Bachelor of Science - Nursing (Honours) - BScN

Students explore the theoretical foundations of nursing and the competencies and standards expected within the current nursing profession. Learners familiarize themselves with current Canadian nursing professional organizations, issues, and standards. Students analyze the societal, cultural, and historical influences on nursing practice.

Students construct a foundation of critical reading and writing skills to build upon in degree-level programs. Learners retrieve scholarly literature and write about it in a variety of modes, including personal reflection, description, synthesis and analysis. Current APA style must be applied to all writing.

Students learn an overview of the field of psychology and developmental psychology, with an emphasis on current applications in local and global contexts. Learners examine various perspectives of psychology including neuroscience, development, sensation and perception, learning and memory, motivation and emotion, sexuality, social dynamics, and personality theory. Students will also identify the growth, development, and behavioural changes individuals experience from birth through old age. Students prepare to interact and work effectively with people of all age groups.

Students learn the complexities associated with the concept of health in nursing. Learners acquire knowledge of the impacts of health challenges on individuals and families, explore literature related to models of family assessment, and build conceptual understandings relevant to health and healing. Students have opportunities to apply the nursing process in educational contexts, with an emphasis on safe, inclusive, and ethical care with older adults and families. Through clinical experiences students will apply nursing processes in multiple contexts, with an emphasis on safe and ethical care with older adults and families. Learners are required to integrate concurrent learning and knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the nursing profession in the provision of care and contribution to interprofessional teams across clinical settings.

Students learn human anatomy and physiology at the cellular, tissue, organ, and system levels of organization. Students learn the integumentary, skeletal, muscular, and cardiovascular systems, with a focus on material relevant for clinical applications.

Students explore concepts related to primary health care (PHC) nursing across the lifespan. Through the exploration of primary health care strategies, including screening programs, education, preventative care, clinical support, case management and navigation, students learn how a PHC focus enables patients, during each life stage, to optimize wellness, reduce the risks of acquiring a chronic disease and to better manage that disease. The course explores how nurses help clients achieve their health goals by implementing evidence-informed practice guidelines and techniques

Learners build competencies required for professional caring as a nurse. Students develop skills in reflection, as an intentional process of thinking, analyzing and learning in various nursing settings and roles. Learners explore the concept of self as a nurse and integrate reflection into their emerging practice. Learners describe, analyze, and apply the therapeutic communication skills required in professional helping relationships. Learners build the skills of relational practice through the development of self-knowing, reflection from a nursing perspective, and fundamental communication skills.

Students explore sociology as the study of social behavior and human groups focused on peoples’ attitudes and behaviours. Students learn how societies are established and change. The concepts, theories, and methods of sociology are examined with respect to Canadian society.

Learners acquire skills in the comprehensive and holistic health assessment of individuals across the lifespan, with an emphasis on well adults. Students explore concepts related to the health assessment of individuals across the lifespan. The focus is on the role of the nurse and development of competencies in health history interviewing, physical examination, utilizing the nursing process interpretation of findings, and documentation. In addition, students consider the impact of psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and culturally diverse practice. These concepts are experienced in the clinical setting demonstrating ethical and evidence-informed clinical decision-making with a focus on the care of the older adult. Learners are required to integrate new learning with knowledge and skills being acquired concurrently across the program.

Students apply the theory and principles of pharmacology to nursing practice. Skills developed include those related to safe and legal medication administration, patient education, and response to potential adverse reactions. Learners are required to integrate new learning related to pharmacology with prior learning of anatomy and physiology and nursing scope of practice and evidence informed care.

This course focuses on fundamental aspects of human disease. Students learn the structural and functional changes in cells, tissues, and organs altered by disease and/or injury. Important pathophysiological concepts such as cell, injury, inflammation, and immune responses are discussed. Students learn how cancer, and selected diseases impact each of the body systems. There is a focus on etiology and mechanisms of alterations of cells, tissues, and organs that explain patients’ symptoms and signs. There is application of pathophysiological knowledge to nursing practice. Learners are required to integrate new and prior learning.

This course introduces students to the field of microbiology. Students learn about the fundamental aspects of bacteria including structure, classification, microbial growth, and genetics as well as methods of sterilization disinfection. Students discuss epidemiology of diseases, extent of host involvement, and tools of pathogenicity. There is discussion of viruses, fungi and protozoa of medical importance. Students learn about foundational laboratory techniques required for microbiology diagnosis including microscopic identification of bacteria, bacterial culture, Gram staining and antibiotic sensitivity testing.

