Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist
Philosophy
The Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist Program is dedicated to graduate education of perioperative nurses in the uniformed services. The focus of the program is to prepare graduate nurses for clinical practice, management, research, leadership and consultation in advanced practice roles within the perioperative environment. The rigorous curriculum prepares graduates to sit for the Clinical Nurse Specialist certification exam while integrating scientific and evidence-based theory and practice concepts focused on the critical analysis of scientific literature, evaluation of nursing outcomes, and participation in scholarly activities supporting the federal health care system. The primary goal of the program is to produce advanced practice nurses educated to see the "big picture."
As such, graduates from the program are uniquely qualified to manage quality perioperative care supporting both the individual and populations, analyze healthcare systems/processes, and guide change for organizational success in the provision of evidence based/quality patient care in diverse settings world-wide.
Design
The Clinical Nurse Specialist, Perioperative Program (PCNS), is 24 months of full-time study combining didactic and clinical experiences across the age span within the following five domains of the Clinical Nurse Specialist: leader/manager, consultant, educator, researcher and clinical expert.
On average, graduates will obtain more than 500 hours of clinical experience working with masters-prepared perioperative managers and/or clinical nurse specialists within many of the national capital area healthcare treatment facilities. The curriculum for the PCNS program was developed based upon the American Academy for Colleges of Nursing guidelines outlining Essentials of Masters Education for Advanced Practice Nursing. The specifics related to the perioperative specialty content were based upon a comprehensive process of blending field research and clinical expert interviews with the Federal Nursing Chiefs' vision of the program. This extensive curricular development process resulted in a curriculum that meets or exceeds the National Association for Clinical Nurse Specialist (NACNS) guidelines for masters programs.
Basic & Clinical Sciences: 16 Credit Hours
Applied Anatomy/Cell Biology
Advanced Health Assessment
Applied Physiology/Pathophysiology
Applied Pharmacology for Advanced Nursing Practice
Leadership: 5 Credit Hours
Leadership Role in Interdisciplinary Healthcare
Leadership/Management in a Global Environment
Ethics and Policy in Federal Health Systems
Research, Statistics & Evidence Based Practice: 11 Credit Hours
Theoretical Foundations for Military and Federal Health Research
Statistical Measures/Analytic Methods
Applied Scholarly Inquiry I
, II
Capstone Clinical Investigative Project I, II
PCNS Specialty: 29 Credit Hours
Standards, Quality & Safety
I
&
II
Health Care Resource Management
Medical Facility Master Planning and Hospital Architectural Design
Advanced Principles for CNS Practice
Clinical Practicum Across the Perioperative Continuum of Care
Perioperative CNS Internship
Perioperative CNS Assessment & Intervention
Operational Medicine: 3 Credit Hours
Operational Readiness for Advanced Perioperative Practice in Contingency Environments
Total Credit Hours: 64
Downloadable Perioperative Clinical Nurse Specialist Curriculum
Highlights
Spotlight
USU faculty takes first place in Navy Wide Research Competition
Several Graduate School of Nursing faculty members and students were honored during the 26th Annual Navy-Wide Research Competition held on May 26 at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP).
CDR Greg Nezat, USU's former research director at NMCP, and CDR Chris Oudekerk, USU's current research director at NMCP, represented the winning team in the Navy Medicine East competition.
Their presentation, "The effect of intraoperative intravenous lidocaine infusion on the reduction of postoperative pain and return of bowel function in patients undergoing minor laparoscopic gynecological procedures," was supported by USU teammates LT Philip Grady, LCDRs Nathaniel Clark and John Lenahan, CDR Robert Hawkins and CAPT (Ret) Joe Pelligrini.