STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
The faculty of the School of Nursing at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) believes and supports the mission of Georgia Southwestern State University. Shared values and beliefs of the GSW nursing faculty serve as a foundation of the philosophy of the nursing program which visualizes the discipline of nursing consisting of four domains: person, environment, health, and nursing. The philosophy integrates the person, environment, health, and nursing to ensure excellence in nursing education. Additional key components of baccalaureate nursing education include educational context, professional roles, and professional values which are threaded throughout the curriculum. Professional nursing education is multifaceted, encompassing all of the key components that support the discipline of nursing.
The conceptual framework of the GSW Nursing Programs is illustrated below. Nursing, Person, Environment, and Health depict the four domains of nursing education and are central to the teaching core throughout the nursing program. Each of the domains, depicted in a non-ending circle, is integrally related to each other. The outer circle surrounds the inner circle (denoted by broken lines) indicating the continuous connections between the nursing domains and the key components. The key components, represented along the outer circle are professional roles, educational context, and professional values.
The faculty declares the following statements of our beliefs and assumptions that support the nursing education program.
Nursing Discipline Domains
Person
The center of the conceptual model depicts the four domains of the nursing discipline:
Person, Environment, Health, and Nursing. Human beings (person) in interaction with their
environments are the focus of nursing with the goal of promoting well-being. Person is generally
construed as the individual but the term may also be more broadly defined to include family, groups,
and community systems. Human beings are unique and individual in their responses to health and illness,
and represent a variety of socio-economic and educational perspectives, ethnic backgrounds and lifestyle
patterns. The dignity and integrity of all human beings should be preserved in health and illness through
deliberate, responsible, conscious, nonjudgmental, and continuous nursing assessment and intervention.
Environment
Environment is the context within which care is provided.
Because nurses are being challenged to care for patients who are socially, politically and economically disadvantaged,
they must move beyond a psychological conceptualization of the environment into a sociopolitical-economic and
cultural conceptualization. Through this reconceptualization, nurses can see that human responses to health and
illness are related to the structure of the social world, the economic and political policies that govern the
structure and the human and social relationships that are produced by the structure and the policies.
Poverty, educational level, and social problems are inextricably linked to health concerns and cannot be
addressed in isolation from each other. When nurses understand the social, political, and economic influences
that shape the health of a society, they are more likely to advocate on behalf of populations.
We believe that the unique geographical, environmental, historical, and population demographic circumstances of rurality should be considered and integrated in the philosophical underpinnings of the School of Nursing. Knowledge about rural residents, special population needs, health policy, and community development will enhance the ability of our graduates to care for rural clients.
Health
Health is nursing’s
ultimate goal achieved through the professions’ actions to promote health and quality of life and prevent premature death, illness,
disability and suffering. Health can be viewed as a personal commitment and a social commitment. From this
perspective, health is influenced by biological, social, cultural, spiritual, political and psychological factors.
There are some individuals who cannot master and control their bodies’ well-being because their environments
are oppressive or because they have no choices, or because they never had the opportunity to think of their
optimum capacity. For some, personal health cannot be separated from that of their parents, children, and
extended family.
Nursing
Nursing is a practice-oriented discipline
focused on the promotion of health of human beings in interaction with their
environments. Nursing involves the fostering of safe, healing environments that
respect the diverse values, choices and goals of all health care recipients. In optimal
circumstances nursing goals directed towards desired health outcomes are mutually articulated
and congruent with client goals. In other situations (e.g., cognitive impairment) nurses may make
decisions in the best interest of the client based on ethical principles and professional values.
Nursing is a socially sanctioned, caring therapeutic relationship with clients that involve all phases of the life span and all phases of health and illness including death. Nursing is particularly concerned with the determinants of health care behaviors in individuals within our changing society. Nursing strives to provide access to health promotion and disease prevention services. Nursing has a commitment to uphold the standards of professional nursing practice.
Nursing provides patient-centered care and considers and respects the uniqueness of those for whom care is provided; and thus considers the interaction of biological, psychological, spiritual, cultural and socioeconomic variables in the delivery of nursing care. In the efforts to address the complexity of knowledge required to attend to the whole of the person, nursing recognizes the applicability of scientific domains to its practice, and the need to provide evidenced-based practice. Nursing applies knowledge from a liberal arts foundation, sciences, computer science/informatics, and the body of knowledge within nursing and other health-related disciplines.
