Pediatric Nursing

Course Objectives: Students in this course will have the opportunity to:

Clinical Objectives:

1. Holistically assess the pediatric patient and their support system(s)
2. Analyze assessment data in formulating and prioritizing holistic nursing care needs of pediatric patients and their support system(s)
3. Discuss evidence-based rationale for selection / modification of nursing interventions in the care of pediatric patients and their support system(s)
4. Safely administer and monitor pediatric medications, intravenous fluids and nutrition
5. Competently perform common pediatric nursing care procedures
6. Recognize and respond appropriately to ethical dilemmas in pediatric nursing care
7. Accurately evaluate the effectiveness of pediatric nursing care
8. Integrate knowledge of child and family development in providing pediatric nursing care.
9. Demonstrate professional interaction / communication with children, family members, and health care team.

Grades:

* N.B. Grades will not be rounded

* N.B. Students must pass both the content knowledge and clinical components to pass the course.

Additional Course Requirements:

1.         Students must maintain satisfactory health as determined by the total faculty consensus.

2.         Clinical performance, campus and/or clinical laboratory, are evaluated. Students are

expected to pass both clinical and classroom components of the course. Failure in either

one will constitute failure in the course. A course average of at least 74% is required to

successfully complete this course.

3.         Students must maintain a current immunization record on file at the Vinson Health Clinic plus proof of a current CPR card, validated Health Insurance and paid Liability Insurance on file with the Wilson School of Nursing secretary during the entire semester. In order to attend class or clinical experiences, each student MUST comply with each of these requirements.

4.         Four function calculators are allowed during exams. The use of programmable

calculators, statistical or graphing calculators and calculators stored on personal data

assistant devices are NOT allowed. In addition, sharing a calculator with another student

is NOT allowed. Calculators may not make a discernable noise during use.

5.         Faculties reserve the right to make changes at anytime to this syllabus.

6.         Students will be held accountable for all communications sent by faculty via the course’s WebCT site; therefore, you will be expected to check the site for announcements, assignments, messages, etc. daily. Faculty asks that students use course email or clinical group sites as a means to make a specific request, ask for content clarification, to submit clinical dates…and so forth…rather than using our school/work email addresses.

Disruptive Behaviors:

Behaviors that detract from the learning process will NOT be tolerated. Beepers and cellular phones are to be muted during all class sessions and pre-clinical/clinical experiences so that others will not be disturbed. Do not use cell phones in the classroom. Use of cell phones in the classroom will result in no credit (0%) for the quiz grade that day. In addition, disruptions occurring from students entering or leaving the classroom during class time will not be tolerated. If you arrive after class begins you must sit in the last row of seats.

The Provost has received a number of complaints from students saying that when their peers are allowed to bring children into class it is disruptive, is not appreciated, and is considered inappropriate for a learning environment and is something they should not have to tolerate. Given these complaints, children are not to be brought to class.

Integrity Policy:

The BSN Program does not condone cheating in any form and considers it a serious offense.  Cheating is defined by the faculty to include dishonesty on examinations and plagiarism.  Plagiarism is further defined as “the act of using source materials of other persons (either published or unpublished) without following the accepted techniques of crediting, or the submission for credit of work not the individual’s to whom credit is given.”  (MSU Student Handbook, Standards of Conduct, Item 10.)  Offending material that may constitute plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the following: bibliography cards, formal papers, book reports, written nursing care plans, etc.

By enrolling in this course, the student expressly grants MSU a “limited right” in all intellectual property created by the student for the purpose of this course. The “limited right” shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality, and for educational purposes.

For further information regarding cheating and any subsequent actions to be taken please refer to the policy statement in the BSN Student Handbook.

American Disabilities Act:

Midwestern State University (MSU) does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s disability and complies with Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act in its admission, accessibility and employment of individuals in programs and activities. MSU provides academic accommodations, physical accommodations and auxiliary aids to individuals with disabilities, as defined by law, who are otherwise qualified to meet academic and employment requirements. A student requiring academic or physical accommodations should call the office for assistance at (904) 397- 4618.  A student requiring physical accommodations that will impact their ability to perform tasks in the clinical areas (i.e. like lifting patients) must  provide a written accommodation plan to the course faculty  2 weeks prior to their first clinical day.  The student may not attend clinical until the course faculty has provided them a response in writing that the clinical facility has determined that they are able to meet the students need for physical accommodations.  A student may not request physical accommodations at the clinical site if a plan has not been filed

N.B. The faculty reserves the right to recommend to the Chair, Wilson School of Nursing and the Dean, College of Health Sciences & Human Services withdrawal of a student from the nursing program for health, legal, professional, or academic reasons, particularly if patient care is jeopardized.  In addition, the student must perform within the ANA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.

Failure Policy

Students must meet all course requirements, or a grade of "F" will be assigned.

Students are expected to pass NURS 4042 and classroom components of the course. 

Failure in either clinical performance or theory components will result in failure “F” of the course and the clinical.

A student who receives a "D" or an "F" in two nursing courses must seek reentry to the

nursing program by writing a letter to the Wilson School of Nursing outlining the reason for the course failures and an action plan to resolve the issue.

The faculties reserve the right to recommend to the School of Nursing Chair/BSN Coordinator and College of Health and Human Services Dean withdrawal of a student from the nursing program for health, legal, or academic reasons, particularly if client care is jeopardized.  In addition, the student must perform within the ANA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.  See MSU BSN Student Handbook for additional requirements.

Course Attendance

Students are encouraged to attend all lectures. Students may be dropped from the course for excessive absences per University policy.

