Loyola University Chicago

Educational Mission Statement

The mission of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (SON) is to prepare baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral level nurses, professional dietitians, and health system managers who enhance the health of persons within communities and the larger global environment. The SON is an integral part of “Chicago’s Jesuit Catholic University—[a] diverse community seeking God in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice and faith.”¹ In concert with the Jesuit Catholic educational mission of the university, the SON stresses excellence in teaching, research, service, and practice.

 Philosophy Statement

 Introduction

The SON is an integral part of Loyola University Chicago. Consistent with the university’s educational mission, the SON community strives to embody the Jesuit ideal of living and caring for others. The SON offers curricula leading to baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees in nursing, a master’s degree and internship in dietetics through its food and nutrition programs, and a baccalaureate degree in health systems management. The following statements reflect core beliefs about nursing, nursing education, dietetics, and health systems management. These beliefs are expanded upon in the conceptual definitions.

 Beliefs About Nursing

Nursing is both a scientific discipline and a profession. The purpose of the discipline is to develop and disseminate knowledge about foci of concern to nursing: persons, communities, environment, and health. Professional nursing is the practice of a scientific discipline that directly benefits society through decreasing disparities, caring for the sick, promoting health, engaging in scientific inquiry, and, ultimately, enhancing the quality of life. The discipline of nursing is grounded in values and ethics. It also reflects advances in disciplinary and technological knowledge in an ever-expanding, multicultural society. Faculty believe that persons are created by God and have the right to live and die with dignity, to be accepted for their individual inherent worth, to be responsible for decisions about their lives, and to benefit justly from the world’s wealth of resources.

 Beliefs About Nursing Education

Professional nursing education is conceptually based and evolves from a spirit of inquiry and search for truth. The SON, as an urban institution, benefits from Chicago’s exceptional cultural, economic, and human resources, and faculty believe that the use of these resources strengthens the educational experience of our students. The SON has a long-standing commitment to the health of diverse populations in our urban setting and works to solve existing health problems. This includes decreasing health disparity and promoting optimal health. Faculty believe that experiences in community-focused practice and research enhance achievement of program goals. Faculty believe they are educating students to be caregivers, managers, leaders, advocates, educators, and scholars. While faculty are committed to appreciating the uniqueness of each student and accommodating their learning needs, students are expected to assume responsibility for their learning. The individual life experiences that each student brings to the program will influence the way that each develops their own practice of nursing. The undergraduate curricula emphasize levels of prevention, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, cultural competence, ethics, scholarly inquiry, spirituality, and therapeutic interventions.

Beliefs About Dietetics

The practice of dietetics promotes optimal health and quality of life through the application of the science of nutrition. The practice of dietetics is applied to persons, communities, and organizational systems in a variety of environments, stages of life, and conditions of health. Competent dietetic practice, based upon application of the science of nutrition in concert with principles from the biological and psychosocial sciences, requires leadership, management, lifelong learning, and scientific inquiry through effective communication and collaboration.

Beliefs About Dietetics Education

To respond to the needs of society, dietetic students must be prepared for ongoing professional development. To this end, the faculty provide an educational environment that stimulates critical thinking, promotes ethical values, and develops adaptability to dynamic practice environments.

Beliefs About Health Systems Management

The complexity of the United States health care industry results in the need for leadership that is focused on the needs of all citizens. This means that the people that are responsible for the creation, provision, and evaluation of health care understand that high quality health care must be made accessible, in an increasingly greater multi-cultural society, to all people regardless of their ability to pay. Competent leaders in health care employ management and leadership theories to manage the financial, technological, and human resources required to assure high quality care to all. This discipline is grounded in values, spirituality, and ethics, and those employed in this discipline demonstrate the ability to adapt to an ever-changing health care environment.

Beliefs About Health Systems Management Education

It is the belief of the faculty of the SON that an education in Health Systems Management must be rooted in ethics, spirituality, and values, with a solid commitment to the health care needs of all people including underserved populations. The curriculum is conceptually based on the framework of cost, quality, and access. The broad-based curriculum incorporates scholarly inquiry, business fundamentals, exploration of the policies and practices that contribute to, and can ameliorate, health care disparities, and service learning. The Chicago area provides students with a wide range of service and internship opportunities that will support the goals of developing the future leaders of health care whose leadership will be ethically and values-based in keeping with the Jesuit tradition.

