MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Fairmont State Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Program is to offer quality nursing education to nurses in North Central West Virginia and beyond.  The program of instruction prepares nurses to restore, maintain, and promote health and to provide complex care to clients in diverse settings.  Resources and energies are focused on students and the community through education, scholarly activities, and service.  These endeavors strengthen the quality of nursing care povided to health care consumers and enables nurses to meet the challenge of professional nursing practice and a lifetime of learning.

PHILOSOPHY

The School of Nursing is an integral component of Fairmont State committed to the education of nurses at the under-graduate level.  In concurrence with the mission of the college, the nursing faculty accept the responsibility of providing a caring, educational environment in which the learner can gain the depth and breadth of knowledge in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.  The integration of the student's intellectual, personal, ethical, and cultural development, coupled with a general education foundation encourages and promotes the growth of every student.  By fostering professional growth, the faculty encourage the student to become a positive influence on the nursing profession and society. 

The philosophy of the School of Nursing is based upon the beliefs about humanity, environment, health, and nursing.

Humanity

The human being is a biopsychosocial open system which is more than the sum of its parts, and is in constant interaction with the internal and external environment.  This interaction is characterized by change.  Within this changing world, the person must adapt to maintain integrity of self.  The human being is unique, creative, and self-determined.  Humans are influenced by individual cultural values, beliefs, customs, and practices when making health choices.  Individuals have the ability to make health choices from urny possibilities and to act pruposefully and rationally to achieve maximum health potential based on their perceived ability to control their environment.

Health

Health is a dynamic, transitional state viewed on a wellness-illness continuum.  Clients fluctuate along the wellness-illness continuum with the goal of attaining their maximum health potential.  Placement on the continuum is influenced by the individual's values, beliefs, culture, heritage, prior and current life experiences, as well as the environment at large.  These perceptions are mirrored in both individual and societal patterns of health behaviors.  Health behaviors hold unique meaning for human beings as they seek maximum health potential.

Environment

The environment is multi-dimensional, dynamic, and interactive with human beings.  It is composed of the internal and external forces that act on the individual.  The external environment includes family; community; and cultural values, beliefs, and customs.  The internal environment consists of interactions among cognitive, emotional, and physical components.  Internal and external environments interact to influence the individual's interaction with the environment.

Professional Nursing

Nursing is an art as well as a science.  The science of nursing involves the use of theories, scientific principles, and the use of research in nursing practice.  The art of nursing is practiced through the intuitive and therapeutic use of self to enhance the nurse-client process in a variety of health care settings, utilizing a diversity of roles.  These skills are employed to promote positive health care choices and enhance levels of health.

Nursing, as a profession, provides a holistic discipline of practice to others through the establishment of relationships purposely focused toward health potential.  These relationships are characterized by the establishment of trust, meaningful communication, and an attitude of caring.  Shared activities of the nurse-client process are identificaiton of needs, negotiation of goals, decision making, planning, implementation, and evaluation.  The process of critical thinking is a systematic method of inquiry, analysis, and synthesis that gives depth and breadth to the practice of professional nursing.

The nurse prepared, as a generalist, at the baccalaureate level promotes optimal health in individuals, families, communities, and groups by recognizing, influencing, and implementing social, environmental, economic, and potential practices that impact health.  The nurse is also a consumer of research findings in a practice setting and identifies future research questions.

Nursing Education

Nursing education provides the opportunity for the learner to recognize, develop, and create skills, attitudes, and processes necessary to promote health.  The teacher is a guide, resource person, role model, and facilitator of learning.  Teaching is the process of co-creating with the learner a social and intellectual environment that fosters caring, systematic inquiry, ethical decision making, and critical thinking.  This environment promotes a commitment to lifelong learning.  The learner brings to the teaching-learning environment a broad range and depth of life experiences.  The learning environment involves both formal and informal interaction between the teacher and the learner.  Both have an awareness of their responsibility, their accountability, and demonstrate mutual respect.  The faculty recognize that the non-traditional adult learner has needs that require flexible and innovative teaching-learning approaches.

The practice of professional nursing begins at the baccalaureate level.  Together, the teacher and the student seek meaningful learning experiences that empower the learner to assume the role of professional nurse.  The desired outcome of professional nursing practice is to promote the health of clients within the context of an ever changing multi-cultural society.  This outcome is realized through the use of the nursing process and the implementation of the professional nursing roles of care provider, advocate, manager, and leader.  Baccalaureate education at Fairmont State provides the graduate with a solid foundation for lifelong professional development, as well as preparation for formal graduate education.