Nurse-Midwifery

The syllabus for N41.2005 is intended for graduate students in nursing. The course provides the foundations necessary to understand elementary biostatistics and applications of biostatistics in the medical literature. It will concentrate on the interpretation and comprehension of graphical and statistical techniques that are essential components to medical research. The ability to understand basic arithmetic and high school algebra is required.

This graduate research course is designed to develop the role of the advanced practice nurse, midwife, educator, administrator, or informatics specialist as a competent research consumer. An evidence-based practice paradigm is used to promote acquisition of information literacy and critical appraisal skills which, combined with clinical judgment and patient preferences, support evidence-based decision making.

In this course, students analyze current political, social, and economic issues and trends that affect health care delivery, nursing, and health policy. The course focuses on the United States and includes global issues that affect health care systems and delivery of care. Students develop strategies for collaborating with individuals and organizations in efforts to enhance health equity and the quality of care for patients and populations of diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and other identities. The course covers credentialing of advanced practice nurses and its importance in providing high quality care. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to develop and pursue their professional goals in terms of participation and leadership in professional organizations, engaging in civic participation, and obtaining and using health policy evidence and information to advance health equity. Coursework entails individual and group assignments in both synchronous and asynchronous modes. This is a required core course for all master’s students at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and open to other NYU graduate students with permission of the instructor.

The Population-Focused Care course explores advanced practice nursing at community and population levels. Nursing contributions to core public health functions and essential public health services are considered in the context of theoretical frameworks for health communication and behavioral change to develop programs to improve the health of populations. Data sources for community health assessment and epidemiologic analyses are examined. Cultural and political competencies are also addressed.

The goal of this course is to prepare the advanced practice nurse to prescribe pharmacotherapies that improve patient care outcomes. . The student will learn to integrate his/her knowledge of basic pharmacology and pathophysiology with advanced pharmacotherapeutic principles to enhance treatment decisions and prescribe medications for the prevention and treatment of disease. Various methodologies will be used to allow the student practice in incorporating patient history, assessment, and diagnoses with consideration of the best, safest and most effective pharmacy The goal of this course is to prepare the advanced practice nurse to prescribe pharmacotherapies that improve patient care outcomes. . The student will learn to integrate his/her knowledge of basic pharmacology and pathophysiology with advanced pharmacotherapeutic principles to enhance treatment decisions and prescribe medications for the prevention and treatment of disease. Various methodologies will be used to allow the student practice in incorporating patient history, assessment, and diagnoses with consideration of the best, safest and most effective pharmacy options. An emphasis on critical analysis of the evidence according to evidence-based principles and subsequent application of the evidence into the medical and treatment plans will be fostered. Critical decision analysis will assist the student to evaluate and revise treatment plans to improve patient care.

This course introduces the student to the discipline and practice of midwifery beginning with the acquisition of essential history taking and physical examination knowledge and skills and applying them to the broad topic of women?s health. The midwifery management process is presented, and students master the integration of assessment, diagnosis, management, intervention, evaluation, collaboration, and referral components in the provision of culturally competent, evidenced-based practice. Female life-cycle events that are both normal life functions as well as common gynecological diseases are presented. Clinical experience includes consideration of the health needs of women from culturally diverse populations in a variety of clinical settings.

This course explores the current state of both women?s health care and midwifery. Critical concepts include ?power? and ?empowerment? of both women and midwives to influence women?s health care; the development of strategies to exercise these critical concepts to reduce health disparities; and the application of crucial cultural competence knowledge and skills. The multiple roles of midwives are explored, including those of provider, collaborator, consultant, educator, administrator, researcher, and advocate. Legal and ethical dimensions of professional midwifery are discussed. In addition, policy, politics, and health care financing for midwifery practice are investigated and critiqued.

Building on the strategies presented in the core courses, advanced physical assessment, pathophysiology, and pharmacotherapeutics, this course extends midwifery skills to provide primary care to women, This includes health promotion and disease prevention within the context of culture and family as well as the screening, diagnosis, and management of common acute and episodic illnesses and the exacerbation of chronic disease within the context of evidence-based practice.

This course prepares the student to provide comprehensive midwifery care to normal pregnant women. Using the midwifery model of care, the student accesses and integrates several disciplines, including nursing, midwifery, and obstetrics in order to provide comprehensive, evidence-based, culturally competent, and family-centered maternity care. The focus is on pregnancy as a normal process, which is enhanced through midwifery care. Emphasis is placed on empowering women, a strategy that helps reduce health disparities through partnership in antepartum care. The evaluation of normal processes, screening for deviations from the normal, as well as providing anticipatory guidance and emotional support to the mother and family are hallmarks of midwifery care. Clinical practice is in antepartum settings in midwifery practices.

?Every family has a right to a safe, satisfying childbirth experience, with respect for cultural variations, human dignity, and the rights as consumers to freedom of choice and self determination? (American College of Nurse- Midwives, 1980). Culturally competent midwifery care during the birth and postpartum periods appropriately takes place in a variety of settings, including birth centers, homes, and hospitals. This course focuses on the care and management of the mother and baby through normal labor, delivery, and postpartum, elaborated through evidence-based practice (EBP). It provides the knowledge and skills to manage alterations and changes at any point during the process, including those of the newborn in the first hours and months of life.

This is the final clinical course of the midwifery program. Students have the challenge and opportunity to integrate knowledge and clinical skills learned separately during the previous basic courses. They do this in a practice setting that encompasses the full scope of midwifery practice. This course also provides the opportunity to assure the acquisition of all core competencies, with emphasis on cultural competence, evidencebased practice, and reduction in health disparities in order to achieve beginner midwifery competence by graduation. In addition, professional role development behaviors deriving from leadership and entrepreneurial and change agent knowledge and skills are reinforced or made tangible in planning on practice as a new graduate.