Awakening the mind, opening the heart, and healing the self and others.
The School of Nursing offers undergraduate and graduate programs which advance
and create new knowledge as well as promote an understanding of the physiological,
psychosocial, cultural, environmental, and economic factors influencing the health
status of citizens of Arizona and the American Southwest. These programs prepare
students to assume and continue professional and leadership roles as health and
human services providers and scientists.
Central to our mission is to provide the highest quality teaching, clinical
education, and research, encouraging both students and faculty to explore and
develop solutions for the various issues associated with providing quality health
care and human services.
Our service mission is to encourage faculty and students to provide consultative
and professional health related services at local, statewide, national and international
levels. Working collaboratively with policy makers, managers, and health care providers
locally, statewide, and nationally, to address critical challenges facing the current
health care delivery system within Arizona and the American Southwest, is primary to our
service mission.
Therefore our Mission statement reads: Provide an outstanding undergraduate residential
nursing education strengthened by research, graduate and professional programs and a
responsible distance learning network delivering programs throughout Arizona.
The values upon which the vision and mission are founded are:
- We value the intellectual life shaped by excellence in knowledge, learning, creativity,
intellectual curiosity & scholarship;
- We value diversity within a community with respect for the uniqueness of each person,
compassion for each person and accountability to one another; and
- We value growth and service to others informed by mutual empowerment and risk taking.
In a liberal learning environment that provides for a foundation
for broad-based knowledge and higher level critical thinking skills, the School of Nursing
has adopted the following core competencies:
- Accountability
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Clinical Competency
- Management/Leadership
- Teaching/Learning
- Culture
- Caring
All students are evaluated against these competencies in each course
and outcomes are designed to measure the students' success in achieving beginning, middle
and advanced competency in each area.
In keeping with the School, AACN's (1998) and IOM’s vision for academic
institutions and clinical settings, the School of Nursing has developed operating principles
that will allow the School and the AACN and IOM’s (2003) vision to be realized and will
facilitate the nursing student’s mastery of the core competencies.
To be recognized for a learning environment which fosters creativity,
critical thought, interdisciplinary collaboration, diversity that is learning centered, by
articulating the values held by the School of Nursing and determining how they influence
our pedagogy and ways of being and doing. The major initiative within this goal is to:
- Develop interdisciplinary curricula including advances in teaching strategies such as
learning centered approaches, cultural competency, evidence based practice and practice
based learning to achieve pre-determined outcomes.
To be recognized nationally and internationally for graduate
programs and research activities which address the health and human service needs
of diverse populations. Major initiatives within this goal are to:
- Identify who the customers of our graduates programs are, determine what they
want and need and develop programs that best meet those needs within the available
resources of the School and the University. Define how we want to contribute to the
health needs of Arizonans and to the needs of the profession of nursing.
- Explore the feasibility of developing a doctor of nursing practice program.
- Develop a research program for the School.
To be recognized as an outstanding nursing leader in teaching, utilizing
state of the art teaching strategies, and technology and clearly defining the purpose, scope
and outcomes of all programs offered by the School and how they serve the Mission of the
University, the needs of the populations of Arizona and the needs of the profession. Major
initiatives within this goal are to:
- Develop and implement an expansion strategy in response to the University's goal of
increasing admissions and the Arizona legislature's mandate to increase the number for nursing
graduates for the state of Arizona. The areas of focus for expansion will be the RN-BSN program,
the Accelerated program, the reservation based program, the Tucson program, all distance
programs, an international program, new program sites in Yuma, Mohave and Yavapai and a new state
of the art building.
- Create and sustain an environment of recruitment and retention for faculty and staff
recognizing and building upon the strengths of a diverse work-force.
- Develop and implement a strategy for the recruitment and retention of students, particularly
those at risk and of American Indian descent, including tutoring and remediation strategies.
To be recognized regionally as a leader in the use of distance learning
and information technologies and teaching technology, to provide state of the art educational
experiences for students, and to assist students in developing the skills to utilize technology
in the design of health care outcomes and the provision of nursing care to diverse populations.
Major initiatives within this goal are to:
- Facilitate the application of computer and multi-media technology in instructional
design and delivery to provide learning centered distance education.
- Develop an infrastructure that is data driven, based on evidence and one in which strategic
decisions are determined by research and data.
To be recognized for developing and maintaining an environment in which the
strengths of diversity of students, faculty and staff are acknowledged and rewarded, and in which,
students, faculty and staff work collaboratively to achieve success for the School, the University,
the Flagstaff community, Arizona and the profession. Major initiatives within this goal are to:
- Develop a culturally-reinforcing model for the School of Nursing which addresses recruitment,
retention of students, faculty and staff of diverse persons.
- Develop educational opportunities that provide students with the experience of working with
clients of diverse backgrounds.
- Articulate the role of faculty, students and staff in citizenry for the School, the University,
the Flagstaff community, Arizona and the profession.
To be recognized nationally for the provision of educational opportunities for Native
Americans, in place and at a distance, that incorporate strategies to meet the unique needs and learning
styles of Native American students and that are designed to meet the health care needs of the Native American
population served by these graduates. The major initiatives within this goal are to:
- Identify and remove barriers to admission and retention within the resources of the School of Nursing.
- Increase Native American admissions and graduations in the undergraduate and graduate programs.
- Participate in the Pathways into Health initiative and bridge programs for recruiting Native American
students.
To be recognized within the University community as fiscally responsible through such
practices that recruit and retain faculty, students and staff, by growing the programs within the School of
Nursing that meet the needs of the community, state and profession, and to engage in the acquisition of grants
or other funding to underwrite School activities. The major initiatives within this goal ar to:
- Develop a strategy for ensuring adequate number and mix of faculty.
- Develop an active alumni association.
- Develop a strategy of fund-raising.
