BSN PROGRAM

SECOND DEGREE TRACK

Course Syllabus – Summer 2018
COURSE NUMBER & TITLE
UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult

CREDITS:
6 credits (4 theory, 2 clinical)

FACULTY:
Lynn Coletta Simko, PhD, RN, CCRN
Clinical Associate Professor
515 Fisher Hall
412 396-5096
simko@duq.edu

PREREQUISITES:
Pharmacology for Nursing Practice I
Pharmacology for Nursing Practice II
Pathophysiology for Nursing Practice
Adult Health & Illness
Fundamentals of Nursing Practice and Clinical Ethics
Health Assessment + Lab

COURSE PLACEMENT:
Senior Year, Summer Semester

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will focus on the assessment and management of adults with unstable and complex
system alterations. The course will emphasize the assessment of functioning, adaptation, and
recovery for patients with high acuity illnesses and clinical problems. Selected sub-acute and
high acuity acute care settings will be utilized for clinical practice.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Analyze the needs of adult patients with complex acute conditions
2. Identify nursing diagnoses for complex acutely ill patients and their families.
3. Identify nursing diagnoses for complex critically ill patients and their families.
4. Evaluate a nursing care for adults with complex acute and critical conditions using evidence-
based practice research
5. Collaborate with adult patients and families, and members of the health care team to
communicate healthcare priorities and needs.
6. Recognize the psychosocial needs of critically ill adult and family.
7. Evaluate the achievement of patient care outcomes for complex acutely ill patients and their
families.

UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 1 of 8

8. Analyze research findings for managing and evaluating nursing care of individuals and
families with complex alterations in health.
9. Analyze legal and ethical dilemmas confronting critical care nurses
10. Demonstrate the professional role of the nurse.
11. Discuss the impact technology has on the delivery of hi-tech intensive nursing care in the
acute care setting.

COURSE CONTENT:
The following standards for nursing practice have been incorporated into the course:
 ANA Standards of Nursing Practice
 AMSA Standards of Practice for Medical-Surgical Nursing Practice
 ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses
Unit I: Respiratory/Cardiovascular
Unit II: Neurology
Unit III: Burns/Organ donation
Unit IV: Multiple Trauma/Emergency Surgery

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES:
Some examples: (you may add or delete)
Lecture
Class/group discussion
Cooperative learning
Application of concepts to case studies
Audio-visual aids
Computer-assisted instruction
Self-learning modules
Required readings
Clinical practice
Clinical conferences
Laboratory practice
Simulated practice
Study groups

EVALUATION:
Six Pop Quizzes 30% (10 Points each, 5% each) 60 points
*HESI Specialty exam 35% 100 points
Midterm Examination 35% 60 points
Total 100% 220 points
*Students will have a Critical Care HESI in UPNS 400 at the end of the term during final
examination week. The HESI is counted as 35% of the final course grade.

GRADING SCALE:
95 - 100 A
92 - 94.99 A-
89 - 91.99 B+
86 - 88.99 B
83 - 85.99 B-
78 - 82.99 C+

UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 2 of 8

 74 - 77.99 C
65 - 73.99 D
64.99 and below F
A minimum passing grade for nursing courses is a C+. The School of Nursing does not round
grades. Assignments must be typed in the format required by the American Psychological
Association Publications Manual, latest edition. Students are responsible to duplicate all papers
that are submitted to School of Nursing faculty. Should a problem arise concerning a paper,
students may need to supply a duplicate copy.

GRADING SCALE FOR THE HESI:

Grading Scale
HESI Scoring Letter Grade
Test Score
Interval
>1050 100 A
1000-1049 96 A
950-999 92 A-
900-949 88 B
850-899 83 B-
800-849 78 C+
750-799 74 C
700-749 70 D
650-699 65 D
600-649 62 F
550-599 58 F
500-549 54 F
450-499 50 F

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:
The student will demonstrate competent and safe nursing practice skills on a medical-surgical
/step-down interventional/telemetry unit. Students will be assigned to care for a patient in the
critical care area with a specified nurse. The student is expected to participate in the care of a
critically ill patient. Faculty and student will complete a written evaluation of competencies at
midterm and at the end of the course. Students and faculty will meet to discuss clinical
performance at midterm and at the end of the semester, during finals week. At this time the
student and faculty will complete written evaluations of performance. ***Students must
achieve a satisfactory final faculty clinical evaluation to pass the course.

