Academic Programs

Undergraduate - Competency Objectives

Junior Level Competency Objectives

Upon completion of the junior year at the University of OU College of Nursing, the student will be able to demonstrate entry-level performance of the following competencies:

1.  Patient-centered care

  1. Provides safe and competent nursing care to individuals and families across selected health care environments: (AACN, 2003).
    1. Across illness-wellness continuum (i.e. disease management, health promotion, palliative care).
    2. Across the lifespan (conception to death, genetics, pediatrics,  adult and geriatric).
    3. In wellness and acute episodes of chronic illness
    4. Recognize a supportive, protective and/or corrective mental, physical, sociocultural, and spiritual environment.
  2. Promotes disease prevention and healthy lifestyles for individuals and families.
  3. Provides community-based health care to individuals and families in a variety of settings.
  4. Identifies the nurse’s role as a patient advocate.
  5. Examines own cultural beliefs, values and practices and increases knowledge of different cultures.
  6. Uses ANA Code of Ethics to provide ethical nursing care.
  7. Incorporates patient preferences, values, and needs into individual’s plan of care.

2. Professional Nursing Practice

  1. Communicates effectively with client, family and other health care providers regarding care and care issues.
  2. Demonstrates beginning skills in problem-solving, teamwork, team building, and conflict resolution.
  3. Participates in coordinating  care across disciplines to promote continuity, reliability, and ethical care
    1. Participates in discharge planning
  4. Participates actively in student nursing organizations and community volunteer activities.
  5. Participates actively in and assumes responsibility for own learning.

3.  Evidence-based Practice

  1. Demonstrates beginning skills needed to critique research reports in relation to clinical practice issues.
  2. Functions within agency-adopted practice guidelines.
  3. Questions the scientific base of common nursing practices.

4. Quality Improvement

  1. Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through individual performance.
    1. Anticipates risks to individual patients (AACN, 2003).
    2. “Identifies errors and hazards in care” (IOM, 2003; p. 59)
  2. Evaluates outcomes of basic individual nursing care
    1. Participates in identification and collection of data indicating care outcomes.
    2. Uses data to monitor individual patient care outcomes
  3. Assumes accountability for the quality and cost-effectiveness of the care of individuals and families.

5.  Information Management

  1. Demonstrates ability to retrieve, organize, and manage patient data.
  2. Demonstrates ability to navigate technical information to glean credible sources

Terminal Competency Objectives

Upon completion of the baccalaureate program at the OU College of Nursing, the graduate will be able to demonstrate entry-level performance of the following competencies:

1. Patient-centered care

  1. Provides safe and competent nursing care to individuals, families and populations across health care environments: (AACN, 2003).
    1. Across illness-wellness continuum (i.e. disease management, health promotion, palliative care).
    2. Across the lifespan (conception to death, genetics, pediatrics,  adult and geriatric).
    3. In acute and chronic illness and wellness
    4. Promotes a supportive, protective and/or corrective mental, physical, sociocultural, and spiritual environment.
  2. Promotes disease prevention and healthy lifestyles for diverse populations.
  3. Provides population-based health care to individuals, families, and population groups in a variety of settings.
  4. Acts as a patient advocate.
  5. Provides respectful culturally competent nursing care.
  6. Uses ANA Code of Ethics to provide ethical nursing care.
  7. Incorporates patient preferences, values, and needs into plan of care.

2.    Professional Nursing Practice

  1. Functions effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams to foster open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision making to achieve quality patient care.
  2. Uses basic group & relational skills, including communication, negotiation, delegation, time management, and evaluation of group dynamics (IOM, 2003).
  3. Coordinates care across disciplines to promote continuity, reliability, and ethical care.
  4. Participates actively in professional nursing organizations  impacting socio-political advocacy and policy making related to health care.
  5. Engages in life-long learning to promote best practice standards for patient care.

3.    Evidence-based Practice

(Adapted from Stephens, 2005)
  1. “Participates on a team to develop agency-specific evidence-based clinical practice guidelines”
  2. “Utilizes agency-adopted clinical practice guidelines while individualizing care to client preferences and needs
  3. “Assists in integrating practice changes based on evidence-based clinical practice guidelines”
  4. Participates in and critically evaluates research and incorporates research findings into nursing practice

4.   Quality Improvement

  1. Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance. (RWJ)
    • Anticipates risks to individual patients (AACN, 2003).
    • “Identifies errors and hazards in care” (IOM, 2003; p. 59)
    • Participates in the implementation of basic safety design principles. (IOM, 2003; p. 59)
  2. Assumes accountability for evaluation and improvement of nurse-sensitive outcomes (AACN, 2003).
    • “Participates in identification and collection of care outcomes” (AACN, 2003).
    • Uses data to monitor the outcomes of care processes/ (RWJ)
  3. Considers cost-effectiveness in improved care systems.

5. Information Management

(Competencies adapted from Staggers, Gassert, and Curran (2002).
  1. Uses information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, and mitigate error and support decision making. 
    • Uses sources of data and literature that relate to nursing care
    • Uses clinical information systems to retrieve and document patient data.
    • Uses computer-based patient monitoring systems.
    • Uses computer technology safely and confidentially.

