Augusta State University Public Relations

EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC YEAR 2009-2010

In response to the changing needs of the community and in line with the mission of Augusta State University, the ASU Department of Nursing received approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing to develop and implement a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. (BSN Course Checklist) (Sample Schema for General BSN) (Sample Schema for LPN to BSN) (Sample Schema for RN to BSN Accelerated) (Sample Schema for RN to BSN Part-Time) (Requirements for Admission to the BSN Program)

The target date for the new BSN program is January, 2010. The Associate Degree of Nursing program is tentatively scheduled for deactivation in May, 2010.

The university plans to admit the last ASN students in Spring of 2009 and the last LPN to RN class will be admitted in Summer of 2009.

Department of Nursing Mission Statement

The Department of Nursing provides students with the ability to think critically about actual or potential patient care problems, the ability to manage and coordinate patient care to intervene in problems, as well as to demonstrate caring behaviors toward patients while practicing within the legal and ethical scope of professional nursing practice. Recognizing the rapid changes in health care delivery, the Department also inculcates in students the necessity of continued professional growth and development.

History of the Nursing Program

The two-year associate degree program in nursing was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in November 1967. Approval of the new program led to the closure of the University Hospital School of Nursing in keeping with the national trend toward two-year programs instead of hospital-based diploma schools.

Miss Louise D. Bryant of Raleigh, North Carolina, was appointed Director of Nursing Education in July 1968. She was a graduate of George Peabody College with a B.S. degree. She earned a M.S. degree at Case Western Reserve University and pursued further graduate education at the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina. She had several years of experience as educational consultant to Associate Degree Programs in nursing for the North Carolina State Board of Education. Ms. Bryant began her appointment in September 1968, to begin establishing the nursing program, develop the curricula, and recruit faculty.

The community of Augusta was involved with the program from the onset. The Garden City Business and Professional Women's Club raised $150 for nursing books through a barbecue they sponsored.

The first students enrolled into the nursing program in the fall of 1969. Twenty-five students graduated in June 1971. There have been a total of 1,153 graduates from the program through 2001. The Department is proud of its nursing program heritage at Augusta State University and of all the students and faculty who have been a part of the Department of Nursing. The program has an excellent reputation in the community and graduates are actively recruited by local hospitals.

Accreditation History

The program has been fully accredited by the National League for Nursing since 1971 and has had full approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing. The most recent NLN accreditation took place in February 2002 at which time the program was accredited for eight years. The next NLNAC scheduled visit is 2010. The program has full approval by the Georgia Board of Nursing through December 31, 2004.

Philosophy

The Department of Nursing is an integral part of Augusta State University and supports the Mission and Goals of the institution. The Department conducts a program of
education that prepares its graduates to function in the three roles basic to associate degree nursing practice in a variety of settings (Council of Associate Degree Programs, 1990; Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force, 2000). The roles of provider of care, manager of care and member of the discipline of nursing are inclusive of the core components of nursing practice: professional behaviors, communication, assessment, clinical decision making, caring interventions, teaching and learning, collaboration, and managing care (Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force, 2000). The faculty shares with other health professionals the goals of promoting, maintaining, and restoring the health of people within their environment or intervening appropriately to support the patient in end of life care.

Patient

The patient is considered to be an individual, family, population group, and/or community. The patient is viewed as an open system with biopsychosocial, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. The patient has innate worth and dignity as well as basic needs, rights, and responsibilities in pursuing his/her own health goals. Throughout the life span, the patient exists in a dynamic state as a result of the interaction with the environment. The patient presents with a set of beliefs, values, past experiences, attitudes, coping abilities, and functional patterns that contribute to health, quality of life, and achievement of human potential. Individuals are caring beings and enter into reciprocal caring relationships with others that enable them to strive towards self-actualization.

Environment

The environment consists of elements within the patient and his/her proximate and global surroundings. Environmental factors include: physiological, psychological, sociological, spiritual, cultural, political, biological, chemical, physical, socioeconomical, and technological influences. The patient has an impact on the environment and the environment has an impact on the patient. The interpretation and perceptions of the environment are unique and based upon individual values and beliefs.

Health

Health is the purpose of all nursing behaviors. Health is a perceived state of being manifested by fluctuating human responses across the life span. Health is defined by the patient's sense of well -being and optimal level of functioning. Health is related to the patient's ability to cope with environmental stressors and to satisfy basic human needs. Effective coping and adaptation skills promote health. Behavioral choices made by the patient and the availability of resources has a powerful influence upon health. Each individual has the right to choose to receive or not to receive health care.

Nursing Practice

Nursing is described in the ANA Social Policy Statement (1995) as having 4 essential features:

attention to the full range of human experiences and responses to health and illness without restriction to a problem-focused orientation;
integration of objective data with knowledge gained from an understanding of the patient
or group's subjective experience;
application of scientific knowledge to the processes of diagnosis and treatment;
provision of a caring relationship that facilitates health and healing.