If a student misses a clinical day it must be made up at the end of the semester. If no clinical
days are missed the student is excused from the clinical make-up week at the end of the semester,
however if your clinical faculty called off on a clinical day, then the entire clinical group must be
present for the make-up week at the end of the semester.
MATH PROFIENCY REQUIREMENT
All students are to complete required math competency assessments at each level of the nursing
program. The math competency is given with the UPNS 426. Leadership and Management
Course.

UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 3 of 8

ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Classroom and clinical attendance is the responsibility of each student, and will be monitored by
the Professor who is teaching the course/section. The method for monitoring attendance is at the
discretion of each Professor. Attendance will be monitored in a variety of ways including, but
not limited to, taking roll at anytime during the class session, administering unannounced
quizzes, administering in-class assignments or having a percentage of the course grade for class
participation.
All students are required to notify the Professor of an absence prior to the start of class they
will be absent from. This notification must briefly explain the reason you will be absent and must
be done via email or by leaving a message with the time and date you called on the Professor’s
voice mail. If a student misses an in-class assignment or unannounced quiz, and did not notify
the Professor prior to the class, he/she will not be allowed to make up the assignment or quiz
unless there are extenuating circumstances acceptable to the Professor. If the student did contact
the Professor prior to a class that had an in-class assignment or quiz, it is the Professor’s
discretion to allow the student to retake the quiz or submit the assignment missed. Class absences
that are not excused by the Professor may affect the student’s final course grade.
Absolutely no cell phone use during class. If a student is seen texting or using the cell phone you
will be asked to leave the class room for the remainder of the day. Lap tops and IPads are
allowed for academic use only. If one is seen searching the web you will also be asked to leave
the classroom. Absolutely no cell phones during an exam and for an exam review. No picture
taking of the exam while testing or reviewing the exam.
* If a student cannot take an exam at the designated time due to an emergency situation or
otherwise extenuating circumstance, arrangements will need to be made with the course
professor to take an alternate exam.
CLINICAL PLACEMENTS:
The student will be placed in an acute care facility for this clinical rotation. The student will be
notified of the site placement at the beginning of the semester. Individual student requests for
specific site placements cannot be honored.
CLINICAL ATTIRE:
Students are required to be in full uniform starting with the first clinical experience in the nursing
laboratory until completion of the clinical rotation at the designated clinical placement site.
Failure to be in appropriate attire will result in a clinical communication on the initial offense.
Any subsequent offenses will result in a clinical warning and dismissal from the clinical site.

REQUIRED TEXT(S):
Ignativicius, D., & Workman, L.M. (2016). Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-
Centered Collaborative Care. (8th ed.). St Louis, MO: Saunders, Elsevier.

Sole, M. L., Klein, D., & Moseley, M. (2017). Introduction to Critical Care Nursing.
(7th ed.). St Louis, MO: Saunders, Elsevier.

Aehlert, B. (2018). ECGs Made Easy (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders, Elsevier.

RECOMMENDED TEXT(S):
Recommend a hard copy of this book.
Huff, J. (2017). ECG Workout: Exercises in Arrhythmia Interpretation. (7th ed)Philadelphia PA:
Wolters Kluwer
UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 4 of 8
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Students are subject to the School of Nursing and University Academic Integrity Policies which
can be found in the Undergraduate Student Handbook on the Nursing DORI Intranet site. Please
review this document carefully.
Nursing has been determined to be the profession with the highest integrity. Therefore
cheating in any form cannot be tolerated. Any attempt to cheat on an exam in this course will
result in an automatic failure for the course. This includes but is not limited to any notes, phone
or device that could be used to gain information during the test. Clear instructions will be given
regarding test protocol so there can be no excuse for violation of these directives.

