Nursing Semester 1

 Nursing Semester 1
  • Recommended Grade Level: 9-12
  • Course Credits: 0.5
  • Course Price: $299.00

Course Overview:

Nursing is an in-demand career, perfect for someone looking for a rewarding and challenging vocation in the healthcare sector. With a strong focus on patient care, a nurse must be skilled in communication, promoting wellness, and understanding safety in the workplace. In Health Science: Nursing, you will explore communication and ethics, anatomy and physiology, and the practice of nursing. Learn how to build relationships with individuals, families, and communities and how to develop wellness strategies for your patients. From emergency to rehabilitative care to advances and challenges in the healthcare industry, discover how you can launch a fulfilling career providing care to others.

Required Materials:

  • Computer with word processing program like MS Word, Excel-type program, and slide show program like PowerPoint
  • Computer with access to internet
  • Brochure maker software (optional)
  • Video Recording device: smart phone, digital camera with audio, computer camera, or any device that can record both video and sound.
  • First aid kit and supplies:
  • Alcohol and cotton swabs or alcohol wipes
  • Syringe or object to mimic syringe (pencil)
  • Bandage materials: sterile gauze, tape, large bandages
  • Space blanket
  • Antiseptic cream/gel
  • Scissors
  • Cold pack
  • Surgical Gloves
  • Surgical Gown (or clothing that is similar)
  • Object like a piece of fruit to demonstrate asepsis
  • Clean towels or pieces of cloth
  • Thermometer
  • Bathroom scale
  • Yardstick or measuring tape
  • Stopwatch or watch with timer or second hand
  • Friend or family member to act as your “patient”
  • Practice dummy: a large pillow or stuffed animal is a good substitute
  • Automated External Defibrillator or a box with two strings attached; the strings will need adhesive bandages or tape on the ends 

Syllabus:

Unit 1: Opportunities in Nursing

Nursing is a meaningful and satisfying career choice, and the demand for nurses has never been higher! But how do you become a nurse? To begin, you may want to learn about training to become a nurse, different nursing jobs, and the basics of what a nurse can do. So many opportunities are available in the diverse and constantly evolving field of nursing, so let’s start exploring what it takes to enter this popular and essential profession!

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Explain the difference between a CNA, an RN, and a LPN
  • Discuss how technology is changing the healthcare field
  • List more than twenty nursing specialties
  • Find appropriate nursing schools for your goals
  • Demonstrate professional hygiene, punctuality, and conduct

Unit 2: The Healthcare System

Insurance, co-payments, public, private—it’s so confusing! How does the healthcare system work? Just like the many parts of the body work together, our modern health system is made up of many parts that work together to deliver healthcare. Learn some of the history of healthcare, the different parts of our modern healthcare systems, and find out how this complex system delivers care to diverse people. Plus, discover the important role nurses play at every level of the system!

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Describe the origins of today’s healthcare system
  • Understand how public health improves population health
  • Identify the services nurses provide
  • Tell the difference between public and private hospitals
  • Recognize the hierarchy of nursing staff in a hospital

Unit 3: The Human Body & Body Systems

The human body is nothing short of amazing. In this unit, you will be introduced to basic human anatomy and physiology. You’ll also become familiar with the complex structure of tissues, organs, cells, and the various systems within the body. While exploring how these things are organized, you will gain an understanding of how all of these parts interact and depend on each other.

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Differentiate between anatomy and physiology
  • List the characteristics of all living things
  • Envision the inside of a living cell
  • Divide the body into distinct regions
  • Break down the factors that affect homeostasis

Unit 4: Ethical & Quality Care

Right and wrong. Black and white. It would be nice if all ethical decisions could be so clear. Since ethics in medicine involves weighing many factors, it’s a bit more complicated to figure out the right thing to do. Luckily, nursing has some guidelines that help you make good decisions. Plus, there are laws you need to know and follow to be a nurse. Using case studies containing difficult situations, you will get to decide what you might do if you were to find yourself in the same spot!

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Decrease the number of preventable errors in a healthcare setting
  • Describe the ethical principles involved in nursing
  • Research the laws of nursing for your state
  • Use nursing’s standard process for solving problems
  • Recognize signs of domestic abuse and neglect 

Unit 5: Building Relationships

Are you a good listener? Or do you like to talk? Either way, one nursing skill that will change how you communicate professionally is active listening. Communication is one of the most important skills in nursing–both with patients and colleagues on the healthcare team–and one of the most important life skills too! Effective and sensitive communication will allow your patients to trust you so that you can better care for them. So, read on, and learn interesting facts about communication, techniques to improve communication, the things that can hinder communication, and even what it takes to become a leader in healthcare.

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Practice active listening
  • Foster positive communication
  • Work through conflicts
  • Define Patient Centered Care
  • Differentiate between personal and professional relationships

Unit 6: Wellness Strategies for a Healthy Lifestyle

What happens if we think about health rather than sickness? As a nurse, your job is to promote health, which does involve healing illness, but think on the positive side. Wellness and well-being are an optimistic way of thinking about a job in healthcare—a cup half-full rather than half-empty. Nurses have a pivotal role in gently helping improve patients’ wellness, and there are so many interesting ways to go about it (and even some really cool and weird ways). From preventive self-care to alternative energy medicine, thinking about the whole health of the person can be inspiring!

What will you learn in this unit?

  • Identify a nurse’s role in promoting wellness
  • Distinguish between ergonomics and body mechanics
  • Name several types of complementary and alternative medicine
  • Ask questions to assess nutritional wellness
  • Recommend activities to manage and reduce stress

Awards, Approvals, and Accreditation