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Course Syllabus

NURS 2160 Advanced Pharmacology

  • Division: Business and Applied Tech
  • Department: Health Professions
  • Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 2; Lecture: 2; Lab: 0
  • Prerequisites: NURS 1102, NURS 1112, NURS 1104, NURS 1114, NURS 1103, NURS 1113, NURS 1105, NURS 1115, NURS 1125, NURS 1106, NURS 1107 (or 1108 and 1109), NURS 1117
  • Corequisites: NURS 2140, NURS 2145, NURS 2240
  • Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
  • Semester Approved: Spring 2021
  • Five-Year Review Semester: Summer 2026
  • End Semester: Fall 2026
  • Optimum Class Size: 24
  • Maximum Class Size: 30

Course Description

This course addresses advanced treatments used by nurses to promote life-long health including pharmacological agents and non-pharmacological therapy treatments like art, music, pet, meditation, visualization, imagery, and validation. It also covers drugs that affect the endocrine system and cardiovascular system, antibiotics, blood products, calcium replacement agents, chemotherapy drugs, anti-Parkinson drugs, IV therapy, prostate drugs, and biological response modifiers. To enroll, students must be accepted into the Registered Nursing program. This course is part of a required series preparing students to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Justification

The course is an important component of the education of a prospective Registered Nurse who will be expected, in the clinical setting, to administer medications that require advanced knowledge and training. These medications and treatments include those that affect the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, initiating and maintaining IV therapy, administering conscious sedation drugs, antibiotics, anti-Parkinson drugs, chemotherapy drugs, and biologic response modifiers. The prospective RN must also be knowledgeable about alternative therapies such as chiropractic, therapeutic touch, meditation, visualization, and relaxation.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. The student will apply basic biological principles such as pharmacology and pharmacokinetics to safely administer medications and treatments within the RN scope of practice.
  2. The student will apply the role of the nurse in adjusting care as the patient situation changes and seek appropriate consultation from a pharmacological perspective.
  3. The student will analyze cultural considerations in caring for patients and families across a variety of settings and systems that include, but are not limited to, spiritual distress, drug addictions, herbal therapy, and alternative therapies.
  4. The student will differentiate the role of the nurse as a direct provider of care, manager of care, and member within the discipline of nursing within his/her established legal and ethical scope of practice from a pharmacological perspective.

Course Content

Topics may include:- Review of content from prerequisite courses, IV Therapy, Sedation and Anesthesia- Cardiovascular -Thrombolytics & Antilipemics, Antiarrhythmics, Shock Drugs- Cancer – Chemotherapy, Surgery & Radiation- Biological Response Modifiers, Antibiotics, Endocrine Drugs, Drugs of Abuse- Spiritual Care & Herbal Therapy, Complementary & Alternative Therapies