Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

The educational objectives of the Degree Programme in Nursing are to instill both the knowledge and the practical / applicative skills needed for the profession. In particular, the objectives are aimed at ensuring that a nursing graduate is able to:

• responsibly manage preventive and care interventions aimed at patients, the family, and the community;
• manage nursing care for patients (pediatric, adult and elderly);

• ascertain and manage nursing care in patients with chronic problems and disabilities;
• guarantee the safe administration of therapy and monitor its effectiveness;
• perform nursing techniques as defined by the standards of the Degree Programme;
• activate decision-making processes based on the patient's condition, altered parameter values, reports and laboratory tests;
• manage diagnostic pathways ensuring adequate patient preparation and postprocedural surveillance;
• integrate nursing care in multidisciplinary care projects;
• identify the patient’s problems through structured and systematic techniques and procedures and through the identification of alterations in functional models (health perception and management, nutritional metabolic, elimination, activity exercise, sleep rest, cognitive-perceptual, self perception/self concept, role relationship, sexuality reproductive, coping-stress tolerance, value-belief pattern);
• activate and support the residual abilities of patients in order to promote adaptation to the limitations and alterations produced by the disease and to lifestyle changes;
• identify the nursing care needs of patients and their reactions to the disease, the treatments in place, hospitalisation, lifestyle changes, and the quality of life perceived;

• define the priorities of the interventions based on health care and organisational needs and the optimal use of the available resources;
• design and implement informational and educational measures to control risk factors for individuals and groups, in collaboration with other professionals;
• evaluate the results of the health care provided and adapt it based on the evolution of the patient's condition;
• assign and supervise health care activities of the support staff;
• manage paperwork and IT systems to support assistance;
• document the nursing care provided in accordance with legal and ethical principles;
• provide patients and other people of interest relevant and updated information on their state of health;
• prepare the conditions for discharge of the patient, in collaboration with other health care team members;

• guarantee continuity of assistance between different shifts and between different services / structures;
• use professional integration tools (team meetings, case discussions);
• work in an integrated way with other health care team members by respecting each other’s areas of competence;
• ensure an effective physical and psychosocial environment for patient safety;
• use precautions to protect against physical, chemical, and biological risks in the workplace;
• adopt precautions when heavy lifting;
• adopt infectious risk prevention strategies (standard precautions) in hospitals and community facilities;
• monitor the clinical and psychosocial status of patients, identifying early signs of aggravation;
• activate the necessary interventions to manage acute and/or critical situations;
• identify the factors triggering exacerbation in chronic patients;
• activate and manage a relationship of help and therapy with patients, their family, and other people of interest;
• manage health care practices while respecting cultural, ethnic, generational, and gender differences;
• support patients and family in the terminal phase and in mourning, in collaboration with the health care team;
• activate informal care networks to support patients and family in long-term care projects;
• manage and support the patient and the family also in home care and in the continuity of inpatient and outpatient care;
• activate and support translational research and evidence-based practice (EBP).

In regards to these goals, the educational activity is largely organised in integrated courses and guarantees students a unified and interdisciplinary preparation, with knowledge deriving from basic, professional, related, and supplementary disciplinary areas. By law, each teaching activity includes a complete number of training credits in order to avoid a fragmentation of the information transmitted to the students. The planned teaching forms include lectures, seminars, work groups, and discussions on relevant topics, as well as simulations aimed at fulfilling the educational objectives. The teaching method also includes the use of modern multimedia tools. In addition to traditional teaching, the Degree Programme offers guided internship activities at public health care facilities and other structures with scientific importance, located in Italy or abroad which have an agreement with the university. This training gives students a progressive assumption of responsibility and professional autonomy in an environment where they can learn to evaluate the various problems related to nursing care, plan nursing assistance, and collaborate with different health care professionals in various contexts of public health and assistance. Laboratory and internship activities are carried out under the supervision and guidance of professional tutors and coordinated by a teacher who has obtained the highest level of training required for the teaching of the nursing profession.

The study plan includes a maximum of 20 exams and /or final evaluations, organised as integrated examination tests for multiple courses or coordinated modules. The verification of this learning is evaluated through oral and written exams at the end of the course, as well as self-evaluations or progress tests in the middle of the course. With regard to written tests, the modalities used can be: 1) multiple choice or short answer tests on interdisciplinary issues, followed by an exam to ascertain the skills acquired; or 2) written essays on assigned topics or on the analysis of the laboratory or professional activities undertaken for the final exam

The academic regulations of the Degree Programme state that the share of the total time commitment available to the student for personal study or for other individual training activities will not be less than at least 50% of the thirty hours provided for each credit.

