University of Saint Francis (School of Nursing)

We have been leaders in nursing education in the Fort Wayne community for over 20 years. We have many different nursing programs including ASN, LPN to ASN, four year BSN, RN to MSN, and BSN to MSN.

MISSION

Rooted in Franciscan Values, the Nursing faculty prepare a diverse community of students for professional nursing, lifelong learning, service, and leadership.

PHILOSOPHY

Persons are holistic, unique, valuable creations of God endowed with inherent worth and dignity. Persons interact with their environment demonstrating growth and change throughout the life cycle. Persons have freedom of choice and are accountable for those choices that are based on meeting essential needs through relationships with God, others, and self within their environment.

Within the ever-changing environment, social systems are created for the purposes of protection, education, and enculturation of its members. Society is an open system in which individuals, families, groups, and communities are interactive and have interdependent relationships.

Nursing is an art and a science that is responsive to the needs of individuals, groups, and communities across the life span. Nursing is a science in the process of developing its own body of knowledge from nursing practice, theory, and research. Nurses promote optimal health through the practice of independent nursing activities, effective communication, and collaboration with a variety of health care professionals. The nursing process is utilized to make decisions regarding client health concerns in a variety of settings. Nurses are accountable to their profession, society, and their clients for quality care. As members of the profession, nurses interpret health care issues and advocate for change to effect policy development.

Health is a dynamic, multidimensional state in which humans are able to set goals, mobilize energy to meet goals, and attain or maintain effective relationships with others. Health is influenced by individuals’ perceptions, culture, values, beliefs, and previous experiences. Individuals have a right to knowledge about their health status and information that will assist them in making decisions regarding their personal health.

Caring, as an essential and unifying concept, is integrated with nursing science and knowledge from other disciplines to form the foundation for the profession of nursing. Nurses utilize an understanding of diversity and therapeutic communication to promote the dignity of all people. Nurses apply knowledge, expertise, time, and personal energy to make clients feel valued and worthy. The University’s Catholic heritage and Christian values foster compassionate nursing care that includes a commitment to ethical and moral conduct.

Undergraduate education prepares nurses for entry into practice. Associate degree prepared nurses practice in the basic roles of providers of care, managers of care, and members of the discipline of nursing utilizing numerous technical skills and nursing concepts. In addition to the basic nursing roles, baccalaureate degree prepared nurses practice in the community, fulfill leadership roles and utilize research. Building on undergraduate education, master’s degree prepared nurses practice in advanced roles. The graduate program promotes development of advanced knowledge and therapeutic nursing interventions, theory evaluation, and research applications.

Learning is a lifelong acquisition of knowledge, skills, and values that enables the learner to think critically, creatively, and to adapt to change. Nursing students demonstrate clinical competence by applying theory in practice and using critical thinking skills to implement therapeutic nursing interventions. Nurse educators facilitate the learning process and mentor students through a shared exploration of ideas. Learners are active, self-directed and goal-oriented, demonstrating autonomy in the educational environment. Development of learners’ maximum potential occurs in an atmosphere of open communication, mutual trust, collaboration, and caring. The educational environment is receptive, flexible, creative, and attentive to individual needs. Faculty enhances and builds on students’ previous learning and life experiences. Students’ input is valued in improving teaching effectiveness. The University of Saint Francis nursing degrees serve as a foundation for continued personal and professional growth and foster a commitment to community and global service within an increasingly technological and diverse world.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING DEGREE (BSN)

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is available as a four-year entry level track (Generic BSN).

The purpose of the baccalaureate program is to prepare nurse generalists to practice professional nursing in a variety of health care settings with clients of all ages. The curriculum is a planned course of study which provides opportunities for personal and professional growth and culminates in a baccalaureate degree in nursing. The curriculum provides an academic background which serves as the basis for graduate education and continued personal and professional growth. In conjunction with the nursing curriculum, the University prepares students for various life tasks within the framework of a Christian community which nurtures the formation of a philosophy of life with meaningful direction and purpose. Graduates are nurse generalists who are prepared to make an impact on the current and future health care of society. Nursing courses are distributed throughout the four-year program, with clinical instruction beginning in the sophomore year.

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School of Nursing Nursing School Location

School of Nursing Courses

INTRODUCTION TO HOLISTIC HEALTH & NURSING
Socializes beginning students into professional nursing. Topics to be covered include the history of nursing, standards of practice, role of the professional nurse and philosophy and conceptual framework of the USF program.

HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Focuses on beginning application of the nursing process with an emphasis on the assessment and analysis phases. Incorporates concepts of the holistic person to develop nursing skills for collecting and interpreting physical, psychosocial, developmental and spiritual health data for well adult and elderly clients. Students begin developing communication skills for establishing and maintaining caring relationships with individual clients.

