BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING
Philosophy
Gordon College baccalaureate nursing graduates will make a difference in lives of patients across a broad continuum of care in the surrounding communities which they serve and to the world at large. We envision our baccalaureate nursing graduates as professionals who respect the worth and dignity of individuals living within an ethnic, cultural context. The graduate will function as an advocate in service to others demonstrating competence and integrity.
Our aim is to prepare graduates who utilize an intellectually disciplined process in thinking in order to analyze, reason and demonstrate creativity in decision making. The graduate will be able to communicate verbal and non-verbal interactions with patients, families and other members of the healthcare team.
Philosophy
The practice of nursing is the performance for compensation of any act in the care and counsel of the ill, injured, or infirm, and in the promotion and maintenance of health with individuals, groups, or both throughout the lifespan. Nursing requires substantial specialized knowledge of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, nursing theory, and research as a basis for assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, intervention and evaluation. Nursing is a helping profession concerned with the lived health experiences of individuals, families, communities, and the society at large. Facilitating health promotion and maintenance and providing competent nursing care throughout the lifespan requires attention to physiological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of the individual.
Education is a dynamic, interactive process best accomplished in a caring environment that facilitates growth by nurturing, stimulating, and challenging the student and faculty. Students should be actively engaged and accountable for their own learning and faculty facilitates this learning through an environment that maximizes the students’ own potential. Learning activities which foster critical thinking, inquiry, self-awareness, communication, advocacy, and empowerment are created in which students can learn basic knowledge, skills, and competencies, and grow from novice learners to beginning professional nurses. Learning activities which provide licensed registered nurses an opportunity to advance their education and assume leadership roles in the health care system include activities which strengthen their assessment and leadership skills as well as incorporate evidence based practice into the care of patients in a variety of settings. These activities are incorporated into the nursing curriculum through classroom and on-line course interactions, computer and skill labs, clinical experiences, and professional relationships which assist students to achieve educational outcomes.
Nursing students represent a diverse range of ages, cultures, socioeconomic and ethnic characteristics, which are reflective of the larger community. The faculty is committed to creating an environment in which diversity is embraced as a source of strength, critical thinking is fostered, and life experience is valued. Fundamental to an effective learning process is the recognition that each individual approaches learning with a unique background of formal and experiential knowledge. Various ways of knowing are acknowledged and participants are supported in realizing their potential. Learning is viewed as the integration of knowledge and experience, which results in growth. Practice of the nursing role in a variety of community and institutional settings is essential for the synthesis of nursing theory and practice.
Community is viewed as a social group determined by geographical boundaries and/or common values and interests; community members know and interact with one another; the community functions within a particular social structure; and the community creates norms, values, and social institutions. The nursing graduate is accountable for providing safe, competent care and is prepared to function in community based, community focused settings, as well as in acute-care settings within the health care system as a manager, leader, change agent and consumer of research. The nursing graduate is expected to practice within the legal and ethical framework of the profession, recognize the political, economical, and societal forces affecting the practice of nursing, and assume responsibility for personal and professional growth and life-long learning.