SPC Continuing Education

Catalog Description:

This course is designed for the Florida licensed registered nurse who wishes to return to practice. The RN Return to Work Course is a theory and clinical experience designed to assist the student in applying the nursing process and other essential skills to the care of clients experiencing common health alterations. The course focuses on the nurse becoming reacquainted to the nursing profession. Clinical emphasis is placed on the management of clients in an acute care setting such as a hospital. Students are required to complete all required sections of this course.

Purpose of the course:

The purpose of this course is to update the knowledge of nurses to allow them to function competently and comfortably within the legal parameters of the Florida Nurse Practice Act and the ANA Code of Nurses. It is also recommended that students take the Clinical Skills Lab and IV Therapy 30 Hour course offered by SPC.

Contact Hours:

120 hours of didactic on the Internet

96 hours of clinical in an acute care setting, such as the hospital, with a preceptor.

Required Texts:

Thomson Delmar Learning's Nursing Review Series Medical Surgical Nursing. Delmar: United States ISBN 978-1-4018-1176-1

Two choices: Altman, G. (2004). Fundamental & Advanced Nursing Skills Handbook. Delmar: United States. ISBN 1-4018-1070-5 - all skill reading assignments are referenced to the Handbook version OR Delmar's Fundamental & Advanced Nursing Skills 2nd Ed. Delmar: United States ISBN 1401810691 this version has colored pictures of the procedures -

Please note that the skills reading assignments are referenced to the Handbook text.

Drug Guide for the current calendar year

Please call Greenville Technical College at 1-800-723-0673 ext 8173 to order required texts. Do not order textbooks until you are registered for course.

Methods of Instruction:

Assigned Readings

On-line lecture

Preceptored clinical hospital experience

Learning Environment:

Most of the course content will be on-line. You may access the on-line class at home on your PC. Many local libraries have computers with Internet access also. You do not need to be a computer expert to take this on-line course. In addition, local hospitals will provide the student with a clinical site to complete their 96 hours of preceptored hospital experience.

Evaluation:

Module examinations on-line

Clinical Evaluation

The didactic portion of the course will be evaluated on unit exams which will be administered upon completion of the each module. All module exams must be completed within 90 days of the student’s start date. The nurse will be given two attempts to successfully pass each exam. The student must achieve a 75% or better on each examination to pass the course. A one time 30 day extension may be granted (new fee charged) if the student has not completed at the end of their 90 days. If the student does not complete after the 30 day one time extension, they will be eligible to retake the course (new fee charged) one time only (no further extensions) at the next course offering date.

The hospital experiences are graded on a pass/fail basis. All classroom material must be completed before the clinical time can be started. The student must achieve a 75% or better on each of the unit exams and successfully complete the clinical component. If the student is unsuccessful he/she will not pass the course. A clinical evaluation is completed by the hospital preceptor. An unsatisfactory evaluation or dismissal from the clinical site will result in the student failing the course. There will be no further opportunity to retake this course with SPC/Greenville College.

Objectives:

Upon completion the student should function as providers of care, managers of care, and members within the discipline of nursing as they:

Integrate the nursing process as a framework for the management of care of clients and families. The student will be able to assess the client and family, analyze the data, form a nursing diagnosis, develop and implement a nursing plan of care with goals and outcome criteria, evaluate the plan of care, and make changes to the plan of care as needed to restore the health of the client or to provide the client with respectable end of life care.

Apply organizational and interpersonal communication strategies in managing the care of clients, families, and other health care workers. This includes effectively reporting and recording patient assessment information and plan of care and integrating teaching and learning strategies for client and family education.

Integrate cultural, spiritual, psychological, and developmental influences when managing client care.

Integrate the principals of pharmacology safely and competently when providing client care. This includes being knowledgeable of actions, side effects, doses, and precautions of commonly prescribed medications as well as safe administration of oral, parenteral, and intravenous medications.

Integrate the principles of safety when providing care to clients and families.

Incorporate the principles of nutrition for maintaining optimal healthcare for clients and families.

Value legal, ethical, and professional parameters when managing client care.

Expectations:

The student is expected to attend all web sessions and clinical hours. The student is expected to find their clinical site prior to registering for this course.

Students are expected to attend all clinical hours. If a student misses a clinical time it is the student's responsibility to call the unit and inform them that he/she will not be attending clinical. The student must also arrange a make up date with his/her preceptor. Absences are discouraged, as this will delay the completion date.