Introduction
This philosophy describes the beliefs and perspectives of the faculty of the School of Nursing at Pacific Lutheran University. Student development and learning are our primary focus. The School of Nursing philosophy embraces the vision and mission of Pacific Lutheran University for thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership, and care. We purposefully integrate liberal education with the study of nursing, scholarship, and civic engagement to foster compassion and meaningful service for and with others, their communities, and the world.
Nursing and Health
The School of Nursing believes that nursing is a theory- and science-based discipline that focuses on person-centered care across all settings and states of health and illness. The art and science of nursing is relationship-based and directed by humanitarian values of human dignity, interdependence, and social justice. As a practice discipline, Nursing works to improve the health and well-being of clients and systems through analytical processes that effect change in the conditions and determinants of health. The work and praxis of nursing are manifest through multiple complex and evolving roles. Nursing strives to respond to the contemporary context of health and illness, and advance shared goals of compassionate, safe, and effective care.
Health encompasses the unique and dynamic unfolding of human patterning in multiple domains. Health and illness occur simultaneously and in dynamic interaction with one another. Appreciating the complexity of the health-illness relationship is key to diagnosing and intervening with human experiences of and responses to health, illness, and disease.
Collegiate Nursing Education
The PLU Nursing faculty believes collegiate nursing education contributes to shaping and stewarding the profession and practice of nursing. Service, leadership and scholarship are essential components in the formation of mature and highest quality professional practitioners of nursing. Academic nursing advances the art, theory, and science of nursing by contributing to evidence-based innovations in healthcare, advocating for progressive and responsible social change, and fostering improved health outcomes.
Faculty as Compassionate Leaders and Scholars
Faculty in the School of Nursing are compassionate leaders and scholars who assume responsibility for the education and development of students into exceptional professional nurses, who embrace intellectual curiosity, diversity, and change.
Nursing faculty are dedicated to creating an open, innovative, responsive learning environment while upholding the standards and ethical obligations of the discipline. The faculty model and instill within students the active pursuit of new knowledge and pathways for contributing leadership roles for the profession and for the discipline.
The SoN faculty are integral members of the PLU community, participating in the life of the University and contributing to its vision, mission, and goals. Within the SoN, faculty function through team-based, collaborative approaches incorporating care, compassion, and shared goals and values. Academic rigor, principled and evidence-based inquiry, thoughtful dialogue, and meaningful evaluative review characterize the approaches used to
foster highest quality nursing education, practice, service, and scholarship.
Students as the Future Promise of the Discipline
Students in the School of Nursing are active learners who embody the future promise and obligations of the discipline. Students are nurtured in their ability to provide compassionate, socially responsible care and contribute to professional citizenship in complex healthcare environments. Cross-disciplinary student learning is fostered through integrating the nursing curriculum with the liberal arts and sciences to foster the development of reflective practitioners who pursue excellence and seek to participate in the evolution and expansion of professional roles.
Shared Values and Guiding Principles
We accomplish our work in the School of Nursing with attention to the vision, mission, and values of the SoN, University, and the discipline and profession of nursing. We actively pursue our development as a community devoted to learning and scholarship, collaborative engagement, growth, meaningful service, and love and compassion for all humankind.