Therapeutic nursing interventions embodies the art and science of nursing including those systematic actions that demonstrate the application of cognitive, behavioral, psychomotor, and affective processes utilized in the diagnosing of actual and potential physiological and psychosocial health problems as well as the planning, implementation, and evaluation of individualized health care designed to meet the needs of patients across the life span in a safe, caring, and cost effective manner within the legal and ethical framework of professional nursing. Nursing actions are based upon a theoretical knowledge base, critical thinking skills, competency, collaboration, and caring. Nursing establishes a relationship with the patient and actions are directed toward working with the patient to help him/her to adapt to stressors and achieve basic needs, thus promoting optimum health throughout the life cycle. Nursing occurs within a caring relationship with the patient. The caring relationship enables the exchange of information, feelings, and concerns so the nurse and patient form a shared understanding of the meaning of illness and wellness. Therapeutic nursing interventions are developed through multi disciplinary collaboration among the health care professionals and the patient.

Nursing Education

Nursing education is an interactive teaching-learning process between faculty and students with both taking responsibility for learning. Learning about caring, takes place within a context of caring. Faculty and students learn together and knowledge is created through a process of exploration, intellectual challenge, critical reflection, and self-awareness. Faculty use a variety of creative and innovative approaches to stimulate students' critical thinking skills and sound clinical judgment. The curriculum provided balance between general and nursing education courses, moves within a continuum of increasing complexity, and conceptualizes a well-defined theoretical base. The foundational concepts of nursing education are communication, competence, cultural diversity, collaboration, and caring. An Associate Degree in Nursing Education prepares for entry-level practice into the profession of Nursing. This degree begins the life long learning process of formal nursing education and professional development.

Associate Degree Nursing Practice

Historically, associate degree nursing programs "prepared registered nurses to provide direct patient care to individuals with common recurring and/or predictable problems, within a structured healthcare setting, with assistance and support from the full scope of nursing expertise" (Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force, 2000, p. 3).

Advances in technology, demands of managed care resulting in shorter hospital stays, increased acuity and complexity of patient care needs, diversity of healthcare settings, have necessitated changes in nursing education. Preparation of the associate degree nurse emphasizes the commonalities of nursing practice identified by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (1997): providing for a safe, effective care environment; physiological integrity; psychosocial integrity; and health promotion to meet patient needs. The focus continues to be the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual and potential health problems across the life span; however, emphasis is placed on care of adult patients since that is the predominant clientele for ASU graduates. In the role as provider of care, current knowledge in nursing concepts, principles, processes, and skills will be utilized to develop the cognitive, psychomotor and affective abilities necessary to make sound clinical nursing decisions and to practice competently. In the role as manager of care, knowledge and understanding of principles of patient/client care management, legal parameters of nursing practice, roles, responsibilities and skills of members of health care team and communication, collaboration and delegation skills will be used to make decisions regarding priorities of care, to delegate specific aspects of care and direct others to use time and resources efficiently and to seek assistance when necessary. In the role as a contributing member of the discipline of nursing and the practice of quality nursing care, it is expected that graduates will have a commitment to professional growth, continuous learning, and self-development; will practice within established standards, and will be an active participant of the profession of nursing.

References

American Nurses Association. (1995). Nursing's social policy statement. Washington,
D.C.: Author.

Council of Associate Degree Programs. (1990). Educational outcomes of associate degree programs: Roles and competencies (Pub. No. 23-2348). New York: National League for Nursing.

National Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force. (2000). Educational competencies for graduates of associate degree nursing programs. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers and National League for Nursing.

National Council Examination Committee. (1997). National Council Detailed Test Plan for the NCLEX-RN Examination. Chicago: National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.

Approved at Curriculum Committee Meeting 2-26-96;
Revisions Approved 3-1-01; Revisions Approved 10-22-01

Program of Learning

The program of learning of the Department of Nursing reflects the collective view of the faculty and the mission of Augusta State University. Like the University, faculty are "committed to excellence in teaching, advancement of knowledge, and enrichment of the community in a climate that fosters humane values and a life-long love of learning." These values are exemplified throughout the philosophy and program of learning.

As an Associate of Science program, selected general education courses are required which enhance and provide a knowledge base for the nursing courses. The University knowledge outcomes of contemporary world, the United States, human behavior, and sciences are met through the general education courses. Outcome skills of thinking, communication, mathematics and critical appreciation are specifically addressed through the general education and nursing courses. The broadened perspectives outcomes of decision-making, tolerance, and learning are demonstrated through the general education and specifically emphasized in nursing courses.

Nursing students are encouraged to continue their formal education in nursing through the Georgia Linc program. A baccalaureate in nursing program for registered nurses is available through the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). Nursing faculty advisors at Augusta State University encourage students to complete their core requirements for their baccalaureate degree while completing ASU's program.

The curriculum of the nursing program encompasses a wide scope of subject matter. The nursing courses are sequenced so that content and experiences progress from the simple to more complex. Students are introduced to concepts that are subsequently reinforced to build upon and strengthen understanding.

The curriculum is structured around the roles of the Associate Degree nurse (Council of Associate Degree Programs, 1990). The graduate is expected to actualize the core components and competencies in the roles of provider of care, manager of care, and member of the discipline of nursing (Council of Associate Degree Nursing Competencies Task Force, 2000). The model (see above) depicts the scope of practice of the associate degree nurse as a synthesis of the three roles.