Revised 2/08/07: gl
Approved by Baccalaureate Faculty March 30, 2007
Approved by Curriculum Committee March 30, 2007
Approved by the General Faculty April 23, 2007

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Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework for the nursing curricula of the University of Oklahoma, College of Nursing (OUCN) reflects the College mission, values and philosophy of nursing science, its relation to professional roles and practice, the dynamic health care system and environment, as well as the nature of nursing education. Five concepts organize the curricula. These are Patient-Centered Care, Information Management, Professional Nursing Practice, Evidence-based Practice, and Quality Improvement. These concepts reflect the core competencies for health care professions (IOM, 2003) and the concepts of caring, communication, citizenship, and critical thinking. For purposes of this document, competency for professional nursing practice is defined as the “habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in daily practice to improve the health of the individual patient and community” (Epstein and Hunder, 2002).

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Patient Centered Care

The patient focus is the individual, family or population groups. Patient-centered nursing care is characterized by respect, shared decision-making and management of wellness and/or illness, and sensitivity to client values, preferences and expressed needs in the context of culture. Nursing care provides a supportive, protective, and/or corrective mental, physical, sociocultural, and spiritual environment (Neil, 2002) (Critical Thinking).   Nursing care is dedicated to relieving pain and suffering, coordinating continuous care across settings, disease prevention and promotion of healthy lifestyles. Nurses are prepared to function competently in a variety of healthcare settings and across the lifespan (Caring). Nurses listen to, clarify, inform and communicate with patients and families (Communication).Patient centered care involves advocacy (patient, socio-political, professional), leadership, and provision of ethical and culturally competent care (Citizenship).  Patient-centered care is also directed towards mitigating health disparities and addressing the needs of vulnerable populations.

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Professional Nursing Practice

In order to provide the level of professional care needed in today’s health care system, nurses must be skilled in intra- and inter-professional teamworkand comfortable with their own knowledge base and communication and leadership skills. The professional nurse is committed to nursing practice within the framework of professional nursing standards. Teamwork involves communication, cooperation, and collaboration with other team members including providers from other disciplines across care settings to ensure that care is continuous, safe, and reliable (IOM, 2003). Thus, interpersonal communication, group and relational skills; ethics, an understanding of healthcare systems, organizational dynamics, and suchcitizenship rolesto includesocio-political advocacyand policy-making and laware all important in attaining intra- and inter-professional team work. The professional nurse is also committed to lifelong learning and to active participation in professional organizations to improve health care (citizenship).

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Quality Improvement

Patient-centered care across the health care systems requires and emphasizes quality improvement.The nurse “identifies errors and hazards in care; understands and implements basic safety design principles, such as standardization and simplification; continually understands and measures quality of care in terms of structure, process, and outcomes in relation to patient and community needs; designs and tests interventions to change processes and systems of care, with the objective of improving quality” (IOM, 2003; p. 46). Critical thinking is an essential component of this process.  In order to ensure quality improvement, nurses need a working understanding of patient safety, cost-effective care, process and nurse-sensitive outcomes, decision support systems and a firm commitment toaccountability for practice (Citizenship).

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Evidence-Based Practice

The dominant mode of inquiry in nursing is the scientific method.  Evidence based practice applies the scientific method to nursing practice resulting in inquiry that “integrates best research with clinical (nursing) expertise and patient values {and preferences} for optimum care.” (IOM, 2003; p. 46).  Evidence-based practice involves a commitment by the nurse to implement best practices based on current research knowledge. In this way positive health care outcomes for clients can be achieved across care settings. In order to practice in this manner, students must develop critical thinking behaviors which include objectivity, fairness, creativity, imagination, inquisitiveness, rationality, and reflectiveness (AACN, 1995).

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Information Management

Informatics and information management primarily involve communicationandcritical thinking.  The role of the nurse in managing information ranges from customized patient education to the use of clinical decision making systems. These clinical decision-making systems include databases from which the nurse locates, identifies and retrieves information necessary to provide and manage care. The nurse “communicates, manages knowledge, mitigates error, and supports decision making (critical thinking) using information technology”. (IOM, 2003; p. 46) and is always mindful of the obligation to protect the confidentiality of patient information (citizenship). Thus, use of technology-based information, documentation of care, familiarity with patient management systems including clinical information systems and electronic health records, problem-solving, decision making, and anability to evaluate and incorporate new technologies into practice are necessary for competency in information management.

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References

Greiner, A. C. Knebel, E (2003) (Eds), Health professions education: A bridge to quality Committee on the Health Professions Education Summit. Institute of Medicine, 192 pages (2003).

Neil, R.M. 2002. Jean Watson: Philosophy and science of caring. In A.M. Tomey & M.R. Alligood (Eds.), Nursing theorists and their work (pp. 145-164). St. Louis: Mosby.

Epstein RM, Hunder, EM. Defining and assessing professional competence. JAMA, 2002 Jan. 9; 287(2):226-35

An alternative definition of competency.
“Competence is what you know, how you use what you know, and how you add to what you know” (Nath, C., 2006). TSP Summer Institute Competency-Based Curriculum

Approved by Baccalaureate Faculty March 30, 2007
Approved by Curriculum Committee March 30, 2007
Approved by the General Faculty Meeting April 23, 2007

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Terminal Program Objectives

Upon successful completion of the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing Baccalaureate Degree Program the graduate will be prepared to:

  1. Provide entry-level safe, competent, ethical care to culturally diverse individuals, families and populations across health care settings and across the lifespan.
  1. Function effectively as a member of the Nursing Profession and as a member of an interdisciplinary healthcare team.
  1. Practice professional nursing based on current evidence.
  1. Assume accountability for evaluation and improvement of nursing practice.
  1. Integrate the safe and confidential use of information technology and health care technology into one’s practice as a professional nurse.

GLL: gl
03/29/07

Approved by Baccalaureate Faculty March 30, 2007
Approved by Curriculum Committee March 30, 2007
Approved by the General Faculty April 23, 2007

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