Program Goals

Faculty and administrators are engaged in a collaborative effort to recruit, retain, educate, and graduate healthcare professionals who contribute to the well-being of society. The SON offers undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs for the education of professional nurses, a graduate and intern program for professional dietitians, and an undergraduate program in health systems management. The goal of the undergraduate nursing program is to prepare entry-level nurses who competently and professionally deliver nursing care using a community-focus. The goal of the master’s program is to prepare professional nurses for leadership roles as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, or administrators in the healthcare delivery system. The goal of the doctoral program in nursing is to prepare scholars who improve human health through the development and expansion of knowledge. The goal of the Loyola Dietetic Internship is to provide quality experiential preparation enabling graduates to enter dietetic practice as competent Registered Dietitians. The goal of the master’s program in dietetics is to prepare Registered Dietitians to design and implement systems that produce desired health outcomes. The goal for the Health Systems Management program is to prepare graduates to perform effectively in entry level positions within the health care industry. Goals for faculty include excellence in teaching while assisting students to achieve expected outcomes. Faculty contribute to collective excellence according to their particular education, experience, abilities, and goals.

Nursing Curricular Outcomes

Outcomes for the BSN Program

At the completion of the program the graduate has the knowledge and skills to:

1. Apply a broad liberal arts education within the context of Jesuit traditions.
2. Articulate a philosophy of nursing which guides practice.
3. Perform competently, effectively, and ethically as an entry-level baccalaureate nurse in order to promote the health and quality of life of persons and communities.
4. Participate in activities that advance the profession of nursing.
5. Use awareness of health policy issues to advocate for change.
6. Integrate scholarly inquiry and research into evidence-based practice.
7. Demonstrate life-long habits of critical thinking, leadership, and service.
8. Pursue graduate studies in nursing and health care.

Outcomes for the MSN Program

At the completion of the program, the graduate has the knowledge and skills to:

1. Achieve, within the Jesuit Catholic tradition, understanding of ethical and moral issues in advanced nursing practice.
2. Analyze selected concepts, models, and theories from nursing science and related disciplines for application in advanced practice.
3. Integrate theoretical and practice knowledge bases into advanced nursing practice.
4. Interpret and evaluate research for application in advanced nursing practice.
5. Engage in leadership activities related to nursing and health care.
6. Pursue doctoral studies in nursing and health care.

Outcomes for the Doctoral Program

At the completion of the program the graduate has the knowledge and skills to:

1. Initiate a beginning program of research that expands nursing and healthcare knowledge.
2. Incorporate social, cultural, political, economic, and ethical considerations into nursing scholarship and practice.
3. Participate in the international community of scholars to further the Jesuit mission of generation and dissemination of knowledge in the service of humanity.
4. Assume leadership roles in nursing research, education, practice, policy development, and/or administration in order to improve the health of society

Outcomes for the Health System Management Program

At the completion of the program the graduate has the knowledge and skills to:

1. Explain the structure of the U.S. health care delivery system.
2. Articulate the influence of the Cost, Access, and Quality triad on the health care policies of countries around the globe.
3. Evaluate the impact of social justice and ethical issues residing within the health care industry such as bioethics, the barriers to access to care, and the uninsured.
4. Analyze the impact of economic, financial, social justice, legal, regulatory, structural, and policy issues on the health care systems of the U.S. and other countries.
5. Incorporate ethics, values, and spirituality in defining their role as health care managers.
6. Integrate health care systems research and evidence into management decision making.
7. Compare and contrast the mission and goals of the various health care industry segments and stakeholders.

Outcomes for the Dietetic Internship

At the completion of the program the graduate has the knowledge and skills to:

1. Master the core competencies for entry-level dietitian as defined by the Commission on Accreditation Dietetic Education (CADE) of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).
2. Master the community-emphasis competencies as defined by CADE/ADA.
3. Support the mission of Loyola University Chicago through service to humanity.
4. Contribute to the nutritional well-being of diverse groups of residents in urban environments such as Chicago.

Conceptual Framework of the School of Nursing

This conceptual framework represents the faculty’s belief that nursing practice arises out of the mutual interaction of person(s), environment, nursing, and health. Persons are bio-psycho-social-spiritual beings who are created by God and have the right to live and die with dignity and to be accepted for their individual inherent worth. Each person develops ideals and beliefs through socialization within a community. Persons learn and display sets of behaviors associated with one’s role(s) within the community. Environment represents the physical and social conditions that create the context within and through which persons and communities interact. Health is a dynamic state of integrated physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being within persons and/or communities. Nursing is both a scientific discipline and a practice profession. Nursing science involves engaging in inquiry to develop, expand and refine the scientific knowledge base for professional nursing practice. Nursing practice involves the protection, promotion, optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations (ANA, 2004).

The conceptual framework for the school of nursing serves as the common thread for curricular development and implementation among all programs—undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral—within the school of nursing. This conceptual framework provides a structure for the student’s educational journey. This foundation prepares students for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral education and for life-long learning. Specific curricular themes are developed for each program.

The conceptual framework and curricular themes are the template for course development and evaluation. This ensures the integration of concepts and themes throughout the nursing program. A student’s knowledge will increase in breadth and depth as the student moves through the program.

The value context within which the educational process of the SON takes place is the Jesuit Educational Mission of respecting the dignity of each individual and viewing learning as a way of seeking and finding God.¹

Undergraduate Curricular Themes

The curricula of the SON emphasize increasing competence in levels of prevention, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, cultural competence, ethics, scholarly inquiry, spirituality, and therapeutic nursing interventions. The curricular themes deepen and broaden as students progress throughout the curriculum. The curricular themes are evident in the program outcomes and reflect The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education (AACN, 1998).

The concept of Levels of Prevention is a philosophical consideration that embraces a commitment to wellness, conscious desire to prevent illness and disease, and the belief that health restoration is essential. Levels of prevention include the concepts of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

Collaboration is the process of making decisions with other people regarding health care. Knowledge of health-care systems includes an understanding of the organization and environment in which nursing and health care is provided. “Health-care policy shapes health-care systems and helps determine accessibility, accountability, and affordability.”²

Communication is the process by which information, ideas, and feelings are interchanged. It involves symbols, such as written words, gestures, images, and spoken language. It arises from inherent capacities, sociocultural background, environment, attitudes, past experiences, knowledge of subject matter, and ability to relate to others. It is also affected by technological advances in health care and how they impact communication systems.

Critical Thinking is a self-reflective, cognitive process that seeks to uncover truth within a specific context. Critical thinking is evidenced when skills such as analysis, inference, synthesis, and evaluation are used. Critical thinking results in deliberate and focused data collection, accurate analysis of data, and reflective judgment based on the use of a nursing standardized vocabulary. It is foundational to professional practice and scholarly activities.

Cultural Competence is the ability to understand and appreciate the learned beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by members of the same group and transmitted by its members to others.³

Ethics includes values, principles, and codes that govern decisions in nursing practice, conduct, and relationships. Skill and knowledge in resolving conflicts related to role obligations and personal beliefs are necessary. Values essential to the practice of professional nursing include caring, altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, empowerment, learning, excellence, spirituality, social justice, and the common good.^1,2

Scholarly Inquiry is an ongoing endeavor of faculty and students in which critical thinking skills are developed and used, and in which knowledge is created and transmitted. From inquiry flows scholarship which includes: teaching and learning, independently and with others; using a framework to guide nursing practice; participating in research as consumers and members of professional organizations; using research findings in practice; designing and conducting nursing-related theoretical, applied, and philosophical studies; and, disseminating research findings.

Spirituality is the ability to experience and integrate meaning and purpose in life through a person’s connectedness with self, others, art, music, literature, nature, or a power greater than oneself.⁴

Therapeutic Nursing Interventions are actions involving critical-thinking designed to assist movement toward mutually agreed upon health outcomes. Implementation of therapeutic nursing interventions requires the use of nursing standardized vocabulary, cognitive processes, and psychosocial and psychomotor skills.

Master's Curricular Themes

The Graduate Programs emphasize the interrelatedness of the four major concepts of person, environment, and health, with nursing science through advanced practice and inquiry. The learning process takes place within the context of the Jesuit Catholic Traditions of Loyola University Chicago.

Human beings, families, and communities continuously interact with the environment (the physical and social components that surround and influence persons). Environment includes the physical elements of nature and matter, such as air pollution and the chemical preservatives found in food products, and the social elements such as culture, communication patterns, and systems.

