Our Mission
The Practical Nursing Program will incorporate a variety of teaching-learning modalities to prepare graduates to practice in a professional, safe, competent, compassionate, and ethical manner, in an everchanging health care environment.
Utilizing the art and science of nursing, faculty will engage, facilitate, and prepare graduates to acquire and demonstrate knowledge, skills, leadership, critical inquiry, and clinical judgement, required of an entry-level graduate to care for individuals, groups, families and communities..
Philosophy
Practical nurses are integral and valued members of the nursing profession and the healthcare team. The Practical Nursing Program (PNP) is grounded in theory, research and knowledge derived from the biopsychosocial, spiritual and nursing sciences.
Practical nurses are cognizant of the client’s individuality, diversity and environmental uniqueness when collaborating with the healthcare team to assess, plan, implement and evaluate client care. They also care for clients across the lifespan and provide competent, compassionate, safe and ethical care using critical inquiry and clinical judgement
Faculty accept the World Health Organization‘s definition of health:
Health is a state of physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being, and not just the absence of disease. Health is manifested in the extent to which an individual or group is able to achieve goals or meet needs, and cope with the impacting environment.
A fundamental principle of the PNP is that health is manifested by the extent to which an individual or group is able to achieve goals, meet needs, and respond to internal and external environmental factors.
On the continuum, health and wellness is viewed as a dynamic process influenced by interactions between individuals, families, communities and society. A client’s response to those interactions is unique, situational, contextual, and manifested in an evolving level of health on the wellness-illness and developmental continua
We believe that nursing is a practice discipline with caring as its core concept.
A foundational core concept of the PNP is ‘caring.’
Practical nurses utilize the nursing process, evidenced-informed practice, interprofessional collaboration, organizational policies, and technology, to deliver quality client-centered care. Further, practical nurses empower clients to be active participants in plans of care. As care providers and advocates for clients, practical nurses apply competent nursing judgment to promote, maintain and restore optimal health, prevent illness and/or injury, and provide palliation.
Practical nurses also contribute to quality improvement initiatives in collaboration with the healthcare team. Providing care for clients in compliance with the code of ethics, scope of practice and standards of practice that are established by a regulatory/licensing body and the employing agency, is an essential underpinning of the PNP.
Through the utilization of the teaching-learning process, faculty and students engage in a respectful, interactive and reciprocal relationship whereby knowledge, competency and professionalism are acquired. It is recognized that learning is a unique experience for each student and is influenced by individual learning styles, values, life experiences and readiness to learn.
Learning is self-directed and it is the responsibility of the student.
Learning occurs from formal and informal study, mentorship, role modeling and experience. It is facilitated by an atmosphere that is student-centered and fosters caring, independence, critical inquiry, clinical judgment, and creativity. It is incumbent upon the practical nurse to acquire the 23 knowledge to provide safe and competent care, and to commit to lifelong learning and ongoing professional development. Collaborative learning facilitates interprofessional understanding, fosters effective team functioning and enhances leadership development.
