School of Nursing

ABOUT US

The mission and vision are effected through the Strategic Goals of the School of Nursing which include increasing research and scholarly productivity as well as developing innovative service opportunities for students and faculty to improve the health of rural and diverse populations.

MISSION

The School of Nursing Mission is to prepare exemplary nurse leaders who integrate education, service and scholarship, through practice and research, to enhance the quality of life for rural and diverse populations.

VISION

The School of Nursing Vision is to be a distinguished School of Nursing committed to being as humanistic and compassionate as we are scientific and innovative.

PHILOSOPHY

The faculty in the School of Nursing subscribe to a common philosophy about human beings, nursing, and nursing education that encompasses both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Faculty strives to be leaders and visionaries in their roles as nurse educators, consumers and advocates for consumers of health care, and health professionals.

Humans are dynamic, holistic, and multidimensional. They have intrinsic worth and needs which are uniquely experienced and expressed within the totality of their environment. The manner in which those needs are met influences the individual, family, and community growth and development through the life cycle. Humans have the right and the responsibility for their health and welfare. Moreover, they have the right to access basic services for health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment of acute or chronic illness. To this end, the faculty recognizes their social and professional responsibility to sanction access for health care through educational, leadership, political, and public service activities.

Education is a community responsibility shared by recipients and providers of health care, students, and faculty. Faculty is committed to creativity in the learning process and continuous quality improvement in curriculum and program development. Faculty facilitates the educative process, promote an environment for effective application of knowledge integration, stimulate critical thinking, and professionalism. Learning is a lifelong process. Students are active participants in their education and are accountable for developing personal and professional knowledge.

Professional nursing is educative, facilitative, and caring. Professional nursing practice is grounded in sound scientific and humanistic knowledge formed from a complex and diverse field of study. Furthermore, nursing practice is a collaborative endeavor, which promotes health and wellness in a variety of ways and settings. Nurses administer healing arts and support families through normative and tragic transitions. Professional nurses use knowledge integration from theories, research and practice to plan and deliver holistic client care. Decision-making, teaching-learning, research, therapeutic communication, and critical thinking processes are used by professional nurses.

Utilization of nursing knowledge is the major focus in the undergraduate curriculum in the development of beginning level practitioners. The undergraduate program prepares graduates to meet the present and emergent community health concerns at local and global levels. Throughout the development of the professional role, students learn to view the recipients of nursing care as individuals, families, groups, or communities within cultural and environmental contexts. The population distribution and geographical nature of Idaho mandates that graduates be proficient in rural and frontier nursing.

Graduate education is built upon undergraduate education. Students are prepared to assume advance practice roles by developing nursing knowledge through research, theory, and practice. At the graduate level, faculty and students contribute toward the application and elaboration of nursing theories to describe, explain, predict, and understand nursing phenomena. Graduate education facilitates learning environments where students can construct their own knowledge integration at an advanced level. Advanced practice nurses develop broad based knowledge and experience to facilitate or deliver personalized, holistic health care to clients over the lifespan in a variety of settings with emphasis on rural practice.