All written assignments should be composed using Microsoft Word and following the writing
style and format guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA), current edition.
Students are encouraged to use the University Writing Center if assistance with writing is
needed.
All course email communication will be sent via the DUQ email account. Students are
responsible to regularly check their DUQ account to obtain course information and updates.
Students with a disability who are or may be requesting classroom, clinical or testing
accommodations must do so through the Office of Freshman Development and Special Student
Services (412-396-6657) by the end of the second week of classes. Reasonable learning
accommodations cannot be granted without verification from this office.

UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 5 of 8

 COURSE SCHEDULE:
(Subject to change throughout the semester. Please make sure you are using the
most recent schedule)
Duquesne University School of Nursing
UPNS 400 Care of the Critically Ill Adult
Summer 2018
719 Fisher Hall
Date Content Assignment

May 14th, & 16th 2018 Intro to course/clinical Review BB Site

Normal Cardiac Conduction Aehlert: 1-101

Sinus rhythms Sole: 89-129
Igy: 649-664

Pulmonary Emboli Sole: 410-411

Igy:603-610

ABGs Sole: 169-171

Igy: 174-185

ARDS Igy: 610-616; 622-625

Sole: 390-400, 405-410
May 21st & 23rd 2018 Atrial Arrhythmias Aehlert: 102-140
Sole 107-112
Igy: 665-669

Ventilator Management Sole: 159-204

Igy: 514-530; 616-622

Myocardial Infarction Sole: 311-322

Igy:757-784

CABG Sole: 317-320

Igy: 692-697; 726-728

May 30th 2018 AV Blocks 13:30-14:30 Aehlert: 194-221

Quiz 1 Sole 121-123

Valvular Disorders Sole: 335-339

AAA Igy:

Hemodynamic Monitoring Sole:130-158

Igy: 770-772
June 4th & 6th 2018 Ventricular Arrhythmias Aehlert: 165-193
Sole 116-121
Quiz 2 Igy: 664-665

Hemodynamic Monitoring Continued as per above

Code Management Sole 205-231

UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 6 of 8

 Date Content Assignment
th th
June 11 &, 13 2018 Pacemaker rhythms Aehlert: 222-240
Quiz 3  June 11 th Sole: 124-129
Code Management As above
Sole: 342-378
Midterm Exam on June 13th first Igy: 930-946
part of class

Increased ICP/CVA Igy: 957-962, 946-957

Brain Tumors
th th
June 18 & 20 2018 Closed Head Injury Sole: 366-371
Quiz 4

Spinal Cord Injury Sole: 382-390

Igy: 884-904

Burns Sole: 584-621

Igy: 465-490

Intra-abdominal HTN/Peripheral Sole: 420; 575-576, 511-512,

Compartment Syndrome 606; 604
June 25th and 27th 2018 Brain Death Criteria/Solid Organ Sole: 232-252
Transplantation

Shock States, all Shock States Sole: 253-288

Systemic inflammatory response Igy: 739-756
syndrome (SIRS), Multiple Organ
Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS)
July 2nd 2018 Shock States, all Shock States, As above
Quiz 5 Systemic inflammatory response
syndrome (SIRS), Multiple Organ
Dysfunction Syndrome (MODS)

July 9th & 11th 2018 Trauma Management Sole: 556-583

Quiz 6 Igy: 622-625; 1051-1069;1208

July 16th & 18th 2018 Catch up on material

CORE Presentation

Life Flight Presentation

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS:

Aehlert. B. (2018). ECGs Made Easy, (6th) ed. St. Louis, Elsevier.

Sole, M. L. Klein, D.G. Moseley, M.J., (2017). Introduction to critical care nursing (7th ed.).
St. Louis, Elsevier.
UPNS 400 Critically Ill Adult Summer 2018 Page 7 of 8
Ignatavicius D., & Workman, M.L. (2016). Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient Centered
Collaborative Care, (8th ed). St. Louis, Elsevier.

RECOMMENDED BOOK AS A HARD COPY BOOK:

Huff, J. (2017). ECG Workout: Exercises in Arrhythmia Interpretation 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

If you buy this book as a hard copy book you will also have access to the e-book. This book has
cards to study from with the rhythm strip and answers on the back. Has more practice strips and
covers torsades de points.

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