Goals
- Graduates will have the skills, knowledge and ability to perform at the novice level.
- Graduates will pass the NCLEX as first time test takers.
Mission
The mission of the Swain Department of Nursing is to educate and develop our students to become principled leaders in the health care environment and profession of nursing by incorporating the core values of The Citadel of honor, duty, and respect into their learning experience. The curriculum is focused on holistic and person-centered care across the lifespan and within various healthcare environments. The Citadel nurse understands the impact of the social determinants of health and integrates this knowledge to meet the unique care needs of the communities they serve.
The application of clinical judgment enables the student to apply abstract concepts to concrete situations using methodological skills and current evidence. The Citadel nurse understands and applied evidence-based practice in accordance with accepted standards of professional practice. He/she provides safe and quality care as a contributing member of the interprofessional team.
The art of nursing is expressed through a curriculum focused on caring and healing in an individual and family-centered approach. The Citadel nurse acknowledges the mind-spirit-body triad and works to promote healthy lifestyles and wellness. The Citadel nurse has a moral contract with the community to improve health through the application of The Citadel and The American Nurses Association Codes of Ethics.
The science of nursing instills critical and creative thinking that allows the student to apply abstract concepts to concrete situations using methodological skills and current evidence. The Citadel nurse uses academic knowledge and applies it to the care of others in a disciplined approach through accepted standards of professional practice. H/she provides safe and quality care as a contributing member of the interprofessional team by managing knowledge and information that meets the unique needs of his/her patients and their families.
Vision
To educate nurses who are prepared to be leaders in the healthcare environment.
Core Values
- Honor: The commitment to honor is a life-long obligation to moral and ethical behavior. Citadel nurses uphold the long standing tradition of being recognized as the most trusted profession through advocacy for individuals and families as well as the health of communities.
- Duty: Duty is a call to serve others before self. Citadel nurses will recognize the responsibility of being a leader within the interprofessional healthcare team and promoting holistic health, healing and caring practices to individuals, families and communities.
- Respect: Respect means to treat other people with dignity and worth. Citadel nurses will provide quality and safe care to all people without regard to rank, position, age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, or physical attributes. Citadel nurses will assume a leadership role in promoting a positive image of the profession.
Program Learning Outcomes
The purpose of The Citadel nursing program is to prepare nurses at the baccalaureate level to assume leadership roles within the healthcare team, providing for quality and safe practice in a complex health care environment. Specifically, students will:
- Appy foundations of nursing practice by incorporating theory and research-based knowledge using clinical judgements and critical thinking.
- Promote evidence-based nursing care to gain a holistic understanding of the person, family, community, and population to guide nursing practice.
- Apply a systems-based approach to population health and person-centered care, and its interface with health care in addressing disparities and needs.
- Apply scholarship for clinical decision making based on disease process, diagnostics, and therapeutic modalities to improve or transform patient outcomes.
- Develop a professional identity that supports the professionalism of nursing, its characteristics, and values.
- Practice in an environment of collective learning, respect, and shared values through interprofessional and collaborative engagements.
- Develop the capacity for principled leadership that incorporates an understanding of ethical, legal, and regulatory standards that guides nursing practice.
Guiding Framework
The guiding framework for the curriculum of the Swain Department is Benner’s model of Novice to Expert. Awareness and acknowledgement is given to the progression and development of nursing skills, and to the understanding of patient care that occurs over time and is based upon one’s educational foundation and personal experience. The model acknowledges five levels of nursing experience: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. The levels of novice to expert are adapted to correlate with the expectations of a baccalaureate prepared student nurse.
- Knowing: striving to understand an event as it has meaning in the life of the other; avoiding assumptions; centering on the one cared for; assessing thoroughly; seeking cues; engaging the self.
- Being With: being emotionally present to the other; being there; conveying ability; sharing feelings; not burdening.
- Doing For: doing for the other as he or she would do for self if it were possible; comforting; anticipating; performing skillfully; protecting; preserving dignity.
- Enabling: facilitate the others passage through life transitions and unfamiliar events; informing/explaining; supporting/allowing; focusing; generating alternatives; validating/giving feedback.
- Maintaining Belief: Sustaining faith in the other’s capacity to get through an event or transition and face a future with meaning; believing in/holding in esteem; maintaining a hope-filled attitude; offering realistic optimism; going the distance.
The curriculum follows guidelines developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in The Essentials for Baccalaureate Nursing Education (2021) and incorporates competencies from the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses.