PHILOSOPHY
The philosophy of the College of Nursing reflects the faculty’s beliefs about the nature of nursing and nursing education, people and their environment, and health and illness. As autonomous professionals who know and value the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration, nurses work with other health care professionals to provide comprehensive care to individuals, families, and communities. Nursing is assessing, diagnosing, and treating human responses to actual or potential health problems, and the planning, implementing, and evaluating of nursing care. The practice of nursing is based on nursing science, which includes knowledge of principles that govern life processes, the patterning of human behavior, the nature of human beings, and human interaction. The health care needs of individuals, families and communities are defined within the context of personal, cultural and ethnic values, and social systems that influence function and resources. Therefore, a sound liberal and professional education is required to understand the complexity of responses. The need to improve human health and patient care is the stimulus for research into nursing practice.
Professional nurses are committed to the overall goal of health promotion, assisting persons of all ages to attain, maintain, and regain their health, and enhancing the quality of their lives. Dedicated to the care and nurturing of the sick and well in order to help them achieve maximum human functioning, nurses help people achieve and maintain a healthy state, meet their basic needs, adapt to changes in their health status, recover from illness, and die with dignity. Humanistic, ethical, and scientific principles drawn from nursing science and other fields form the theoretical base of nursing care for individuals, families, and groups. All people have the right to access health care. Individuals, families, and communities retain responsibility for their own health and the right to make decisions regarding health care.
People are complex organisms and human behavior and biological functioning are a result of the interaction between individuals and their environment. Humans are endowed with hereditary qualities that may be influenced in temporary or permanent ways by the interaction with others and the environment. Each person possesses strengths and limitations as a result of the interaction of hereditary and environmental factors and these, in turn, create the biological and behavioral potential. Scientific principles related to the interplay of the mind, body and spirit form the basis of our understanding of health and illness. Health is a dynamic state in which a person’s developmental and behavioral potential is realized to the fullest extent possible. Illness is the alteration of normal biophysical and social-psychological mechanisms.
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF HWIH
The ideal climate for learning is characterized by a sense of purpose, dedication to excellence, models of exemplary scholarship, and collaborative faculty-student relationships. Optimal learning occurs when faculty and students share a defined purpose within an environment that encourages questioning, exploration, and innovation. The faculty of the College of Nursing believes that students are responsible for their own learning. Faculty are responsible for providing a learning environment that will help students reach their potential, develop appropriate professional values and behaviors, and commit themselves to life-long learning.
Teaching methods and strategies are chosen with due regard for the level of student, and increasing self-direction is expected. Faculty know and use tested principles of teaching and learning, and they are committed to continued development in the art and skill of teaching. Evaluation of student performance is an important part of the educational process and faculty use established criteria for these evaluations. Faculty help students meet their educational goals while they adhere to program requirements.
Faculty carry out the interrelated mission of the university–teaching, research, and service– and through these activities ultimately contribute to the improvement of healthcare. In response to changing societal and professional trends and needs, the particular focus of these activities will change as the faculty stay at the forefront of the discipline.