CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE R.N./B.S.N./M.S.N. PROGRAM
The College of Nursing's conceptual framework builds upon the central concepts of the College's philosophy: person,
society, health, and nursing. The nursing curriculum provides the student with a general professional nursing
education organized in terms of ascending complexity. The nursing courses build on a foundation of liberal arts and
sciences. The overall focus throughout the curriculum is on health promotion, maintenance, and restoration of
individuals, families, groups, and communities.
The undergraduate curriculum is guided by major concepts derived from the philosophy and conceptual framework.
These are critical thinking, therapeutic nursing intervention, communication, person and society, health, professional
role development, and research.
CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is a reasoning process involving skills of knowledge acquisition,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Critical thinking requires an attitude of inquiry about
and reflection on divergent ideas or viewpoints and is guided by personal and professional values and norms. Critical
thinking encourages new ways of approaching situations in one's personal and professional life. The process is
central to professional nursing practice and development of the discipline. Nursing theory frameworks are used as
models for applying the nursing process.
The nursing process is a systematic decision-making method for providing nursing care that incorporates critical
thinking skills. Nursing process involves assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation in delivering nursing
care to individuals, and groups of diverse cultures and backgrounds in a variety of settings.
THERAPEUTIC NURSING INTERVENTIONS
Therapeutic nursing interventions are nursing actions that facilitate
individuals, families, groups, and communities in attaining, maintaining, or regaining health. These interventions are
guided by the nursing process and include both interpersonal and technical skills. In planning nursing interventions,
consideration is given to the culture, lifestyle, values, and beliefs of the client.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is an essential component of nursing practice in activities such as nurse/client
interaction, collaboration, coordination, teaching, referral, consultation, advocacy, and counseling. Students are
provided with opportunities to develop a wide range of communication and relational skills. Interpersonal skills
develop through identification of the student's feelings, verbal and nonverbal behaviors of the client and self, blocks to
communication, and patterns of communication and their meaning. Throughout the program students apply,
interpersonal skills in a variety of cultural, developmental, and social contexts. Teaching learning situations, group
process, collaboration, and leadership and management relationships are explored. Building upon their experiences
and knowledge, students develop therapeutic relationships with individuals and groups experiencing physical and
psychosocial alterations.
PERSON AND SOCIETY
Liberal educational studies provide a foundation for understanding the
complex and interactive nature of people and society. The interrelationships of
individuals, families, groups, and communities are viewed within the contexts of
culture and society at different levels of development and health status.
Students examine and articulate their own values while cultivating the values of
the nursing profession. Students explore preferences and values of clients and
support their rights of autonomy and self-determination. Societal and personal
relationships are examined within nursing theoretical frameworks and research
findings.
HEALTH
Courses in life and psychosocial sciences establish a foundation for
understanding the integrity of human systems and their alteration.
Nursing courses provide experiences in applying theoretical and
practical knowledge in health promotion, maintenance and restoration of
individuals, families, groups, and communities in different health care
delivery models. Respect for human dignity is fostered through
examination of beliefs, culture, ethnicity, and values in health and
health behavior and development of their own health models. Issues such
as resource allocation, quality of life, and end-of-life decision making
are examined from various ethical and theoretical perspectives.
PROFESSIONAL ROLE
DEVELOPMENT
Students are introduced to the essential elements of the
professional role of the nurse and gain experience in developing this
role. The role of care provider is developed through the use of, the
nursing process and nursing diagnosis, intervention, and outcome
taxonomies. Leadership competencies of designer/manager/coordinator/revisor
and improver of care are developed. Ethical and social Issues related to
altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, social justice, and legal
and political concerns are addressed. The student learns and takes on
the values of nursing as a profession, including lifelong learning,
professional behavior, and responsibility of individual and professional
growth.
RESEARCH
In the foundational courses, students are introduced to research
contributions within the respective disciplines. Students learn to
analyze and apply current nursing research findings as a basis for
providing and evaluating nursing care. Knowledge about the formal
research process is provided so that students may have a beginning
understanding of the contribution of nursing research to patient care
outcomes. The implications of ethics in the conduce of research are also
examined. Students develop awareness of individual responsibility
towards the development of nursing research. The integral relationship
of research to nursing practice and theory is emphasized.
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OPERATIONALIZATION
OF NURSING PROCESS
- Assessment
-- the making of a judgment about the health status of a client
based on a systematic collection of data.
- Data Collection --
the gathering of subjective and objective information about the
status of a client.
- Data Analysis --
the organizing of data in a logical manner; interpreting the
data using facts, theories and principles which support and give
meaning to the data in relation to the nursing diagnosis; and,
drawing conclusions about the health status of the client.
- Nursing
Diagnosis -- a statement of the client health status including
the etiology and supportive data or
defining characteristics.
- Planning
-- the determination of client priorities, client objectives and
specific nursing interventions aimed at
preventing or minimizing the identified actual or potential client
problem or enhancing the health state.
- Determination of
Priorities -- ordering client problems in a hierarchy from those
requiring most immediate to least immediate nursing actions.
- Client Outcomes --
projecting expected outcomes in terms of client behaviors,
including measurable criteria.
- Nursing
Interventions -- identifying specific nursing actions that have
potential for achieving the client
outcomes.
- Implementation
-- the carrying out of the identified plan of care.
- Evaluation
-- comparing achieved outcomes with projected client outcomes and
judging the process of implementing the plan of care.
- Process --
reviewing the actions as they are implemented.
- Outcome --
comparing achieved outcomes with expected outcomes described in
the client behaviors.
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