Key Components Defined
Surrounding the center of the model are the key components of GSW’s baccalaureate nursing education program: educational context, professional roles, and professional values (The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nurses (AACN, 1998). Each component may influence other components. Further, as depicted in the model, each of the four components connects to the central core representing the relationship that one may have on the other.
Educational Context
Nursing education is built upon a foundation of knowledge in the arts and sciences that promote critical thinking, synthesis of facts, concepts, principles and theories from nursing and other disciplines. This educational context prepares nurses to apply knowledge and competencies gained in the nursing program. Basic and applied research generated knowledge should be included throughout the nursing curriculum.
Learning, a continuous lifelong process, is a personal responsibility. Faculty can provide guidance, knowledge, support and encouragement but ultimately students are responsible for their learning and mastery. The faculty believes students must be actively involved in the learning process. In nursing education, learning experiences are planned to achieve continuity, and synthesis of knowledge and skills as defined by the educational objectives. The teaching and learning processes involve the teacher and learner in setting goals, selecting learning experiences, evaluating progress, and revising instructional methods and curriculum as appropriate. The educational process facilitates the development of each person’s potential and reflects democratic values and ethical principles.
Included in the educational context component are the core knowledge and core
competencies areas expected of nurse graduates as identified in the Essentials (AACN, 1998) which include:
Core Knowledge:
• Health promotion, risk reduction, disease prevention: Knowledge of health risks and evidence-based prevention of risks.
•
Illness and disease management: Integration of understanding of, pathophysiology, epidemiology, pharmacology, and social, physical, psychological, and spiritual responses to
illness and disease in the planning and delivery of care to persons across the lifespan
•
Information and health care technologies: Knowledge and skills in evolving methods of
accessing, retrieving, and using information in nursing practice.
•
Human diversity: Knowledge of cultural, racial, socioeconomic, religious, and lifestyle variations
• Global health care: Knowledge about the effects of the global community on such areas as disease
transmission, health policy, health care economics, and emergency preparedness.
•
Health care systems and policy: Knowledge of health care organizations and health care environments, and economics
Core Competencies:
• Critical Thinking: Ability to make decisions based critical analysis
• Communication: Listening, Oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills
• Assessment: Planning, delivering, and evaluating outcomes based on assessment, analysis, synthesis, and decision-making
• Technical Skills: Perform, teach, delegate, and supervise essential clinical skills.
Professional Roles
Professional nursing is a practice oriented
discipline that uses theory and research in care delivery. Encompassed in nursing education is the role
development of the nurse as provided of care, manager of care, and member of the profession. Subgroups within
each of these roles are as follows:
• provider of care: Caregiver, Teacher, Communicator, Counselor, Advocate
• manager of care: Leader, Facilitator, Decision-maker, User of information technology
• member of the profession: Scholar, Collaborator, Ethicist
Professional Values
Professional values relate to the ethical and legal behaviors and practice standards that guide nursing. The ability to make ethical decisions is based on knowledge of ethical principles and theories, use of an ethical decision-making model, and the Code of Ethics for Nurses (American Nurses Association [ANA, 2001]) which reinforces the basic values and commitments that are essential to the profession. Key ethical principles include autonomy, justice, fidelity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, veracity, and standard of best interest, and obligations.
Conclusion
This conceptual framework for curriculum development supports the provision
of didactic and clinical education in nursing and related sciences, the
preparation of leaders for the health care sector, and the testing of
innovative educational models. As such it is congruent with the overall
mission of the University.
BSN Terminal Objectives
1. Utilize critical thinking skills to provide health promotion, risk reduction, illness prevention, disease management
and health restoration with diverse clients and groups in a variety of settings.
2. Employ a variety of communication strategies with clients and the interdisciplinary team to meet health needs.
3. Perform holistic assessment, and provide evidenced-based nursing interventions to diverse individuals,
families, and communities across the lifespan.
4. Perform, teach, delegate and supervise nursing technical skills with safety and competence.
5. Integrate knowledge, values and skills from nursing, the humanities, sciences, and advances
in technology in providing nursing care.
6. Demonstrate competence in utilizing information and communication technologies to enhance health care.
7. Apply legal and ethical standards and guidelines to advocate for client well-being and preferences.
8. Provide nursing care that is congruent with the needs of underserved, vulnerable and diverse clients.
9. Incorporate knowledge of the global and changing environment in the provision of health care.
10. Interpret and apply knowledge of the health care delivery system to influence health care and promote the profession.
11. Enact the essential roles of the professional nurse: provider of care, designer / manager / coordinator
of care, and member of the profession.