Board Of Nursing (BON) Requirements

Students were expected to be compliant with current CPR certification, immunizations, TB testing, health and liability insurance, drug screen and criminal background checks, throughout the semester. Contact Ms. Halvorson at 397-6371 or email nancy.halvorson@mwsu.edu if you have questions about your compliance. TB testing needs to be repeated every 12 months.

Standards for Student Conduct in Nursing 4053/4042

Students enrolled in Pediatric Nursing are expected to conduct themselves as health care professionals. The minimum expected standards are outlined below.

Student Responsibilities:

1. Professional Behavior in preparation for and completion of all clinical experiences (ambulatory, inpatient and simulation laboratory)

1. Accomplish reading relevant to the clinical assignment in advance
2. Present 15-minutes before the start of any clinical experience
3. Appearance: Clean, pressed, correctly sized MSU or “kid friendly” scrubs; clean white shoes (exclusive of decoration); MSU student name tag; Hair off the face, off the collar and under control; Finger nails clean, colorless, not longer than the length of the finger; No artificial nails. Post earrings only (No dangling of any length)
4. Well Equipped: “Nurse Pack” (pen, penlight, scissors, etc.); watch with second hand; stethoscope; pocket-size notebook;
5. Accept all patient care assignments made by Simulation Lab staff, preceptors or faculty.

2. Use the nursing process to provide optimum care for pediatric patients and their support systems

1. Collect comprehensive patient data (historical, psychosocial, physical, and developmental)
2. Interpret data in a meaningful way.
3. Establish meaningful and measurable goals.
4. Implement all nursing activities in a safe and therapeutic manner.
5. Evaluate nursing actions and modify the plan of care as needed.

3. Correctly and safely administer all medications

1. Consistently use the six rights of medication administration and assess for medication allergies
2. Correctly calculate medication dosages
3. Correctly perform subcutaneous and intramuscular injections
4. Correctly administer intravenous medications
5. Accurately document medication administration
6. Demonstrate knowledge of medication therapeutic, non-therapeutic and adverse effects

4. Effective professional communication both in accuracy of written documentation in medical records, using correct terminology, as well as oral communication with patients, parents and members of the health care team

5. Display a professional attitude at all times

1. Accept constructive feedback in a positive manner
2. Actively seek individual learning opportunities

6. Administer medication or perform procedures ONLY under the direct supervision of the clinical instructor, preceptor or an RN.  Students are not allowed to administer medications alone.

Tips to remember:  

1.      Introduce yourself to your patient(s) and his/her nurse. Be specific when discussing with the staff nurse the patient care activities you will perform during your shift.

2.      NEVER disconnect or adjust any piece of equipment unless instructed to do so by your clinical instructor or staff nurse.

3.      You may assist nurses with their nursing care; however, your primary patient(s) should be your first priority.

4.      Students will NOT be allowed to initiate blood transfusions or chemotherapy, or to manipulate pain control pumps.

Infractions constituting clinical failure:

STUDENTS ARE NOT TO ADMINISTER MEDICATIONS UNLESS DIRECTLY SUPERVISED BY A FACULTY MEMBER

Failure of the clinical component of the course occurs when the student fails to successfully complete a competency evaluation as listed above, receives an unsatisfactory rating in any area of the evaluation rubric or does not complete 90 hours of clinical. Absences will be rescheduled at the discretion of the course coordinator. 

Certain behaviors result in an unsatisfactory rating in the professional behavior section of the evaluation rubric.

Three incidents of infractions to the standard of professional behavior to include but not limited to:

• Arriving to a clinical experience late even if allowed to stay in the clinical
• Not conforming to the dress code even if allowed to stay in the clinical
• Not bringing appropriate supplies to the clinical experience even if allowed to stay in the clinical
• Unprofessional/inappropriate language or gestures
• Unprofessional/inappropriate behavior such as disrespectful behavior, chewing gum, using tobacco products in non-smoking areas, disruptive behavior, or failure to comply with a written or verbal instruction including failure to comply with requirements for immunizations, health insurance, liability insurance, and CPR completion
• Non-compliance with the policy to notify the instructor and the agency of a clinical absence prior to the absence or as soon as possible if immediate notification is not possible
• Leaving the premises without permission from the clinical instructor
• Failure to complete assignments by the due dates
• Failure to return from meals or breaks at the assigned time
• Falsification, omissions, and/or lying about a non-patient care situation
• Use of a cell phone for calling, texting, e-mailing or receiving calls, texts or e-mails in the clinical area unless given permission by the clinical instructor

Two incidents of infractions to the standard of professional behavior to include but not limited to:

• Disregarding patient confidentiality without malice or intent to disclose
• Failure to maintain compliance with clinical requirements.
• An error in care that does not harm a patient
• Committing two infractions from the list above as well as one in this list

Infractions to the standard of professional behavior that results in immediate failure of the clinical component of the course to include by not limited to:

• Administering medications without the direct supervision and approval of a faculty member
• The smell of alcohol on the breath
• Testing positive for illicit drugs or alcohol
• Falsification, omissions, and/or lying about a patient care situation
• Intentionally revealing confidential information
• Patient abandonment
• Cheating, collusion, plagiarism, or stealing. Cheating/collusion/plagiarism – cheating means intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise; collusion means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing work offered for credit; plagiarism means intentionally representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise.
• Performing in an unsafe manner or causing harm to a patient.
• Failure to report a patient care error or incident.
• Physical or verbal abuse of patients, patient’s family members, faculty or staff
• Placing self or patients at harm through inappropriate behavior such as sleeping or leaving the care delivery area