily focus on critical thinking, role transition, evidence-based practice, and advanced clinical skills (White, Baker, & Baker, 2003). All the graduates will undertake their final examination from the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. The maximum total credits for the course is 120 while the length of the program will be 215 weeks. For one to qualify for the graduation in this course, he or she must fulfill the following requirements;

· Must have completed 120 credits; 57 lower division and 63 upper division (41 in the required course of study in addition to 6 non-nursing electives.

· Must have achieved a minimum grade point average of 2.5.

· Must get a C or a better grade in all the required core courses.

· Must have successfully completed the nursing capstone NSG/480.

· Must have completed the comprehensive predictor benchmark.

· Must have met the residency requirements of 57 credits and above from the University of Phoenix.

· Must have completed all the coursework within a period of eight years.

· Students must be able have respect for cultural diversity and integrate ethical values in safe patient centered healthcare practice and delivery in different health care settings.

· Students should be able to apply knowledge, nursing process and theories in providing safe patient-centered care in the different healthcare settings.

· Students should be able to apply disease management and health promotion principles that will help them in the integration of evidence-based nursing knowledge to enhance safe-patient-centered care (Lindquist, 2006).

· Students should be able to integrate their professional nursing leadership roles as coordinators, designers and managers of safe patient-centered care in the different health care settings.

· Students should be able to use communication devices, health care equipment, information systems, and technology to give out safe patient-centered care in different health care settings.

· Students must be able to critically analyze the effects of economic, regulatory, sociocultural, legal and health care policy environments on the health care practice and delivery in different health care settings.

· Finally the students must be able to integrate their professional role as educators in the health care practice and delivery of different health care settings.

Students are required to finish reliable and valid standardized testing that is nationally normed as it will help them to prepare them in licensure. This must be done the course sequence of the student. Students are required to complete a proctored exam at their campus after the end of their clinical experience component in the course. The information about the standardized exam will be provided by the instructor to all the student (Olsen, 2002). The results of the exam will be factored into the final course grade of the student. All the tests must be completed within the University of Phoenix grading policy time requirements. Directions, location and times of the test will be provided to the students by the campus nursing administrators.

All students are required to successfully complete both their clinical and didactic experience requirement as stipulated in the LVN/LPN to the BSN program. This will also encompass simulation activities completed in lieu of direct-contact clinical activities, direct-contact clinical services, theory, and the supplemental lab activities (Lindquist, 2006). However, it is important to note that the supplemental lab activities should not be confused with the simulation activities completed in lieu of direct-contact clinical activities.

Affiliation agreements will have to be agreed upon first before the students can complete their clinical experience hours in any clinical agency during the NSG/420 and NSG/450. This means that student must first of all contact and identify agencies to know if they can provide appropriate experiences (White, Baker, & Baker, 2003).

All students will be provided with an agency clinical orientation to enable them feel comfortable in their new environment. All the appropriate procedures and policies will be reviewed by the clinical instructor (Olsen, 2002). The clinical instructor will also provide the students with a facility tour before the start of the clinical rotations.

To qualify for the clinical experience, all the students must be prepared with the following; a pre-clinical preparation paperwork that is complete which may include a patient care plan. Other materials include; a watch with a second hand, a nursing drug reference, a pen light, a University of Phoenix photo ID badge, a stethoscope (Breneman, 2006). A student may be removed from the clinical environment if he or she fails to meet these requirements.

The students will be given some specific assignments each week during the clinical courses at their posted clinical agency. Students will be able to review how they can post and make their assignments during their orientation. The timeframe for posting the assignments will always vary depending on the patient turnover and the agency.

All the nursing care that will be provided by the students to their patients is required to be documented using the designated format of the agency (Breneman, 2006). These documentations will include; notes of the nurses, output and intake records, flow sheets, and graphic records among other special forms that are required by the agency.

Students are required to complete their clinical logs to enable them to demonstrate appropriate hour completion and their clinical experience activity. The students must upload their completed logs to the classroom on a weekly basis to enable the validation of hours by the faculty. This acts as essential evidence in ensuring that students satisfactorily complete the approved curriculum by the board of nurses (Breneman, 2006). Failure to complete the appropriate hours, uploading of logs and activities will get an “F”.

Students will be provided with some constructive performance feedback that will be in the form of summative and formative evaluations.

All students are required to complete all the required hours in the course as required by their degree program. Students cannot progress to another before completing the prior one. Failure to complete the requisite hours will lead to fail in the course.

All students taking a nursing course are required to put on a maroon scrub top together with a white embroidered University logo and scrub pants that are maroon in color. The uniform must be put on in simulation labs, during practice and skill learning and in acute care settings. Vendor information will always be provided by the campus staff (Olsen, 2002). Students may sometimes be needed to put on a white lab coat depending on some settings. However, some clinical agencies may alter the way students dress. Students are required to wear, professional attire that is modest, conservative or even put on some maroon scrub pants with good low or flat heeled closed-toe shoes. Agency identification badges may also be required in addition to the agency badges.

The school will have the right to remove any student who violates the set out rules during the course. The students will be dismissed after investigation establishes the reason for dismissal.

The University of Phoenix will provide simulation experiences and labs for its nursing students to enable them have some good practical experiences.

References

Lindquist, B. (2006). Blended learning at the University of Phoenix. The handbook of blended learning: Global perspectives, local designs, 223, 234.

White, K. W., Baker, P., & Baker, J. D. (2003). The student guide to successful online learning: A handbook of tips, strategies, and techniques. Allyn & Bacon.

Breneman, D. W. (2006). The university of phoenix. Icon of for-profit higher education. Earnings from learning: The rise of for-profit universities, 71-92.

Olsen, F. (2002). Phoenix rises. Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(10), A29.