ASU Department of Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences
Undergraduate Nursing Student Handbook
Program Organization & Purpose

MISSION STATEMENT

The Department of Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences supports the Mission of Angelo State University by offering undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare competent professionals to meet the nursing care needs of a culturally diverse society. Within a dynamic health care environment, these programs facilitate nursing competency through scholarship, research, evidence based practice, leadership, and service. Recognizing the individual diversity of learners, the program is committed to excellence in nursing education by providing a supportive and caring environment in order to facilitate personal and professional growth, educational mobility, and life-long learning.

PHILOSOPHY

We, the faculty of the nursing program at Angelo State University, hold true the following beliefs and values as a guide for preparing competent professional nurses to meet the nursing care needs of a culturally diverse society. These beliefs and values are the framework for all faculty activities, including teaching, scholarship, research, practice, leadership and service.

 » Nursing, as an academic discipline, requires synthesis of knowledge, critical thinking, problem solving, decision-making, individual accountability, technical proficiency and leadership. The art of nursing is the application of this knowledge in caring, culturally sensitive, collaborative and therapeutic partnerships to promote, maintain, or restore health, or achieve a peaceful death. Integration of the art and science of nursing is manifested in the major roles of the nurse. These roles of the nurse are to provide and coordinate evidence-based health care services for individuals, families, groups, communities, or populations in a variety of settings, and to participate as a member of the profession.

 » The faculty respects recipients of health care as unique beings with biophysical, psychological, and sociocultural needs. Each recipient of health care (individual, family, group, community, or population) has the right and responsibility to participate in making decisions and choices that govern responses to meet these needs.

 » As health professionals, we believe that health and illness are human experiences existing on a continuum and that they are both contextually and culturally defined. Each individual has a perception of his/her own optimal health. Lifestyle choices, cultural influences, access to health care, and adaptation to internal and external environmental (physical, biological, psychological, social, technical and cultural) stressors influence health.

The faculty believes the health care needs of thecommunity are best served by multiple levels of nursing practice with the purpose of nursing education being to produce competent, safe practitioners at the basic (AASN), general (BSN), and advanced (MSN) levels. Each level of nursing education builds and expands on prior knowledge and competency through programs of study that incorporate the humanities, physical and social sciences as well as nursing theory and traditions.

 » As nurse educators, the faculty believes the focus of associate degree nursing is directed primarily toward care of the individual (within the context of family) across the life span in various health care settings. As provider of care, the associate degree nurse uses the nursing process, scientific rationale, and current literature to assess, provide, monitor, and evaluate direct patient care with technical proficiency. As coordinator of care, the associate degree nurse functions as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Emphasis is on meeting the needs of recipients of health care requiring assistance to maintain or restore optimum health or to achieve a peaceful death. As a member of the profession, the associate degree nurse assumes responsibility and accountability for practice within legal and ethical parameters. Associate education provides a foundation for baccalaureate study.

 » We believe the focus of baccalaureate nursing expands to include health promotion with families and individuals as well as communities in a variety of structured and unstructured settings. The baccalaureate nurse utilizes an evidence-based analytical approach to decision-making and problem solving incorporating principles of leadership, collaboration, research, theory and professional practice to provide the highest quality of direct and indirect nursing care. As coordinator of care, the baccalaureate nurse utilizes expanded skills in communication, negotiation, and collaboration in order to assume leadership in an interdisciplinary team. As a member of the profession, the baccalaureate nurse utilizes political and organizational processes to advance professional nursing standards. Baccalaureate education prepares graduates to advance to an area of specialized nursing practice.

 » The Master of Science in Nursing is built upon the foundation of undergraduate nursing educational elements and provides graduate students with a choice of two options of study, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) or Nurse Educator. We believe the overall goal of graduate study is to prepare a leader, manager, entrepreneur, and educator capable of assuming advanced roles in a variety of settings. As a member of the profession, the master's-prepared nurse gains knowledge by becoming a participant in the research process, utilizing research findings to enhance outcomes in his/her practice settings. The master's-prepared nurse has a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the interactive social, political, and economic elements that combine to exert a profound influence on the formation and development of health policy. Course experiences assist students to develop as critical thinkers and ethical decision makers.

 » Faculty members further believe that a graduate student selecting the program option of APRN is prepared to be an expert clinician and provider of evidence-based care, advocate for the recipient of health care, and educator with a strong theoretical and research foundation in health promotion, restoration, disease prevention, and maintenance of function. Thus, the APRN is able to assess, diagnose, and plan treatment of common acute and chronic health deviations, and monitor response to therapeutic interventions. As a coordinator of care and with the expertise in the roles of consultant, collaborator, and leader, the APRN develops a longitudinal perspective of recipients of health care (individual, family, group, community and population) across the wellness/illness continuum. Faculty members believe that graduate student selecting the program option of Nurse Educator is prepared to assume a faculty role in schools of nursing, preparing students to function as a provider of care, coordinator of care, and member of a profession.

We believe that learning is a life long process in which an individual moves from the familiar to the unfamiliar in an environment that initially provides structure and then allows for increasing flexibility and creativity. We further believe that learning is optimized in a caring, participatory, and supportive environment that includes respect for individual diversity, access to resources, and a variety of activities.

Finally, we believe faculty collegiality facilitates and promotes mentoring and pioneering activities in professional nursing. Faculty encourages and supports collaborative endeavors with students in a variety of scholarly activities within a wide range of health care context. Through example, facilitation, and scholarship, faculty members strive to model commitment to a lifetime of continuing personal and professional development.

Reviewed May 1999, 2000, Revised 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007