NURS 4203-002 The Nurse as a Professional: Issues and Ethics

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Overview: This course focuses on the nursing profession and its professional organizations. Ethical and professional issues and corresponding laws affecting the individual, the practice of professional nursing, and the profession are explored. Laws that govern the role of the professional nurse are applied. Concepts of autonomy, accountability and advocacy are integrated throughout the course.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Examine the values influencing one's personal philosophy of nursing.
   
2. Evaluate the interrelationships between and among professional nursing organizations.
   
3. Appraise the impact of current health care issues on the nursing profession.
   
4. Relate current legal and ethical issues to the practice of professional nursing.
   
5. Analyze contemporary health care issues using ethical theories and principles.
   
6. Evaluate practice decisions using critical thinking.
   
7. Examine the role of the nurse, in collaboration with health care providers, to partner with patients and advocate for effective, ethical and legal health care.
   
8. Integrate legal and ethical theories and principles in the scholarly analysis of a health care problem.