Program philosophy and belief
The Berry Nursing Program faculty is
in agreement and supports the mission and educational principles of Berry
College. By emphasizing an educational program committed to high academic standards
based on interdenominational Christian principles and values within an academic,
caring community. Students develop
professional competence and acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes to assume
professional nursing roles. Both the Nursing Program and Berry College are
dedicated to meeting the intellectual, moral, and material needs of our
students as the foundation for teaching and learning. Additionally, both Berry
College and the Nursing Program affirm its support of academic integrity, as
reflected in founder Martha Berry’s commitment to educating the head, heart,
and hands. We believe that mutual trust and respect among Berry’s students,
faculty, and staff are essential to the operation of the college and school.
All members of the Berry College community are responsible for working together
to establish and uphold an environment conducive to an honorable academic
endeavor.
The professional practice of
nursing is an art and a science, grounded in knowledge obtained through a
liberal-arts education. An educational foundation, which includes the advanced
analytical skills of critical thinking and clinical reasoning, communication,
problem-solving, and decision-making, is essential for the professional nurse
to meet the health care realities of the twenty-first century. Competent
nursing practice requires possessing the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to provide safe and effective care
to patients, including individuals, families, groups, communities, and
populations. Using critical thinking and clinical reasoning, students collaborate with members of the health care team to deliver safe competent care
in a setting that reflects a revised culture of communication. Patient-centered
care demands awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of diversity. Sensitivity
to these differences allows the nurse to practice with compassion and respect
for the inherent dignity and worth of every individual regardless of age,
gender, race, culture, sexual orientation, or health care beliefs.
Nurses will assume the roles of
provider of care, manager of care, member of a profession, and member/leader of
an interdisciplinary team. Nurses providing direct care are responsible for
coordinating and managing nursing care (assuming the role of manager,
coordinator of care), collaborating with other health team members (assuming
role of interdisciplinary member), and being aware of socio-political-economic
factors affecting health care delivery and the health care system (assuming the
role of member of a profession). The Nursing Program believes students must
acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support basic competencies of
safety as defined by Quality Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) and the roles
of the nurse as defined by American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
The QSEN competencies are Patient-centered Care, Interdisciplinary Teamwork and
Collaboration/Communication, Safety, Quality Improvement, inclusion of Evidence-based
Practices, and Informatics. Fundamental to nursing is the belief that
patient-centered care is characterized by compassion, respect for patient
preferences, values and needs, and recognition of the patient as the source of
control and full partner in health care decision-making to enhance patient
satisfaction and safe health outcomes.
Patient-centered nursing care
demands a cultural change in communication that includes a no-blame approach.
This no-blame approach is essential to providing safe care and identifying,
implementing, and evaluating goals and outcomes. The individual’s right to
autonomous decision-making is an integral part of patient-centered care. Nurses
must be committed to providing patient-centered care that considers and
examines a variety of political, social, economic, cultural, religious/spiritual,
technological, and historical issues influencing health care. Principles and
values of compassion, respect for others, altruism, social justice, freewill,
veracity, and protection from harm complement patient-centered care.
Safe quality care that minimizes
harm and mitigates error is dependent on a cultural of collegiality, open
communication, mutual respect, skills of collaboration, negotiation, and
conflict resolution. Nurses must demonstrate clinical expertise by integrating
the analytical skills of critical thinking, clinical reasoning,
problem-solving, decision making, and evidence-based practice while
incorporating patient preferences to deliver optimal, safe health care and
improve outcomes. A key to improving health care quality, both locally and
global, is for the professional nurse to become increasingly comfortable and
proficient in the use of technology, informatics, economics, and genetic
information.
Curriculum development is a
faculty responsibility. Faculty must design, implement, and evaluate a
curriculum and learning environment that assist the students in acquiring the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to assume the role of the
professional registered nurse. The faculty believes that nursing is best taught
in a caring academic environment that is learner-centered just as health care
is patient-centered. The faculty believes that students are full partners in
teaching and learning and that the faculty’s role is to facilitate learning,
encourage student control, and value their needs. The faculty embraces their
responsibility in the utilization of evidence-based practice by exploring and
utilizing evidence-based teaching learning strategies to enhance learning, meet
established educational outcomes, and maximize quality education. The faculty
agrees that nursing education demands equal attention in face to face classroom
activities, virtual and simulated activities, and clinical learning
opportunities. The faculty has a responsibility to understand and utilize
technology and informatics to enhance teaching and learning, monitor quality,
and manage data.
The faculty recognizes that
considerable effort must be expended for the curriculum to remain current as
they identify the essential content imperative to professional nursing practice.
To ensure students acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes of professional
nursing, faculty must consult and incorporate best practices, nationally
published standards of essential skills, national areas of health care
priority, and the reality of a health care delivery system that is, at best,
constantly changing, and at times chaotic, uncertain, and ambiguous.
The faculty accepts the
responsibility of working with local, national, and global health care
providers when selecting and evaluating clinical learning experiences. Clinical
experience will be in a variety of agencies: public, private, faith-based, and
community settings serving diverse populations and age groups. The faculty
believes that institutions/agencies selected for clinical learning must support
advancing safe, quality patient care. The faculty is responsible for evaluating
the effectiveness of the planned curriculum by collecting, analyzing data, and
evaluating the educational outcomes of the program.
The faculty values
working with core faculty members of Berry College who are dedicated to
assisting students in obtaining a balanced educational program in the sciences,
arts, and humanities. In addition, they share the responsibility of creating
and entering into a learning environment that embraces the aim of Berry as
service to humanity, which is best expressed in Berry’s motto, “Not to be
ministered unto, but to minister.”