Provider of Care

The role of provider of care involves the use of critical thinking to intervene into increasingly complex nursing care problems. Understanding and synthesis of knowledge regarding human needs across the life-span and the health-illness continuum provide the basis for this process, while clinical competence is the demonstrative form of caring. The provider of care role is introduced in the first nursing course and is built upon throughout the program as the student gains in knowledge, understanding, skills, and ability to think critically and to solve increasingly complex and ambiguous nursing care situations in a variety of settings. The components of the provider of care role are discussed below.

Critical thinking. Critical thinking is a deliberate, non-linear intellectual process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information to make judgments based on evidence rather than conjecture. The information is gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication. Nursing education functions to help students develop the ability to think critically through evaluation and appropriate application of knowledge from nursing and other disciplines in making independent decisions in nursing practice situations (nursing process). Critical thinking in nursing practice is presented during the introductory course as the student is exposed to the nursing process and language of nursing diagnoses. During subsequent courses students learn increasingly complex skills in didactic and clinical settings through a variety of teaching and learning strategies. Interviewing skills to obtain nursing history are built upon as the student learns to differentiate between therapeutic and nontherapeutic communication techniques. These increasingly complex communication skills are then expected to be used to assist individuals, families, and groups as they experience stressful life situations. Teaching/learning strategies assist the student to increasingly involve the individual and family in clinical decision-making. Caring therapeutic interventions are demonstrated as increasingly complex skills are mastered and the student learns to adapt them to patient care needs in a variety of settings.

Human needs throughout the life span. Functional health patterns provide the structure for assessment of needs of patient, family and community. An integrated life span approach is used to examine physiological, psychosocial, spiritual, cultural, and environmental factors influencing optimal functioning. Critical thinking skills are utilized to identify dysfunctional patterns, prioritize these within imposed constraints, and implement appropriate strategies.

Health-Illness continuum. Understanding of normal physiologic functioning derived from anatomy/physiology courses is expanded to an emphasis on wellness and health promotion behaviors through an early teaching project in conjunction with Augusta State University's annual health fair. Commonly occurring chronic illnesses in the elderly are introduced in the first course as students encounter these patient care needs in the nursing home setting. Pathophysiologic conditions commonly seen in ambulatory adults and children are introduced. This knowledge is built upon as increasingly complex and life threatening pathophysiologic conditions creating major dysfunction are the foci of subsequent nursing courses. Pharmacotherapeutics and nutrition are threaded throughout the nursing courses. Primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention are emphasized with specific learning experiences in all three areas of prevention. The health promotion aspect of the provider role and appropriate experiences are included.

Manager of Care

The role of manager of care is introduced in the initial nursing course and emphasized throughout the first year as students are introduced to and utilize multiple information management systems during their learning laboratory experiences and in various clinical placements. The majority of the theoretical and experiential emphases for this role are provided in the second year of nursing courses, however. Communication and relationship skills are expanded to include group dynamics and process, team-leading and member behaviors. Students practice the skills of decision-making, collaboration, delegation, coordination, organization, and advocacy as they function as team leader/member in their various clinical groups throughout the second year of nursing courses. The knowledge and increasing competence in the role of provider of care are built upon in the second year as the student cares for a small group of patients. Expectations for the use of technology in the care of individuals, families, and groups are increased.

Member of the Discipline of Nursing

This role, as the others, is introduced in the initial nursing courses as standards of nursing care are introduced. Emphasis on this role occurs in the final semester as students assume more competence, responsibility and accountability in all nursing roles. Socioeconomical and political forces affecting nursing practice introduced and explored previously are analyzed in depth. Ethical standards of the profession of nursing and the legal framework of practice are expected to be internalized values. Active participation in the profession of nursing, commitment to professional growth and development and lifelong learning are inculcated into the graduate. Caring-about, caring-for, and in a compassionate, empathetic, skillful and competent manner is the synthesis of the three nursing roles.

References

Council of Associate Degree Programs. (1990). Educational outcomes of associate degree programs: Roles and competencies (Pub. No. 23-2348). New York: National League for Nursing.

Approved at Curriculum Committee Meeting 11-18-96
Revisions approved 3-1-01

Educational Outcomes

Students completing the Associate of Science degree in nursing will be able to:

Identify human responses to actual or potential health problems through the
utilization of critical thinking in order to apply a problem solving approach and
intervene appropriately to promote, maintain, and restore health.
Identify human responses to actual or potential health problems through the utilization of critical thinking in order to apply a problem solving approach and intervene appropriately to support the patient in end of life care.
Manage and coordinate patient care through goal directed interactions with individuals,
groups, and members of the multi disciplinary health team in a variety of settings.
Demonstrate caring behaviors toward patients regardless of their diagnoses, personal
characteristics, background or actions.
Practice within the discipline's ethical and legal framework.
Anticipate changes and assume responsibility for personal and professional growth to meet the challenges of an ever evolving health care system.

Approved at Curriculum Committee Meeting 2-26-96
Reviewed and Affirmed 3-1-01
Addition of New Outcome 8-17-01