Family Nurse Practitioner I – NURS 741
CG • Section 8WK • 11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 05/27/2022
Course Description
This practicum course supports the student to continue in the role of nurse practitioner in the primary care setting and focuses on wellness and the delivery of acute health care across the lifespan. Students will provide physical, psychosocial and spiritual care through health history taking, conducting physical examinations, and build skills in diagnostic reasoning. Principles of health prevention/promotion, health maintenance and risk assessment will be applied to individual and family care within the context of culture, ethnicity, and community. The student may participate in the diagnosis and plan of care with the guidance of the preceptor.
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.
Rationale
The FNP practicum courses provide the context and framework through which, upon completion of the post-BSN to DNP/FNP program, the nursing student will be prepared to enter the professional role of the Family Nurse Practitioner. This course helps to meet the required minimum of 1000 post-BSN clinical hours that include a minimum of 500 population-focused direct patient care hours in order to be eligible to sit for at least one nationally recognized certification (ANCC, 2006; NTF, 2016) and the Liberty University School of Nursing, minimum of 616 FNP direct-patient care Family Nurse Practitioner practicum hours.
Course Assignment
Textbook Readings and Lecture Presentations
Course Requirements Checklist
After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.
Discussions (2)
Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, there are two discussion cases that afford the student the opportunity to analyze and apply professional and ethically sound solutions to issues in FNP professional practice. Discussion topics pertain to the FNP professional role and practice issues. Please see the Discussion Instructions, Prompt, and Grading Rubric.
Practicum Hours, Practicum Schedule Assignment, and Tracking Verification
Practicum Hours
During NURS 741 FNP Practicum I, the student is required to complete 56 hours practicum hours under the supervision of the practicum preceptor. NURS 741 FNP Practicum adheres to the practicum guidelines and requirements set forth in the current Liberty University Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Handbook. The student will submit the Practicum Hours, Tracking, Record, and Verification Form completed to the Quiz: Practicum Hours, Tracking, Record, and Verification at the conclusion of the course.
Practicum Schedule Assignment
The student is required to enter his or her practicum schedule into the InPlace Scheduling System the first week of practicum. The student must maintain an up-to-date schedule.
Practicum Hour Tracking
The student is required to enter practicum time in the InPlace Time Log.
Practicum Tracking Record
The student is required to maintain a preceptor-verified, log documenting practicum hours for each Practicum Course that will become a part of the student’s permanent academic record (Practicum Tracking Record). Failure to maintain signed Practicum Tracking Record verifying practicum hours will result in an Incomplete for the Practicum Course and the student will not be permitted to progress to the subsequent Practicum Course. The signed Practicum Tracking Record is submitted to the Practicum Coordinator at the end of each semester.
The Practicum Objective Assignments afford the student the opportunity to develop measurable practicum learning objectives that are consistent with the practicum focus, evaluate progress toward meeting practicum objectives, and identify opportunities for clinical improvement and subsequently develop a plan to improve clinical skills. Please see the Practicum Objectives Instructions & Grading Rubric in the course.
Practicum Objective Assignments include:
- Practicum Objectives: SMART Objectives for Practicum Assignment
- Practicum Objectives: Midterm Assignment
- Practicum Objectives: End-of-Term Assignment
Shadow Health: Advanced Primary Care - Pediatrics (5)
Shadow Health provides a virtual clinical simulation designed to improve student assessment skills in a safe learning environment. The student will examine digital patients throughout the course that are accessible online 24/7. The Shadow Health Digital Clinical Experience (DCE) is free of many of the constraints and interruptions that may be present in a clinical setting. This unique simulation experience allows students to conduct in-depth patient exams and interviews at their own pace.
Because the exams are in-depth, these assignments will often take over an hour to complete, so it is important to plan enough time to complete assignments each week. The assignment options allow the student to choose which attempt to turn in or to reopen an assignment attempt. Completion Passes need to be downloaded from Shadow Health and file uploaded to the corresponding module assignment links for credit.
Case Log Requirements & Attestation Assignments (2)
Submission of a practicum log for each patient encounter into the InPlace system is a mandatory requirement of the practicum course. Each student is responsible for maintaining his or her own practicum logs. All patient encounters, whether seen independently, in collaboration with preceptor, or as observation, require an entry into InPlace. Every entry will include demographic information for each patient, level of student participation, and level of care. Students are required to select three patient encounters on each practicum day to write an abbreviated SOAP note. The remaining patient encounters will be entered as clinical summaries. Practicum Faculty will review practicum logs on a weekly basis and offer feedback. Students are expected to respond to feedback and make corrections as recommended.
Faculty will review practicum logs at the midterm and at the end of the semester looking for completeness and revision of logs and award points for completed logs. Please see the Practicum/Clinical Log Grading Rubric.
SOAP notes must be entered within one week of the clinical experience or practicum suspension may result. Late submissions may not be accepted and Practicum days without associated InPlace logs will not count toward the Practicum hours required for the course.
Practicum Reflection Presentation Assignments (2)
The student will prepare a Practicum Reflection Presentation according to the assignment instructions and rubric to present during the scheduled Practicum Reflection Presentation Meeting. Practicum Reflection Presentations will be submitted to the assignment submission link.
Practicum Reflection Presentation: Midterm Assignment: The student will submit Practicum Reflection Presentation to assignment submission link after participating in Module 4: Week 4 Practicum Reflection Presentation MS Teams meeting.
Practicum Reflection Presentation: End-of-Term Assignment: The student will submit Practicum Reflection Presentation to assignment submission link after participating in Module 7: Week 7 Practicum Reflection Presentation MS Teams meeting.
Full SOAP Note Assignment
The SOAP note assignment provides the student with the opportunity to documenting an established patient encounter of an adult or pediatric patient encountered with an acute, self-limited problem. Please see the Full SOAP Note Instructions and Grading Rubric.
Case Analysis Exercise Assignment
The student will complete a Case Analysis Exercise Assignment. The Case Analysis Exercise Assignment affords the student the opportunity to analyze a patient encounter from their practicum experience. The student will select a pediatric patient that presented for an acute care encounter and from their practicum experience to complete this assignment. Please see Case Analysis Exercise Assignment Instructions and Grading Rubric.
Portfolio Assignment
The portfolio will serve to demonstrate the FNP student’s ongoing professional development. The Portfolio provides the FNP student an avenue to present their knowledge, expertise and experience when seeking employment or professional opportunities, providing evidence for regulatory bodies and for identification of areas for personal or professional growth. Portfolios may present information through text, video, electronic files, hyperlinks, images and other online resources. Each student will develop a professional portfolio as part of the professional development. For the Post-BSN to FNP/DNP student, the first part of portfolio development will take place this course.
Please see the Portfolio Instructions and Grading Rubric.
Student Performance Evaluation
NURS 741 FNP Practicum student performance evaluation adheres to the student performance and evaluation requirements set forth in the current Liberty University Doctor of Nursing Practice Student Handbook.
