Health Assessment: Maternal and Child Care

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
NURS 3312
Descriptive
Health Assessment: Maternal and Child Care
Department
Nursing
Faculty
Health Sciences
Credits
2.50
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
24
Contact Hours
3 hours/week
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lab
Learning Activities

It is the intent of faculty to facilitate student learning, and promote critical inquiry, reflection and analytical reasoning through a variety of learning processes such as seminar, client-based studies, demonstration, return demonstration, simulation, and project work.

Course Description
In this course, students learn the holistic assessment of childbearing women, newborns, infants, children and adolescents. In addition, students learn a variety of psychomotor skills commonly used in maternity and pediatric nursing practice. Knowledge development occurs through active participation in a variety of experiential learning strategies.
Course Content

In this course, the holistic health assessment of childbearing women, infants, children, and adolescents are the foci of discussion in the context of family as client. Concepts and essential content that will be addressed relative to these topics are listed below.  In addition, the core curriculum concepts are integrated in this course.

Holistic health assessment of women and newborns in the maternity setting with a focus on physical assessment

  • Stable intrapartum and post-partum assessment
  • Newborn assessment
  • Perioperative assessment
  • Assessing for complications
  • Reporting and documenting assessments and nursing care

Holistic health assessment of children in the pediatric setting with a focus on physical assessment

  • Differences between children and adults (physiologically, equipment, approach, etc.)
  • Comprehensive assessment
  • Focused systems assessment
  • Vital signs assessment
  • Fluid balance assessment
  • Pain assessment (developmental approaches)
  • Reporting and documenting assessments and nursing care

Psychomotor skills commonly used in nursing practice with stable maternity and pediatric clients

  • Developmentally appropriate and atraumatic care
  • IV therapy (including syrigne medication module)
  • Medication administration
  • Specimen collection
  • Enteral feeding and medication administration
  • Newboarn nutrition and feeding

Safety

  • Review of safe work practices
  • Infection transmission precautions
  • Handling biohazardous materials
  • Additional safety considerations for infants and children
  • Seizure precautions
  • Injury prevention
  • Cultural safety

Nurse’s Role

  • Consolidation, integration, and application of course and other nursing knowledge in simulated nursing practice experiences

Concepts relative to health assessment to be explored include:

  • Purpose
  • Principles
  • Engaging with clients
  • Planning
  • Rationale
  • Implementation
  • Evaluation
  • Preventing complications
Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course the successful student will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes and skills required for holistic, comprehensive and focused assessment of stable perinatal, newborn and pediatric clients and their families.
  • Demonstrate the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for the safe implementation of a variety of psychomotor skills commonly used in nursing practice with stable perinatal, newborn and pediatric clients.
  • Demonstrate the consolidation, integration and application of course and other nursing knowledge in simulated nursing practice experiences.
  • Further develop nursing practice skills including critical thinking, decision-making, organizational and relational skills.
Means of Assessment

The course evaluation is consistent with Douglas College Evaluation Policy.  A course evaluation schedule and other course evaluation information are provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline which is available to students at the beginning of each semester.  This is a graded course. 

Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

A list of recommended textbooks and materials is provided on the Instructor’s Course Outline which is available to students at the beginning of each semester. 

Prerequisites

NURS 2211 AND NURS 2212 AND NURS 2213 AND NURS 2215 AND NURS 2217

Students in the BSN program are required to maintain a passing grade of 65% (C+) in all courses in order to progress in the program.

Corequisites
Which Prerequisite