Students engage in ethical and professional development, with a focus on ethical issues impacting health care. Ethical, professional, legal concepts and theories guiding professional nursing practice are examined. This includes issues of confidentiality, informed consent, new technologies, professionalization and power. Opportunities are provided for learners to examine moral, professional, ethical, and legal nursing knowledge in relation to current practice. Learners are required to integrate new and prior learning.

This course focuses on fundamental aspects of human disease. Students learn the structural and functional changes in cells, tissues, and organs altered by disease and/or injury. Important pathophysiological concepts such as cell, injury, inflammation, and immune responses are discussed. Students learn how cancer, and selected diseases impact each of the body systems. There is a focus on etiology and mechanisms of alterations of cells, tissues, and organs that explain patients’ symptoms and signs. There is application of pathophysiological knowledge to nursing practice. This is the second in a series of related courses, applying concept and skill development to a different set of body systems and processes. Learners are required to integrate new and prior learning.

This course comprises a branch of biomedical and laboratory medicine. Students learn the structure and locations of different molecules and macromolecules as well as various chemical processes and metabolic pathways within the human body. This course emphasizes a systemic approach of lab diagnostics, focusing on function tests of body organs and systems in health and disease. Students discuss normal and abnormal biochemical lab findings. Learners focus on interpretation of clinical and laboratory data and the role of the lab in the diagnosis of various diseases.

In this course, students learn the foundational concepts and tests related to statistical analysis. Students use statistical software packages to develop and visualize statistic results. Students learn to communicate foundational statistical results, evaluate the statistical merit of arguments published in research articles, and articulate statistical analysis and its limitations to a variety of audiences.

This course continues to focus on patients’ experiences with acute and chronic health challenges. Learners apply the nursing process, demonstrate pattern recognition, increase self-directedness, and participate in delivery of comprehensive care. There is a focus on the practical application of nursing knowledge caring for patients experiencing a variety of acute and chronic health challenges with performance expectations increasing over time across all aspects of the nursing process. Students must demonstrate competent, safe, ethical, and evidence-informed practice. Learners integrate new and prior learning to evaluate evidence and develop individualized care in a competent, safe, ethical, and evidence-informed practice for patients. This is the second in a related series of courses and builds on prior learning through application to different medical surgical health conditions across varied care contexts.

Students focus on the nurse’s role in meeting the health care needs of childbearing families. Learners acquire an understanding of human growth and development and nursing care of the maternal-child-family unit during the antenatal, perinatal and postpartum period. Learners are required to integrate new and prior learning about nursing processes and practices and apply this to work with the maternal-child-family unit.

This course focuses on the integration of evidence into clinical practice, with a focus on understanding a variety of research methods and concepts related to evidence-based practice. Students have opportunity to initiate nursing research praxis through searching for and critically appraising published evidence. Learners integrate new and prior learning.

In this course, student focus on the social construction of society inequities. Students learn to critically examine health determinates and outcomes, power inequities, and marginalized populations in relation to access and provision of services. Learners are required to integrate the concepts associated with working with diverse populations into their evolving nursing practice.

Learners will integrate their knowledge of the nurse’s scope of practice with new understandings of the nurse’s role in meeting the health care needs of infants, children and youth. Students apply the principles of family-centred care, employ critical thinking and evidence-based clinical judgement to plan and deliver safe and professionally competent care for pediatrics clients who are healthy and who are experiencing illness

This course focuses on nursing knowledge including historical, philosophical, theoretical, and scientific underpinnings. Opportunities are provided to describe inter-relationships between theory and research grounded in clinical practice, through a knowledge translation approach. Learning experiences require integration of new and prior learning.

In this course, students discuss current issues in population, environmental and global health using a health promotion and upstream thinking approach. Students explore principles and processes related to epidemiology, determinants of population, environmental and global health issues while considering the impact of globalization on specific populations and settings.

Students critically examine current and complex nursing practice issues and trends. Seminar-style group discussions require learners to hone skills specific to the nursing profession’s role in leadership, quality assurance, & resource management within our current and future healthcare system. Students will integrate program knowledge and skills with new learning and skill development associated with advocacy and change facilitation within healthcare. Learners build and reflect on their knowledge as novice practitioners and the impact these issues and trends may have on their professional practice.