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VISION
The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing is a dynamic, student-centered school recognized as a leader in nursing education and research.
MISSION
The mission of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing is to promote the health of society through education of professional nurses, research, and service.
PHILOSOPHY
The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, an established entity within the University of Arkansas, College of Education and Health Professions, subscribes to the philosophy and stated mission of the University of Arkansas on teaching, research, and service. The School of Nursing provides professional nursing education to meet expanding health care needs. In recognition of the interrelationship between teaching, research, service, and the practice of nursing in the changing health care needs of society, the faculty aspires toward excellence in teaching, contributes to research in nursing, and promotes improved health care.
The philosophy and purposes of the education program are a synthesis of the personal beliefs of the faculty in relation to the person, society, environment, health, nursing, education, the learning process and the role of the graduates of the program.
PERSON
The person is a unique five-dimensional being of interrelated and inseparable systems (biological, intellectual, psychological, social and spiritual) from which needs arise throughout the life span. Each person is a member of a larger cultural, racial, and/or ethnic group and is unique by the way in which the dimensions are developed, intersected, and expressed. Environment influences the person's health within each of these dimensions. The person is influenced by and interacts as a whole with the internal and external environment to preserve vital functions, dignity and a meaningful existence.
SOCIETY
Society is a dynamic and muticultural phenomenon functioning within the ever-changing environment. The basic unit in society is the family. The family socializes its members to cultural values and norms and is highly influential in shaping the health behaviors of its members. Individuals and family groups combine and intersect to form and function as larger community units. These units also have needs, which arise from biological, intellectual, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. The health of the person, family or community impinges on and affects the health of others. Society has given nursing the latitude and responsibility to assist clients (individuals, families, and communities) to meet health care needs.
ENVIRONMENT
The environment, internal and external, consists of those forces, which influence the dimensions of the person. These complex factors act upon the client and ultimately determine its form, survival and evolution. When the forces affect health, nursing becomes an integral part of the environment to assist the client in maximizing health.
HEALTH
Health is a general condition involving the total client within the environment. Health is dynamic and relative, wherein the person exists at varying points along the wellness-illness continuum. Health may fluctuate as the client interacts with the varying entities of the environment. Wellness and illness are relative states of health and may be a matter of one's perception.
NURSING
Nursing encompasses a therapeutic process, which assists individuals to promote health, prevent illness, and cope with death. Nursing is both an art and a science. Nursing is a discipline with a unique body of knowledge upon which diagnosis and treatment decisions are made. A critical thinking approach, known as the nursing process, is used to meet health care needs. The therapeutic and significant contribution of nursing is accomplished through performance of the roles of caregiver, manager, and teacher of health care.
NURSING EDUCATION
Professional nursing begins with a Bachelor of Science degree. Nursing education establishes a research base for nursing practice that promotes the ability of the nurse to effect change needed to improve health. It is a process by which knowledge is continually synthesized and directed toward meeting the health care needs of clients. The learner develops and applies intellectual, interpersonal and psychomotor skills to assist clients in a variety of settings. Through professional nursing education, students develop critical thinking, responsibility for nursing interventions, and accountability outcomes. In the study of professional nursing, the student builds on a planned general education from the academic disciplines and acquires theoretical and specific knowledge to meet health care needs. In addition, the curriculum provides technical nursing professionals an opportunity to expand their knowledge and scope of practice. The baccalaureate program establishes a foundation for graduate education in nursing and for continued personal and professional development.
TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS
Learning takes place within the student and is ultimately the responsibility of the student. Knowledge and skills are enhanced when the student derives satisfaction from the learning environment and has the opportunity to explore and express thoughts and feelings. Acquisition of knowledge and skills promotes development of the student and is manifested by a change in behavior.
Faculty members are responsible for ensuring the quality of the nursing program. They define expectations for students and maintain standards of nursing practice. They focus on students' learning needs while selecting or manipulating the environment to enhance experiential learning. Faculty direct learning through the development and implementation of the curriculum, and through planned periodic evaluations based on program criteria. In clinical agencies, both faculty and practicing nurses are role models for students.
Within a climate of mutual respect, students and faculty share in an interdependent enterprise of learning, inquiry and teaching. With guidance, students develop the ability to use critical thinking to integrate eclectic knowledge with current nursing theory and research-based practice. They learn to be personally and professionally responsible and accountable. Progress or lack of progress in meeting performance expectations and improvements necessary for success is identified by teacher evaluation and student self-evaluation.
THE BACCALAUREATE NURSE
The baccalaureate graduate as a member of the discipline uses knowledge from a research base to fulfill the roles of the nurse in contemporary society as a caregiver, manager, and/or teacher. On entry into practice, the graduate makes clinical judgments using critical thinking and other key nursing concepts to address health care needs in diverse settings. The baccalaureate nurse works singularly or in collaboration with other health care professionals in coordinating and promoting the health of culturally diverse clients.
Page last updated: 9/17/2009 10:53
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