The ADN Program consists of twelve smaller courses, divided between lecture, lab and clinical courses. The nursing faculty recommend that the lecture courses become the designated honors courses. Each lecture course is five credits. The student would receive five honors credits at the completion of an honors contract. To be designated an Honors Graduate, a student must complete fifteen hours of honors contracts, which would be three nursing honors contracts. To be designated an Honors Scholar, a student must complete at least ten hours of honors contracts with at least a 3.5 GPA and twenty-five hours of community service. An Honors Scholar with Distinction must complete fifteen hours of honors contracts and twenty-five hours of community service. Please see Honors Handbook for further details.
Over the four semesters, the ADN program focuses on developing three roles for the professional nurse: provider of care, coordinator of care, and member of the profession. These roles are delineated for each nursing level (CNA, ADN, BSN) by the National League for Nursing and by Texas Differentiated Entry Level Competencies (DELC) Competencies. In the courses offered through NHMCCD, these roles are developed progressively as the student prepares for entry into practice as a graduate nurse. Honors contracts allow students to pursue additional experiences and interests in each of these roles and/or in specialty areas of their choice. Students in Nursing 1 develop projects using the Internet and the computer which would supplement their learning. Students in Nursing 2 pursue activities related to the provider of care role. In Nursing 3, students select either of the above or develop the role of coordinator of care. In the final semester, students select any of these options, with an opportunity to develop further as a member of the profession of nursing.
In the four semesters, students are expected to learn about the decision-making process in nursing, different health care needs, and nursing care to address the needs of diverse clients across the age continuum. Students work in small teams to develop and implement care, including developing skills in assessment, communication and teaching. In a variety of clinical settings, students learn to independently care for groups of clients and their family members with many different types of disease processes.
With an honors contract, students have an opportunity to develop skills in critical thinking, specialty areas such as pediatrics, obstetrics, and emergency care, and leadership skills for the workplace. Faculty who teach the different courses are able to work with students on honors contracts.
Several ideas have been recommended as possible honors contract activities:
1. Work with a nurse in a specialty area for a minimum of ten hours to apply skills and knowledge to this clinical area. These could include a pediatric clinic, a prenatal clinic, a labor and delivery unit, an emergency room or clinic, an intensive care unit, hospice, or other specialty area. At the end of this experience, the student would write a paper on the application of the course objectives in the specialty area.
2. Develop an advocacy relationship with a client and/or acquaintance with health care needs that will continue throughout the semester. In this relationship, the student would be an advocate for the client when going to a doctor’s office or clinic, when filing insurance claims, when having treatments, and when following the treatment plan at home or work. The student would research the health care problem and serve as a resource to the client and the family. Some types of health care problems would be diabetes, cancer, congestive heart failure, recent heart attack or stroke, pregnancy, new baby in the family, etc. This advocacy role would provide an avenue for understanding problems from the client’s point of view as well as offering assistance to a person in need.
3. Develop teaching skills through a planned activity with clients and their families, such as working with a diabetic educator, a childbirth educator, or a mental health educator. The student would attend classes offered by a nurse educator, and then assist with portions of the classes as appropriate.
4. Develop skills in management of nursing care through working with a charge nurse, nurse manager or case manager for a minimum of ten hours. The student would be expected to identify the type of leadership activities in this position, areas of problem solving and crisis management, and how the nurse manager motivates members of the staff or team.
5. Develop a role in nursing education by working with a nurse educator for a minimum of ten hours in the classroom and the clinical setting. The student would assist the instructor with students and with teaching/learning activities. This is one way to stimulate interest in a possible role as a nurse educator.
6. An independent learning contract could be developed to stimulate the student’s interest in a professional organization, an ethical situation, an expanded role, or other similar type of activity.
7. A literature search and topic exploration of a health care topic of interest to the student and relevant to the course content. This option is available only to Nursing I students.