CLINICAL: HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Focuses on beginning application of the nursing process with an emphasis on the assessment and analysis phases. Incorporates concepts of the holistic person to develop nursing skills for collecting and interpreting physical, psychosocial, developmental and spiritual health data for well adult and elderly clients. Communication skills for establishing and maintaining caring relationships with individual clients are utilized in laboratory and clinical settings. Interview and physical exam skills are practiced in both college laboratory and clinical settings. Clinical sites include area nursing homes.

BASIC NURSING
Applies the nursing process to facilitate health promotion and restoration with adult and elderly clients. Focuses on diagnosis, planning and implementation phases of the nursing process. Basic nursing skills needed for implementation of nursing care are explored. Beginning skills in therapeutic communication are developed to establish a caring presence with individual clients.

CLINICAL: BASIC NURSING
Focus is on nursing diagnosis, planning and implementation phases. Uses basic nursing skills needed for implementation of nursing care. Uses beginning skills in establishing a caring presence and communication with individual clients. Selected clinical and university laboratories provide opportunities to practice new skills. Clinical sites include area hospitals.

PHARMACOLOGY IN HEALTH CARE
This course introduces drug therapy detailing drug classifications, purposes of drug administration, mechanisms of drug action, adverse effects of drugs and clinically significant drug interactions. The nursing process is used to define nursing responsibilities in drug administration. Course emphasizes the nursing implications of drug therapy with application of knowledge to care of clients across the lifespan.

NURSING CARE OF ADULTS
Uses critical thinking to apply the nursing process to provide therapeutic nursing care to adult and elderly clients and their families. Emphasis on clients with common or recurrent health problems. Focus is on planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care.

CLINICAL: NURSING CARE OF ADULTS
Uses critical thinking to apply the nursing process to provide therapeutic nursing care to adult and elderly clients and their families. Emphasis on clients with common or recurrent health problems. Focus is on planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care. Implementation and evaluation of teaching plans with clients and their families is expanded. Effective caring relationships are established with clients and their families. University laboratory experiences are provided concomitantly to increase competency in nursing practice. Clinical experience provides opportunities to deliver nursing care in structured settings. Clinical sites include area hospitals and out-patient facilities.

PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
Applies the nursing process as the framework to provide psychiatric and/or mental health care. Focuses on the development of effective, caring nurse-client interactions. Uses the principles of therapeutic communication integrated with knowledge of psychiatric disorders, psychosocial/stress management needs, and theories relevant to mental health. Development and implementation of teaching plans with individual clients is expanded for promoting mental health of families, adult, and elderly clients. Emphasizes the personal, professional, and legal implications in meeting client psychosocial needs. Expands insights of professional baccalaureate practice beyond core concepts of psychiatric nursing.

CLINICAL: PSYCHIATRIC MENTAL HEALTH NURS
Applies the nursing process as the framework to provide psychiatric and/or mental health care. Focuses on the development of effective, caring nurse-client interactions. Uses the principles of therapeutic communication integrated with knowledge of psychiatric disorders, psychosocial/stress management needs, and theories relevant to mental health. Development and implementation of teaching plans with individual clients is expanded for promoting mental health of families, adult or elderly clients. Emphasizes the personal, professional, and legal implications in meeting client psychosocial needs. The professional role of the nurse is explored primarily in structured settings. Clinical sites include hospitals, long term care facilities, and psychiatric/mental health facilities.

CRITICAL CARE NURSING ELECTIVE
This course is designed to prepare nurses to assume an entry level role of a critical care nurse in the acute care setting. The student will be introduced to cardiac rhythm interpretation, invasive monitoring and hemodynamics, medical interventions/treatments, pharmacologic modalities, and nursing care in the Intensive Care Unit setting. The focus will be on the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, endocrine, neurological, gastrointestinal, and hematological systems.

NURSING CARE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
This course focuses on the health care needs of children. The roles of the pediatric nurse in health promotion, health maintenance, and health restoration are examined. Developmental and family-centered nursing care concepts are integrated with knowledge from the sciences and humanities to identify nursing care needs of children and their families.

CLINICAL: NURSING CARE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
This clinical course focuses on providing nursing care to meet the health care needs of children. The role of provider of care is demonstrated in areas of health promotion, health maintenance, and health restoration. Developmental and family-centered nursing care concepts, integrated with knowledge from the sciences and humanities, are utilized in applying the nursing process to provide comprehensive health care for children and their families. Clinical experiences will occur in a variety of selected inpatient, outpatient, and community settings.

NURSING CARE OF CHILDBEARING FAMILY
Focuses on health promotion and restoration of individuals and families in the childbearing cycle. Therapeutic nursing interventions from primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention are utilized in meeting the needs of the developing family. Nursing care incorporates the family as the client with the capacity to adapt to changes in the environment. The professional role of the nurse is explored in both structured and unstructured obstetric settings. Research findings, as well as nursing, developmental, and family theories are utilized in caring for clients in the childbearing cycle. Teaching plans are expanded to include families and groups. (Theory 3 hours)

CLINICAL: NURSING CHILDBEARING FAMILY
Nursing Care of the Childbearing Family, focuses on health promotion and restoration of individuals and families in the childbearing cycle. Therapeutic nursing interventions from primary, secondary and tertiary levels of prevention are utilized in meeting the health needs of the developing family. Nursing care is expanded to include the family as a client with the capacity to adapt to changes in their environment. The development of teaching skills is emphasized as essential to promoting family well-being. The professional role of the nurse is explored in both structured and unstructured obstetric settings. Research findings, as well as nursing, developmental, and family theories are utilized in caring for clients in the childbearing cycle. Clinical sites include area hospitals, home care agencies, physician offices, clinics, childbirth classes, and clients' homes.

