Online Nursing Classes
People in the nursing field have to be well-versed in many areas of medicine; able to answer questions fielded to them by patients and concerned families, able to manage many different social and psychological situations, able to manage data effectively and capable of working well as a team and communicate effectively. Succeeding in all of this makes for a successful and rewarding career, but it is not an easy road. Those who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing should be prepared to take classes in the following areas as part of their general education requirement:
- Biology: Basic study of life and organisms in preparation for understanding human life and functions. Follow-up courses in Anatomy and Physiology will also be very useful.
- Chemistry: Although nurses do not prescribe medicines, they will need to have a basic understanding of chemicals and chemical reactions when working with patients who have been prescribed drugs by doctors.
- Psychology: Understandably, nurses will encounter a wide variety of psychological situations when dealing with patients and their families. Joy, grief, anxiety and depression to name a few and though nurses are not professional counselors, they cannot simply say "it's not my job" and walk away from a patient experiencing a moment of emotion.
- Business: The business side of nursing is one that is often overlooked or not considered by those who are thinking about getting into the field, but it is critically important that nurses have good organizational and management skills. Patient charts, medications, timing and doctor's instructions regarding patient care all have to be carefully cataloged, and kept distinct when caring for multiple patients at once.
- Communications: Nurses need to be able to communicate well both with each other, their doctors, and the patients. Able to vocalize instructions and stay calm in many anxious or tense situations. Taking various classes in different types of communications can help to prepare for these important roles.
Nursing Degree Courses
Generally speaking, those studying to be nurses will have a full-time course load of work ahead of them for 4 semesters (two years) of study. While much of it will be the standard type of class work that can be facilitated when you are getting your nursing degree online, some of it is clinical work that must be done in person either in a classroom setting or hospital. Coursework may include:
- Models of Health Behavior
- Health & Disease Management
- Nursing Administration
- Theoretical Foundations of Practice
- Advanced Nursing Theory
- Advanced Nursing Management
- Community Nursing Practice
- Nursing Management of Families
- Clinical Integration
- Clinical Development & Program Design