A second concept in the Conceptual Framework of the Graduate Programs in Nursing is person, and the important sub-concepts related to this concept are values and role. As a unique bio-psycho-social, spiritual being, each person possesses common basic needs. These needs are met or fulfilled in varying degrees within a diverse environmental system. Each person exists as a member of a family and as a member of multiple groups in society. Through a socialization process that occurs within these groups, individuals develop a set of moral standards that stem from a value system. These values, over time, serve in part as guides to the person’s behaviors in the fulfillment of diverse roles. Within the context of the curriculum, the concept of person and the allied sub-concepts of values and role are used to refer to human beings, whether the reference is to the graduate student(s), the educator(s), the recipient(s) of health care, or other health care provider(s).

A third concept used in this curriculum model is health. At any given point in time, individuals, families, or communities, while interacting with the environment, arrive at a condition or state of being. This condition of health or maximum capability is usually attained through adaptation by adjusting in a proactive, reactive, and interactive manner to stimuli in the environment.

A fourth concept in the Conceptual Framework is nursing science, defined as the body of knowledge focused on person, family, and community phenomena and their interaction with the environment as these relate to health. Stated in another way, “nursing is the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems”⁵. Three sub-concepts essential to the science of nursing are advanced practice, inquiry, and ethics. Advanced practice refers to the application of specific knowledge and skills in the care of individuals, families, and communities with actual or potential health problems in a particular area of specialization such as cardiovascular, oncology, or emergency nursing. Inquiry is the systematic, objective investigation of phenomena related to all aspects of health care. It continues to build on the foundation, begun at the baccalaureate level, upon which disciplinary knowledge is developed and advanced nursing practice is rendered. Ethics is the systematic study and application of principles and values that guide behaviors within the context of professional nursing practice.

While each concept (person, environment, health, and nursing science) with pertinent sub-concepts may be considered separately, each one overlaps and is constantly influencing and being influenced by the other elements. Areas of interaction may be observed between person and environment, between person and health, and between environment and health. The concept of nursing science is the focal concept, being both interrelated and yet independent of all the aforesaid concepts.

Systems theory is used to explain the interactions of the concepts and sub-concepts and to organize the curricula. Hierarchical order, a characteristic of systems theory, best describes the tier organization of the curriculum, i.e., core courses, advanced practice courses, functional role courses of the master’s program, and the research and measurement segment of the doctoral program. Within the open system, there is constant feedback through the process of ongoing evaluation. This feedback results in increased complexity, diversity, and heterogeneity of study, practice, research, and philosophical inquiry.

The meaning and significance of the interrelationship of the concepts and sub-concepts to the practice and discipline of nursing are studied by graduate students and faculty together. The graduate of the master’s program is prepared for advanced nursing practice. This includes: competence in a specialized area of practice, including the ability to: plan appropriate care for individuals as members of families or communities; analyze concepts; seek, apply, and communicate research findings; and demonstrate leadership skills within the health care environment. These achievements constitute the difference between the graduate of the master’s program and the baccalaureate program in nursing. The doctoral program prepares the graduate for the additional roles of scholar and researcher.

Educational Process: Master's Curriculum

The Master’s Curriculum is derived from the conceptual framework that places advanced nursing practice at the center of the curricular model. A broad base of scientific knowledge is required of all Master’s students. This “core” set of knowledge consists of a sound theoretical understanding of nursing theories and concepts, a strong ethical base, understanding of epidemiologic principles, and understanding of research as it relates to advanced practice nursing. The MSN program is congruent with the AACN 1996, The Essentials of Master’s Education⁶, National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education’s Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs^7, and the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists (NACSN) Recommendations for Graduate Preparation of Clinical Nurse Specialists^8.

References

1. Loyola University Chicago, (2006). Mission Statement. [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 2-27-07 from http://www.luc.edu/loyolapromise/mission.shtml.
2. AACN, 1998.  The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice. Washington, DC: Author, p. 15.
3. Giger, J. and Davidhizar, R. (1995) Transcultural nursing: Assessment and intervention. St. Louis: Mosby Year-book.
4. Burkhart, L. & Solari-Twadell, P.A. 2001. Differentiating spirituality and religiousness through a review of the nursing literature. Nursing Diagnosis: The International Journal of Nursing Language and Classification, 12(2), 45-54.
5. American Nurses Association, 1991. Social Policy Statement, ANA, p.21.
6. AACN, 1996. The Essentials of Master’s Education. Washington DC. Author.
7. National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education. (2002). Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs. (2^nd Ed). Washington DC. Author.
8. National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. (2004). NACNS Statement on Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice and Education. (2^nd Ed). Author.

Accepted: Academic Council May 2002
Editorial Changes - October 2002, December 2002, March 2007, October 2007