The Degree Programme is structured, monitored, validated and updated on a continuous basis, in order to deliver the knowledge and skills defined in the course curriculum and to meet the specific objectives of the course. These specific training objectives are obtainable with a high quality of education which is ensured through various organisations and tools (Quality Committee, Faculty Assessment Committee, Didactic Quality and Efficiency Assessment Committee, OPIS Questionnaires). Through these tools it is possible to measure the improvement in academic performance in all the different phases that contribute to the attainment of the Bachelors degree, in terms of training, exams, assessment of quality as perceived by students, and the acquisition of the professional skills defined in the objectives of the Degree Programme.

Autonomy of Judgment

Graduates in nursing must demonstrate autonomy of judgment through the following skills:

• determine health care priorities in relation to the main health problems of patients;
• identify correlated factors and defining characteristics in order to plan appropriate health interventions;
• evaluate the progress of care in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team;
• make health care decisions;
• critically evaluate the results of care decisions by monitoring patient outcomes and the standard of care provided;
• make health care decisions through an evidence-based approach to solving patient problems.

Methodologies, training activities, and teaching tools to develop the expected results:

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• practical exercises;
• videos, image demonstrations, diagrams and materials, graphs;
• construction of cognitive maps;
• discussion of cases in sub-groups with full class presentation;
• internship supervised by tutors in different settings and with a progressive assumption of autonomy and responsibility;
• debriefing sessions to reflect on and discuss professional practice experiences.

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Evaluation tools to ascertain the achievement of the expected results:

• written and oral exams, case progress tests, reports
• assessment feedback during the internship (through portfolios, structured assessment forms, and clinical reports on professional practice);
• objective structured exams.

Communicative Ability

Nursing graduates must develop the following communication skills:

• use appropriate communication skills (verbal, non-verbal and written) with patients of all ages and their families during the care process and/or with other health professionals;
• use appropriate communication methods in multiprofessional teams;
• use teaching and learning principles for specific information or educational interventions aimed at individual patients, families, groups, and other professionals (support workers, nursing students, nurses);
• support and encourage patients to make healthy choices, and reinforce coping skills and self-esteem by making the most of available resources;
• manage conflicts deriving from different viewpoints;
• coordinate health care to achieve specific outcomes;
• collaborate with the care team on operational procedures and implement the practice and development of protocols and guidelines.

Methodologies, training activities, and teaching tools to ensure the achievement of the expected results:

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• videos and their critical analysis, simulations, narrations, testimonies;
• discussion of cases and of paradigmatic relational situations in groups with full class presentations;
• an internship supervised by tutors in different settings, with debriefing sessions to critically discuss relational experiences with patients and with the team.

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Evaluation tools to ascertain the achievement of the expected results:

• observation of video recordings, writings, dialogues with structured grids;
• evaluation feedback during the internship (through portfolios, structured assessment forms, and clinical reports);
• objective structured examinations with simulations on relational skills.

Learning Ability

Graduates of nursing must develop the following self-learning skills:

• develop independent study skills;
• demonstrate the ability to cultivate doubts and tolerate the uncertainties deriving from study and practical activity;
• develop the ability to ask questions about the practice of their profession, which are appropriate in terms of time, place, and audience;
• demonstrate the ability to continuously search for self-learning opportunities;
• demonstrate self-evaluation skills and outline their development and learning needs;
• demonstrate collaborative learning skills and knowledge-sharing within work teams;
• demonstrate capacity and autonomy in seeking the information necessary to solve the problems or uncertainties of professional practice, critically selecting secondary and primary sources of research evidence.

Methodologies, training activities, and teaching tools to ensure the achievement of the expected results:

• problem-based learning;
• use of contracts and self-learning plans in order to make the students responsible for the organisation of their internship, self-assessments;
• laboratories to teach the methodology of paper-based and online bibliographic research;
• guided readings on the critical evaluation of scientific and professional literature both in Italian and in English.

Evaluation tools to ascertain the achievement of the expected results:

• work projects, reports on specific research questions;
• tutor supervision during training activities;
• active participation in work sessions;
• punctuality and quality in the presentation of coursework.

Admission Requirements

Candidates who hold a high school diploma or another qualification obtained abroad which is recognised as equivalent may be admitted to the Degree Programme. To be admitted to the Degree Programme, students must pass the appropriate entrance exam in accordance with current legislation. The knowledge required for admittance, defined annually by the Ministry of Education, Universities, and Research (MIUR), is verified by the achievement of the minimum score on the entrance exam. Candidates who do not achieve this score will be assigned Additional Training Obligations  which must be completed within the first year of the course.

Organisation and Responsability of the Degree Programme Commission for Quality Assessment

The QA group controls the procedural implementation of quality according to the instructions of the decision-making bodies of Sapienza. Quality is defined through the appropriate indicators of efficiency and effectiveness. To this end, the QA group: 1. organises support for teaching activities, monitors a plan of assistance, and counsels students in order to help them overcome any difficulties and complete their thesis; 2. monitors the tutoring activity of “out-of-course” and part-time students; 3. encourages students to express their opinions of the Degree Programme. The QA management group meets periodically in order to monitor the corrective actions proposed in the examination reports.