Mission and Guiding Principles

NURSING DEPARTMENT MISSION

Rockford University’s baccalaureate nursing program is dedicated to preparing registered professional nurses who can deliver safe, high-quality care to individuals, families, groups, and communities within an increasingly global society. The program ensures that graduates possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and values for professional nursing practice. This is achieved by integrating liberal arts education with professional nursing education.

Nursing Department Goals:

Driven by our mission, the Rockford University nursing department sets ambitious goals:

• Integration of Knowledge: We empower our students to meld the wisdom from nursing and liberal arts education, encompassing both science and the arts, into their professional nursing practice.
• Baccalaureate Generalists: We empower our students to become versatile nursing professionals, poised to provide care and make impactful contributions to the nursing profession, addressing the diverse healthcare needs of a global society.
• Value-Centric Education: We foster the internalization of nursing values, including altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice, so our graduates embody these principles.
• Lifelong Learning: We shape our students into lifelong learners who serve as architects, leaders, and orchestrators of care while remaining dedicated members of the nursing profession.

Guiding Principles: The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice

 Our curriculum adheres to the latest standards outlined in “The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education   for Professional Nursing Practice,” established in 2021 by the AACN.

     1. Knowledge for Nursing Practice: We embrace a holistic approach that combines science and the             arts with evolving disciplinary nursing knowledge and ways of knowing to ensure our graduates               are well-rounded and adaptable.

     2. Person-Centered Care: We equip our students to provide care that is holistic, individualized, just,               respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based, and developmentally appropriate within             complicated contexts of care, including family and/or important others. 

     3. Population Health: We emphasize that population health spans the healthcare delivery continuum           from health prevention to disease management of populations, incorporating collaborative                         activities with both traditional and non-traditional partnerships to foster improvement of equitable           population health outcomes. 

     4. Scholarship for Nursing Discipline: We equip our students with knowledge of the basic principles             of the research process, including the ability to critique research and determine its applicability to           nursing’s body of knowledge through evidence-based practice (EBP). EBP extends beyond just                  data to include patient preferences and values as well as clinical expertise.

     5. Quality and Safety: We instill in students the critical core values of quality and safety in nursing                 practice. Students learn to assess and employ strategies to enhance the quality of care and                       minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual             performance.

     6. Interprofessional Partnerships: We embrace that nursing knowledge and expertise uniquely                      contributes to the intentional work within teams in concert with patient, family, and community                preferences and goals.  We equip students with knowledge of team dynamics, leadership skills,                and experiences in working effectively in care-oriented teams.

     7.Systems-Based Practice: We instill in our students the fundamentals of organizational and                        systems leadership, healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments, and equip them with             the skills to navigate the intricacies of modern healthcare systems to ensure optimal care.

     8. Informatics and Healthcare Technologies: We embrace the use of informatics processes and                     healthcare technologies to manage and improve the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient                   healthcare services. We equip our students to use these technologies in accordance with best                   practice and professional and regulatory standards.

     9. Professionalism: We facilitate the formation and cultivation of a sustainable professional nursing           identity, accountability perspective, collaborative disposition, and comportment that reflects                     nursing’s characteristics and values in our students.

    10. Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development: We model and equip our students with the              skills to develop as individuals who are resilient, agile, and capable of adapting to ambiguity and              change; to develop as professionals responsible for lifelong learning and ongoing self-reflection;              and to develop as leaders proficient in advocacy for self, patients, and the nursing profession. 

At Rockford University’s Department of Nursing, we’re not just shaping nurses; we’re sculpting leaders, caregivers, and advocates who embody excellence in the ever-evolving field of healthcare.

Department of Nursing End of Program Student Learning Outcomes: Based upon its mission, goals and guiding principles, students are able to:

1. Provide safe and effective care across the lifespan to culturally diverse individuals, groups, families, and communities.
2. Incorporate clinical judgment, nursing theory, knowledge from other disciplines, and best current evidence as the basis of practice.
3. Utilize information technology and effective communication to collaborate with the healthcare team and provide care to clients.
4. Demonstrate accountability and leadership for nursing practice decisions, with a commitment to nursing core values, professional growth, and life-long learning.