About the Nursing Department

The philosophy of the Department of Nursing at Rowan VHC emanates from nursing's founder, Florence Nightingale. The department's belief is that the interaction of person, environment, nurse and health are integral to maintaining and assisting individuals in achieving improved health status. The Nursing Department believes that nursing practice encompasses four domains that are evidence-based: clinical practice; leadership/executive practice; education practice; and research practice. In addition, the Nursing Department believes in excellent leadership that will advance nursing as well as shape policy in health care delivery systems. Finally, the Nursing Department further believes that innovation is integral to the improvement of nursing practice. The nursing faculty is committed to academic rigor, service, lifelong learning and continuous improvement.

• Applying the best possible evidence from nursing and other sciences as a foundation for practice.
• Conduct a comprehensive and systematic assessment as a foundation for decision making.
• Incorporate ethical principles in identifying potential and ethical issues arising from practice.
• Employ knowledge and skills in economics, business principles, and systems in the design, delivery, and evaluation of care.
• Apply theories and evidence-based knowledge in leading the healthcare team to design, coordinate, and evaluate the delivery of care.

Pillar - Access

Deliver programs that meet the American Association of Colleges of Nursing- The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) as of January 1, 2025 and A Report of the
National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner
Education (2022).

Pillar - Affordability

Deliver programs through innovative pathways developed with our community partners.

Pillar - Quality

Perform curricular quality improvement based upon continual curricular assessment, student graduation survey, employer surveys, and community healthcare stakeholder meetings.

Pillar - Economic Engine

Assess quality of teaching and learning through course evaluations and peer teaching evaluations as
well as obtain feedback from our communities of interest to best fit their needs.

Graduate Program Goals

Program Goals of all graduate concentrations (MSN and CAGS) have adopted the American Association of Colleges of Nursing - The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) at the advanced level- Level II. The following are the domains of competencies:

• Domain 1: Knowledge of Nursing Practice
• Domain 2: Person-Centered Care
• Domain 3: Population Health
• Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline
• Domain 5: Quality and Safety
• Domain 6: Interprofessional Partnerships
• Domain 7: Systems Based Practice
• Domain 8: Informatics and Health Care Technologies
• Domain 9: Professionalism
• Domain 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development

Undergraduate Program Goals

The BSN Program Goals have also adopted the American Association of the Colleges of Nursing - The
Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2022) at the entry level-Level I. The following are the Domains of competencies:

• Domain 1: Knowledge of Nursing Practice
• Domain 2: Person-Centered Care
• Domain 3: Population Health
• Domain 4: Scholarship for Nursing Discipline
• Domain 5: Quality and Safety
• Domain 6: Interprofessional Partnerships
• Domain 7: Systems Based Practice
• Domain 8: Informatics and Health Care Technologies
• Domain 9: Professionalism
• Domain 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development

RN to BSN Program Outcomes

Student Outcomes

1. All students maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.50 to graduate
   
   
2. The completion time and rate are as follows:
   1. Students have 5 years to complete the program.
   2. Completion rate for five years remains above 70%
      * 2025 completion rate is 86.3%

4. 6-month post-graduation employment survey for the RN to BSN is 90% employed as Nurses
   
   
5. Program Satisfaction Scores as measured by Benchworks by Elentra will be above the mean score of 5.51
   * 2025 RN to BSN graduates’ satisfaction score is 5.71

MSN

Student Outcomes

1. All students maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above to graduate
   
   
2. Completion time and rate will be as follows:
   1. Students have 5 years to complete the program.
   2. Completion rate for five years remains above 70%.
      *Year 2025 completion rate is 88.6%

3. Certification pass rates for the NP concentrations will be at 80% or above;
   3-year average  (2023,2024, and 2025) certification first time test takers  pass rate for NP as follows:

                  Family Nurse Practitioner              89.56%

                  Psychiatric Mental Health NP          97.4%

                  Adult Gerontology Acute Care NP   79.0%

4. 6-month post-graduation employment survey (2025) in the MSN concentration is 83.3%
5. Program Satisfaction Scores as measured by Benchworks by Elentra will be above the mean of 5.51
   * 2025 graduates’ satisfaction score is 5.93

Faculty Outcomes (% Meeting Outcomes):

1. All faculty will hold membership in at least one professional organization (100%)
   
   
2. All faculty will obtain a minimum score of 3.00 out of 5.00 in annual classroom peer evaluation (100%)
   
   
3. All faculty Participation in at least 2 Professional Development Programs per year(100%)
   * All NP faculty will attend at least one clinical CEU program (15 hours) or attend a National NP Conference in area of concentration (100%)

4. All Faculty will have student evaluations for courses taught with a minimum score of 3.5 on a scale of 1 -5 (100%)
   
   
5. All NP faculty will maintain clinical expertise by practicing one day per week (100%)
   
   
6. Tenure track faculty will have at least one presentation/ publication per year (100%)
   
   
7. All Faculty will play a leadership role in an area of service (Department, School, University or Professional) (100%)

U.S. Department of Education Regulations for Nursing Programs with Title IV HEA Funding