The philosophy of St. John’s baccalaureate nursing program is based on the premise that all human beings are created in God’s image and therefore possess intrinsic value and dignity. Each person is a unified, intricate whole embracing biopsychosocial, spiritual and cultural aspects. Furthermore, individuals are dynamic, unique and capable of choice. An individual’s experience within an ever changing environment and society affect growth and development.
Development is a process that varies according to individual and situational uniqueness and continues across the life span.
Health is a dynamic state of unity within the mind, body and soul. Illness is an actual or perceived state of incongruity between demands and resources in which the demands outweigh the resources. Each individual’s concept of health and illness is influenced by personal, cultural and societal experiences and values. Individuals and groups establish health goals congruent with their experiences and values to pursue unity. Health problems result when the achievement of health is hindered by the internal or external environment.
Nursing is a caring art and science focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems. The goals of nursing are to promote/maintain health, provide illness care and rehabilitation through strategies of caring based on the use of the nursing process. Nursing theories and research findings guide professional nurses as they assist clients. Through interaction with clients, nurses coordinate and utilize resources to maximize the client’s attainment of mutually selected health goals.
Health problems and responses to them are as unique as the client. As such they provide a major challenge to the nursing profession. The nurse, guided by professional standards and Christian ethics, responds to this challenge by employing the roles of client advocate, caregiver, health counselor, health promoter, teacher, research consumer, collaborator, coordinator and leader/manager.
Education is a continuous and unifying process by which a person develops values, knowledge, skills and forms of behavior of positive value in society and profession in which they live and work. When human dignity and worth are valued by educator and learner alike, education becomes more meaningful. An atmosphere of acceptance, openness and holism enhances learning and contributes to an individual’s growth. To fully participate in the educational process the learner should exhibit motivation and inquiry. Additionally, students as learners should exhibit commitment, intellectual curiosity and potential for development. Learning is a process of gaining or changing insights, perceptions, though patterns or behaviors within the cognitive, affective and/or psychomotor domains. Students and faculty interact in reciprocal relationships which promote the personal and professional development of both. Faculty assume the roles of educator, professional role model, facilitator, counselor or mentor as appropriate to the situation.
Baccalaureate education provides a broad foundation in the sciences and humanities in order to ensure that practitioners can think critically, make caring decisions and contribute to society. The baccalaureate educational process in nursing fosters a sense of professional identity, accountability and caring through the internalization of desired values, knowledge and skills. Baccalaureate education in nursing prepares graduates for effective, responsible leadership in a variety of practice settings within both the current and emerging nursing profession, as well as our complex society. Baccalaureate graduates evaluate their nursing practice with consideration of current theoretical developments and research findings to produce alternative caring strategies. By focusing on beginning competence, baccalaureate education prepares nurses as generalists. Baccalaureate education provides the foundation for advanced practice, specialization, scholarship and research through graduate education.
Our beliefs about human beings, society, education, health and nursing and our commitment to a philosophy of caring are deeply rooted in our Christian values and traditions. Christ demonstrated God’s love for humankind through His teachings and His healing ministry. We participate in this ministry as we provide educational and health services with those who interact with us in these endeavors.
Goals
The program goals for St. John’s College, Department of Nursing are to:
- Prepare caring graduates to function as generalists in a variety of health care settings serving diverse populations.
- Foster the development of graduates who value lifelong learning and are prepared for graduate education.
- Facilitate personal and professional development enabling the graduate to contribute to the community.
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