NURSING RESEARCH
Examines the various aspects of nursing research and the importance of nursing practice as a basis for conducting research. Emphasizes integrating nursing research with nursing theory, knowledge and practice. Illustrates the steps of the nursing process for quantitative and qualitative research strategies, and provides numerous examples of actual clinical nursing research. Analyzes nurses as consumers of research.

COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING
Emphasizes a holistic approach to health promotion and disease prevention in the provision of nursing care to individuals, groups and communities through primary, secondary, and tertiary therapeutic nursing interventions. Focuses on critical thinking, effective communication among health team members, identification of high-risk populations, systematic health status assessment, resource utilization, the impact of research, and the professional role of the nurse in the community. (Theory 3 hours)

CLINICAL: COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING
Application of community health and nursing theoretical concepts in the care of individuals, groups, aggregates, and communities through primary, secondary, and tertiary therapeutic nursing interventions. Focuses on critical thinking, effective communication among health team members, identification of high-risk populations, systematic health-status assessment, resource utilization, the impact of research, and the professional role of the nurse in the community. Teaching plans are extended to include aggregates, groups, and communities. Clinical sites include community agencies in Fort Wayne/surrounding areas.

NURSING CARE OF ADULTS II
Emphasis on nursing care of clients with more complex common or recurrent health problems in structured and unstructured settings. Utilizes critical thinking to provide therapeutic nursing interventions to adult and elderly clients and their families. Focuses on advanced assessment, health promotion, maintenance and restoration for the adult as a member of a family and community. Application of knowledge, theory and research findings in the provision of nursing care.

CLINICAL: NURSING CARE OF ADULTS II
Emphasis on clients with more complex common or recurrent health problems in structured and unstructured settings. Utilizes critical thinking to provide therapeutic nursing interventions to adult and elderly clients and their families. Focuses on advanced assessment and nursing skills needed for implementation of therapeutic nursing interventions. Application of the teaching-learning process, discharge planning, and providing theory and research-based nursing care. Uses therapeutic communication to foster effective, caring relationships with clients and their families. University laboratory experiences are provided concomitantly to increase competency in nursing practice. Clinical experiences provide opportunities to deliver nursing care in structured and unstructured settings. Clinical sites include area hospitals and the community.

NURSING LEADERSHIP
Focuses on the development of leadership and management skills and the role of the professional nurse as an individual and a group member. Explores leadership strategies, communication skills, change process, creative and critical thinking, management functions, organizational dynamics, motivation, and personal and professional development. Emphasizes responsibility and accountability in relation to the professional nursing role. Selected nursing and leadership theories are presented, related to the nursing process and considered as a base for professional nursing practice. The applicability of research findings are evaluated to validate and improve nursing practice.

CLINICAL: LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT IN ADVANCED NURSING CARE
As a capstone clinical course, the student focuses on the refinement of critical thinking skills when caring for adult clients with multiple, complex problems within the health care system and the community. Collaborates with the health care team for coordination of client care and personal development. Utilizes effective communication to facilitate caring, therapeutic relationships with clients. Utilizes nursing research and nursing theory to improve nursing practice. Functions in the role of an RN module leader with an expert nurse preceptor for the development of clinical leadership and management skills. Explores the roles of nursing supervisors and change agents. Emphasizes professional role socialization and career development planning. College laboratory experiences are provided concomitantly to increase competency in nursing practice. Clinical sites include area hospitals, long-term care facilities and community agencies.

ADVANCED NURSING CARE
Integrates critical thinking into professional nursing care provided to clients of all ages with multiple, complex problems. Analyzes communication skills to foster therapeutic relationships with clients, families and groups. Emphasis on the applicability of nursing research and nursing theory to validate and provide nursing care to clients.

NURSING SYNTHESIS & PROFESSIONAL ROLE
This course facilitates transition from the student role to the professional baccalaureate nursing role. Core nursing concepts are analyzed and synthesized into a professional nursing practice role. Students develop a portfolio to validate attainment of program outcomes and to serve as a model for continued professional growth. Social, political, economic, legal, ethical and caring concepts, as well as the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, are related to practice. Strategies and techniques for preparation for the registered nurse examination are reinforced.

Other nursing schools in Fort Wayne

University-Purdue University Fort Wayne/Parkview (Department of Nursing ) The nursing faculty are committed to excellence in teaching research, and community service. They combine sound pedagogical teaching methodology with ... Address: 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.

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