PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM
The purpose of the AUHS School of Nursing is to prepare competent nurses who advance patient care and nursing science through the scholarship of practice in the delivery of care across the life- span. Concomitant with this belief is that delivery of care is focused on the individualized, culturally relevant, and appropriate needs of each client from multiple and divergent health-care settings. PHILOSOPHY OF THE AUHS SCHOOL OF NURSING
The faculty’s beliefs about people, the world, nursing, and health form the underpinnings of the School’s philosophy. The link between the mission and philosophy of AUHS and the mission and philosophy of the SON is demonstrated in the beliefs and values that are jointly held. The contexts of nursing, or the interrelated conditions in which nursing events occur, are also important when considering the development of a philosophy. Therefore, the social, political, cultural, and economic milieu surrounding the discipline, and the health care system were considered during the elaboration of the philosophy. Given this perspective, the faculty holds the following beliefs that support the program preparing students to become licensed registered nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
Each Individual is made up of biological, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions which are integrated, inseparable and interactional. Human beings respond in a holistic manner according to their environment and are valued for their abilities, characteristics, and differences.
Nursing is a blend of both art and science and is not contained by a setting or workplace. It is scientifically based and composed of knowledge, skill, judgment, and a deep caring for patients that when applied, make up the practice of the discipline. Nursing is constantly evolving, and the professional nurse applies evidence based knowledge from nursing, the medical, physical, behavioral, and other sciences as the basis for practice. The art of nursing consists of the internalized approach or the provision of caring behaviors that a nurse reveals during the client/patient encounter.
The Nursing Process is a problem-solving approach that is foundational to all nursing actions with the client/patient and other members of the health-care team. Critical thinking underlies the process as the nurse utilizes clinical judgment and decision-making skills to analyze, synthesize, interpret, formulate, and adapt a plan of care.
Education is the catalyst used to transform the student to a professional nurse. Education builds a foundation of essential knowledge and skills that transforms the student into a safe and competent nurse. Having acquired foundational knowledge, further education is necessary to augment the learner’s ability and motivation to seek, and interpret information, which is then processed into knowledge. Knowledge is used to benefit the nurse’s own patients and transmitted to the health care community to benefit all patients. Education is the vehicle through which students learn to assess and evaluate, to think critically, to make sound nursing judgments, and to accept accountability for their actions. It is the medium through which nursing students learn to process data and information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. Students are taught the importance of lifelong learning so that they continuously seek out new knowledge and evidence to continually improve their own practice and advance the discipline of nursing.
Teaching the student to be an active learner is vital to the educational process. The environment for learning, created by AUHS and the faculty, is intended to facilitate the student’s exploration of social interactions, individual differences, diversity, and his/her own learning styles. This knowledge will then be applied in the classroom as well as in different healthcare settings. This approach to keeping the student at the center of teaching-learning is a fundamental belief of the faculty.
Health is a dynamic state that transitions throughout the lifespan. Health becomes the focus of attention when stimulated by either positive or negative influences. Wellness, or the positive influence, is a unity within the individual that lends itself to health promotion and risk reduction. In health there is unity of the individual’s body, mind, and spirit. Illness, or the negative influence, finds disunity within the individual that asserts the need for nursing intervention and is the center of nursing care.
Academic Excellence/Research/Scholarship involves the process of gaining deeper knowledge and understanding of phenomenon and contributes to informed decision making. Sound practice is built upon evidence-based research in the profession of nursing. One identified strength of the School of Nursing lies in its desire to be responsive and sensitive to the instructional, research and professional service needs of students, to our profession and to the University. The SON recognizes Boyer’s Four Forms of Scholarship: the scholarships of discovery, integration, application, and teaching. In teaching, we strive to refine the students’ quantitative reasoning skills and contribute to their knowledge and understanding of health care research. We emphasize the intelligent use of the ability to communicate results clearly and concisely, and the need to approach problems with creativity and common sense. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to the overall intellectual growth of the students and to produce graduates capable of independent and critical thinking, prepared to realize their full potential and play a leadership role in society.
Service/Practice involve activities which contribute to and provide support for the nursing program and University. SON faculty participates in a community of learning dedicated to communication, respect, service, and teamwork. This statement of service renews our commitment to promote the core principles of accountability, community, civility, and responsiveness, and guides our practices. Faculties from the SON are involved in practice and service and activities and assist students in many of their service activities.
Cultural Competency reflects an understanding that quality health care outcomes require a deeper understanding of and attention to the differences among individuals and groups. Cultural competence implies integrated patterns of human behavior that include thought, communication, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious, or social group that are understood, respected and valued by other groups. The SON recognizes the need for students to learn how to interact effectively in a diverse environment and that by doing so, the expansion of cultural knowledge and the adaption of services to meet various cultural unique needs are achieved.
Christian Values reflect love and caring for humankind, and justice and respect. In this respect, our students learn about the expectation of service to humankind and the importance of one’s commitment to others and to the local and global communities in which we live and work. Like our parent institution, the AUHS SON is committed to serving under-represented populations and accomplishes this by both educating and employing a diverse health care workforce and providing opportunities for health care research in unrepresented and vulnerable populations. We are proud that our community benefits from the range and diversity of our people, our experiences, backgrounds and habits of hard work, collaboration and of respect
for all.