The Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing

Dr. Judy Kreye, Dean

Professor Sherrie Underwood, Chair, Undergraduate Nursing

Mission

The mission of the Walsh University Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing is to provide excellence in nursing education grounded in human experience. The Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing prepares the graduate to practice nursing within the framework of Judeo-Christian values promoting health in diverse communities.

Goals and Outcomes

The goal of the Walsh University Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) in nursing curricula is to prepare a graduate who is responsible and accountable for the application of critical thinking, communication principles, science and liberal arts knowledge, and therapeutic nursing interventions with diverse clients in an evolving health care system. The graduate is able to function in the role of caregiver, manager and coordinator of care, and leader. The four-year pre-licensure curriculum prepares the graduate to become licensed as a registered nurse.  The graduate of the BSN Program is accountable and responsible for competent nursing practice and has the foundation for life-long learning.

Baccalaureate of Science Degree in Nursing Program; Characteristics of the Graduate

Upon completion of the Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing Program the graduate is able to:

  1. Integrate critical thinking principles in the application of the nursing process.
  2. Apply knowledge, skills, and information management in the delivery of therapeutic nursing interventions with diverse clients in an evolving health care environment.
  3. Utilize communication skills at all levels of interaction within diverse health care environments.
  4. Synthesize knowledge of science and liberal arts within the practice of nursing.
  5. Demonstrate accountability and responsibility for population health, research, evidence-based practice and leadership in nursing.
  6. Display a commitment to professionalism and the ethical values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice as fundamental to the discipline of nursing.

Philosophy

We, the Nursing faculty of Walsh University, affirm the philosophy and mission of this institution with its Judeo-Christian traditions. We believe that the Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing is an integral part of Walsh University and that the liberal arts education orientation of the University enhances nursing education.

We believe the nurse is an open, complex system who is in constant interaction with an ever-changing environment. The goal of the nurse is to engage the client in a therapeutic relationship. Guided by the methodology of nursing process, the nurse assists the client in promoting, maintaining, restoring, and reorganizing health or supporting death with dignity. Accountability and responsibility, critical thinking, communication, science and liberal arts knowledge, and therapeutic nursing interventions form the foundation of nursing practice.

We believe the primary focus of the nurse is the client. The client may be an individual, family, or community. We view the client as a unique, complex, open system, with biological, psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual subsystems. We believe the client possesses the freedom and responsibility to think, to choose, and to act.

We view the client as constantly interacting with an ever-changing environment throughout the life span to achieve homeostasis. We believe that the environment includes both the internal and external milieu and that homeostasis is the complex, dynamic process of adaptation to maintain health. Alteration of health or illness occurs when homeostasis is disrupted. We believe the client exists on a continuum of health from conception to death.

We believe that the process of education provides an environment that stimulates the learner to think critically, communicate effectively, and act compassionately, responsibly, and maturely as a contributing member of the profession and society. We believe that nursing education belongs in an institution of higher learning where students are integrated into academic life and have the opportunity to participate in campus activities. Education in an institution of higher learning provides general and professional experiences that facilitate an understanding and respect of people, cultures, and environments. Nursing education provides the basis for life-long learning.

Learning involves the acquisition of knowledge, skills, interests, and values resulting in changes in behavior. The faculty espouses the following principles of learning:

  1. learning is influenced by past experiences, values, and skills;
  2. the student is responsible for learning and assuming an active role in the process;
  3. a climate of trust and mutual respect enhances learning;
  4. learning develops critical thinking processes;
  5. learning is facilitated by activities that promote application of concepts and provide the learner with opportunities for success; and
  6. learning is a life-long process.

The faculty believes that the graduate has an academic background in the sciences and liberal arts. The graduate is able to incorporate values into nursing practice and is accountable to the client, the profession, and other health care professionals and to self. The graduate has a foundation for continuing education and higher education. The graduate is able to apply the nursing process while giving care to diverse clients in health care settings. The Baccalaureate degree graduate applies knowledge from the sciences and liberal arts to the practice of nursing. Further, the Baccalaureate graduate assumes current and evolving nursing roles in community health, research, and leadership to promote the practice of nursing and the advancement of health care.