Mission, goals and outcomes
Nursing program Mission
Consistent with the mission and the enduring core values of Bluffton University, and the requirements of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021), the Bluffton University RN to BSN Completion Program’s mission is to prepare students for entry-level Baccalaureate Generalist Nursing practice.
Inherent in this mission is the desire to enhance the knowledge and skill of the professional registered nurse as a patient advocate who utilizes a holistic approach to deliver and evaluate high-quality, evidence-based patient-centered care in a multitude of collaborative, interdisciplinary healthcare settings. Graduates of the Bluffton University RN to BSN Completion program are prepared to serve as leaders within the profession of nursing and will demonstrate commitment to the ongoing improvement of patient care delivery emphasizing a focus on quality, safety, systems thinking, use of research to develop evidence-based best care practices, and cultural competency.
Shaped by the historic peace church tradition at Bluffton University, the program’s
mission is to also prepare graduates to demonstrate responsible citizenship and to
provide service and nursing care that is competent, compassionate, and respectful
to all peoples, recognizing the importance of human relationships and the uniqueness
of the individual. The program further holds the expectation that its graduates will:
promote social and economic justice, value the dignity, worth, and inherent human
rights of each person, and demonstrate integrity and competency based on best practices
supported by scientific inquiry.
Program Goals and Learning Outcomes
The baccalaureate program of study is based on sound principles of adult education progressing from simple to complex, known to unknown, and general to specific. The program provides students with the opportunity to achieve program learning outcomes through the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values and competencies necessary to function as professional nurses who meet the healthcare needs of individuals across the lifespan.
The following program learning outcomes emphasize Christian values, critical thinking, clinical competence and professional development and serve as the guiding foundation for the nursing curriculum.
The nursing program goals and learning outcomes serve as the foundation and support for nursing course objectives, which in turn support the expected program learning outcomes.
Program Goals
There are seven program goals that align with the AACN Essentials and Quality and Safety Education of Nurses (QSEN) competencies:
BSN graduates of Bluffton University:
- Incorporate quality, safety and evidence-based care into the practice of nursing.
- Exhibit sound clinical judgement.
- Are effective communicators and collaborators within the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
- Are prepared to assume roles in nursing leadership.
- Promote patient-centered care.
- Use information and technology to communicate and manage knowledge to support decision-making,
- Cultivate a personal sense of professional stewardship and a commitment to life-long
learning.
Learning Outcomes
The graduate of the Bluffton University BSN program will meet the following nursing program learning outcomes:
- Apply core knowledge and problem-solving principles in evidence-based decision making gained through liberal arts and nursing education to provide therapeutic nursing care within a health promotion framework.
- Apply knowledge and skills in leadership, quality improvement and patient safety necessary to provide high quality nursing care to diverse populations with complex health problems.
- Establish a foundation for lifelong learning and apply nursing scholarship using current evidence-based and research information to guide professional nursing practice.
- Demonstrate knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technologies critical in the delivery of quality patient care.
- Demonstrate knowledge regarding healthcare policies including financial and regulatory which directly and indirectly influence the nature and functioning of the healthcare system.
- Integrate effective communication principles to produce positive and productive collaborative and professional relationships to promote the delivery of quality and safe patient care.
- Demonstrate knowledge and skills in health promotion and disease prevention at the individual and population level necessary to improve population health.
- Demonstrate professionalism and the inherent values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity and social justice which are fundamental to the discipline of nursing.
- Apply knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to provide safe, compassionate, culturally competent, patient centered care to individuals, families, groups, communities and populations across the lifespan and across the continuum of healthcare environments.
- Understand and respect the variations of care, the increased complexity and increased use of healthcare resources inherent in caring for patients.