Department Vision, Mission and Philosophy

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.

1. The Department of Nursing values people and the diversity that they bring to classroom experiences as well as the overall educational experience, treating all with compassion, dignity, and respect for individual beliefs.
2. The Department of Nursing values ethical behavior, professionalism, integrity, and accountability in all aspects of our academic, clinical, and administrative work.
3. The Department of Nursing values excellence, encouraging achievement in all endeavors of the university family, fostering collegiality, and maintaining high academic standards, through productive, scholarly faculty and a talented student body.
4. The Department of Nursing values knowledge, its creation, dissemination, synthesis and application.
5. The Department of Nursing values service, demonstrated through our commitment to effectiveness, accessibility, and affordability in our education and the resources that we provide to our students.
6. The Department of Nursing values innovation and flexibility to meet the ongoing societal needs of our students and the challenges of the future of healthcare.

1. Produce graduates with a well-rounded education that integrates most current practices in nursing from a health care, ethical, and policy perspectives.
2. Promote nursing leadership with the ability to articulate and implement best practice models of health, illness, and healing to guide professional practice.
3. Develop graduates who are aware that nursing is an evolving professional field shaped by new technologies.
4. Develop graduates who will be able to conduct theory-guided, evidence-based practice, to expand holistic, relationship centered caring that facilitates health and healing.
5. Develop graduates who cultivate knowledge regarding cultural and generational diversity in healthcare.
6. Develop and foster community relationships.

The goals of the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program are to produce graduates that meet the 2011 Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing established by the AACN:

• Integrate findings from the sciences and the humanities, biopsychosocial fields, genetics, public health, quality improvement, health economics, translational science, and organizational sciences for the continual improvement of nursing care at the unit, clinic, home, or program level.
• Identify organizational and system leadership skills as being critical for the   promotion of high quality and patient safe care. Additionally, they demonstrate ethical and critical decision making in team work environments.
• Monitor, analyze, and prioritize outcomes that need to be improved by using quality improvement and high reliability organizational principles. Using information from numerous sources, these nurses navigate the patient through the healthcare system and assume accountability for quality outcomes.
• Demonstrate the ability to utilize evidence-based practice initiatives, apply research outcomes within practice settings, resolve practice problems, work as a change agent, and disseminate results.
• Use current technologies to deliver and coordinate care across multiple settings, analyze point of care outcomes, and communicate with individuals and groups.
• Promote health, help shape the health delivery system, and advance values lik social justice through policy processes and advocacy.
• Demonstrate knowledge of broad determinants of health to succeed as a patient advocate, cultural and systems broker, and to lead and coordinate interprofessional teams across care environments in order to reduce barriers, facilitate access to care, and improve health outcomes. Provide and coordinate comprehensive care for patients–individuals, families, groups, and communities– in multiple and varied settings.
• Demonstrate the ability to design and ensure the delivery of clinical prevention interventions and population-based care that promotes health, reduces the risk of chronic illness, and prevents disease.
• Implement evidence-based, safe, quality care to individuals, populations, or systems that influences healthcare outcomes. Practices interventions that impact individuals, populations, or systems both directly or indirectly.

The goals of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN) program are to produce graduates that meet the 2008 Essentials of Baccalaureate Education in Nursing established by the AACN:

• Integrate liberal education for baccalaureate generalist nursing practice.
• Develop basic organizational and systems leadership for quality care and patient safety.
• Demonstrate scholarship for evidence-based practice.
• Apply information management and application of patient care technology.
• Evaluate healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments.
• Demonstrate interprofessional communication and collaboration for improving patient health outcomes.
• Integrate clinical prevention and population health.
• Demonstrate professionalism and professional values.
• Further baccalaureate generalist nursing practice.

• RN-BSN Student Handbook 2023-24
• MSN Student Handbook 2023-24

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