College of Nursing

Overview

 

Introduction

This booklet contains material specific to the College of Nursing, including policies regarding progression and retention. It is provided to supplement the information contained in the University Bulletin and the UMSL Student Guide and Academic Planner.

You are encouraged to review these manuals as well as the Student Services Handbook http://www.umsl.edu/divisions/nursing/current-students/handbooks/index.html to obtain important information which is designed to assist you in planning and implementing your program of study. Please feel free to contact the Office of Student Services at (314) 516-6066 for further clarification.

History

The University

UMSL is one of four campuses that constitute the University of Missouri, ninth largest university in the United States. Founded in 1839, the University of Missouri became a land-grant institution in 1862. The St. Louis campus was established in 1963, becoming the largest university serving St. Louis and third largest in the state.

The College

Nursing was initiated at UMSL in 1981. The original program was designed to provide an innovative upper division program leading to the baccalaureate degree, specifically designed for registered nurses who had graduated from hospital diploma or community college associate degree nursing programs.

In 1987, the first students were admitted to the Cooperative Master's in Nursing Program. This program was a cooperative endeavor between the St. Louis and Kansas City Schools of Nursing within the University of Missouri System. There are over 250 students presently enrolled. The program offers advanced study in Nursing Care of the Adult, Nursing of Children, and Women's Health. The program also prepares nurses to function as administrators, educators, or clinical specialists and practitioners in family, pediatrics, neonatal and women's health.

A Cooperative PhD in Nursing was added in 1994 with inter-campus activities offered between the St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City Schools of Nursing. The emphasis areas include Health Promotion and Protection, Health Restoration and Support, and Health Care Systems.

The School of Nursing was formally designated a College in 1994 with the addition of a well-established basic undergraduate nursing program to the University. The basic undergraduate program leads to the baccalaureate degree in nursing.

Mission

The mission of the College of Nursing at the UMSL is to shape the future of nursing practice through education, research and service. Through innovative baccalaureate, masters, doctoral and professional programs, we develop nurses who are dedicated to excellence and leadership. We leverage strategic partnerships to generate, translate, disseminate and apply knowledge that will improve health, with an emphasis on our metropolitan region

Core Values

Diversity
We recognize, celebrate and incorporate the value of the diversity in thought and culture in our environment. 

Intellectual Discourse & Rigor
We encourage excellence and continuous improvement along with free and open discussion, dialogue and debate of ideas.

Caring
We offer ourselves through empathy, nurturing and mentoring.

Professionalism
We hold ourselves accountable to the standards of professional performance, practice and ethical behavior.  

Mutual Respect and Support
We respect the importance of individual strengths and contributions, and support each other to ensure the success of our mission. We have an abundance mentality that drives us to work together to create the future vision we desire.

Transparency
We maintain open and honest organizational and interpersonal communication.

Philosophy

Curriculum Committee Approved Mar. 09

The philosophy of the nursing faculty at the College of Nursing is congruent with the missions of the College of Nursing and the University of MissouriSt. Louis. Faculty and staff are dedicated to providing nursing education that prepares graduates as professionals to practice in generalist nursing roles, advanced nursing roles, and as nurse scientists in all health care systems. All academic programs reflect the facultys beliefs about nursing, clients, health, environment, and nursing education.

The faculty believes that nursing is a profession and an academic discipline possessing a scientific body of knowledge that requires critical thinking, problem solving, and informatics. The primary function of nursing is to educate and assist the client to promote, protect, maintain, restore, and support health, or, to provide for a peaceful death. As a profession, nursing encompasses moral, ethical, legal, and scientific dimensions. Nurses are accountable to society for their practice and responsible for functioning within economic, legal, and moral/ethical parameters. Nursing practice is both theory and evidence based, using theories from nursing and other related disciplines. Nurses synthesize and apply knowledge from the arts, sciences, and humanities in nursing practice utilizing interpersonal communication to meet the complex and multidimensional needs of the client in a variety of health care settings throughout the metropolitan area and beyond. Through leadership and strategic partnerships, this knowledge is further integrated into nursing as research is conducted, disseminated, and used to guide nursing practice, improve healthcare outcomes, and to advance nursing science.

Each human being is unique and complex, with physiological, psychological, spiritual, and sociocultural developmental characteristics. Individuals respond to their environment differently based on these characteristics, as well as their personal attitudes, values, beliefs, and perceptions. Nurses provide care to the client (individuals, families, communities, and populations) during all of lifes phases. Therefore, nursing practice requires rigorous education with focus on provision of evidence-based, holistic and culturally competent care.

Health is a multidimensional state that requires adjustment to environmental stressors and balance of the physiological, psychological, spiritual, and sociocultural developmental characteristics. It consists of both subjective and objective components and may be viewed differently by health care providers and clients. Health care involves those activities designed to promote, protect, maintain, restore, and support an optimal state of health though the life span.

Teaching and learning are both dynamic and interactive processes of education. Learning is the active, continuous process of acquiring knowledge and skill that brings about actual or potential changes of behavior. It includes both formal and informal experiences. Learning builds on previous experiences. It is facilitated when the goals and purposes of the new knowledge are clear and relevant to the learner. The goals of learning are defined mutually by the learner and the teacher.

Teaching involves using a curriculum that fosters effective communication and knowledge acquisition. In the rapidly changing health care system, new, innovative, and technologically competent curriculum models are designed to meet the needs of a global society, including the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, the state of Missouri, and beyond. Effective teachers guide, direct, mentor, and evaluate learning while encouraging critical thinking, self-direction, creativity, and independence.

Nursing education guides the learner to attain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to practice professional nursing. It is designed to meet the needs of students who have unique and diverse backgrounds. Nursing education best occurs in a non-threatening, supportive environment that fosters student growth and professional development. Preparation for nursing practice includes providing health care experiences to clients from diverse cultural backgrounds, across the life span, and in a variety of settings.

Professional nursing education is a life long endeavor, consisting of formal and continuing educational strategies and should be available to individuals with diverse cultural, experiential, and academic backgrounds. Baccalaureate education prepares the nurse generalist for professional nursing practice. Masters education focuses on the integration of advanced knowledge and skills within a particular practice context to improve the health care of individuals and populations through the provision of nursing care that is scientifically, ethically, and holistically grounded. In addition to a mastery of their specialty content, masters level nurses are critical thinkers who have advanced knowledge and skills in the areas of leadership, informatics, health care policy, and research utilization for evidence based practice.

Doctoral level nurse scientists use theory and implement research methods to improve nursing practice and science. Doctoral level nurse clinicians improve health outcomes through the translation of research into advanced nursing care of patients, families, communities, and populations.

Approved 2009 by Faculty Association

College Governance

The by-laws of the Faculty Association provide the mechanism for faculty governance of the college. Standing Committees have various functions, but all work to assure that appropriate policies are in place to maintain strong academic programs.

College Committees

  1. Executive Committee: facilitates faculty development and addresses faculty issues and concerns.
  2. Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee: addresses matters related to faculty promotion and tenure.
  3. Curriculum Committee: addresses matters related to all aspects of curriculum planning and development.
  4. Evaluations and Outcomes Committee: addresses issues related to total program evaluation.
  5. Student Affairs Committee: addresses student issues related to admission, progression, appeals, events and activities, and awards and scholarships.
  6. Deans Advisory Council: Facilitates communication between students in the multiple nursing programs. Faculty recommends students to participate.

Student Participation

Students who are interested in serving on the Curriculum Committee or the Student Affairs Committee should contact the Office of Student Services. Committees meet monthly. Students may address concerns to specific committees by contacting the chair of the committee.