Program Philosophy

Program Mission

The Associate Degree Nursing faculty at Austin Community College is committed to implementing ACC's mission statement through:

facilitating excellence in nursing education by preparing graduates for licensure in a rapidly changing profession in a technological age.
respecting the individuality of students by recognizing and supporting each students’ unique qualities, varying backgrounds, skills, and learning styles.
providing a foundation for career and education mobility by fostering the development of decision making through the use of critical thinking and problem-solving.
providing access to a quality education for a culturally diverse population including the at-risk student
meeting community needs through alternative avenues for entry into Associate Degree Nursing.
establishing a learning environment that promotes the development of traditional nursing values including care, compassion, and competence.
fostering student success through a variety of educational and financial resources.

Program Philosophy

The Austin Community College Associate Degree Nursing Program operates within the philosophical framework of Austin Community College subscribing to the college values of communication, access, responsiveness, excellence and stewardship. The program exists to meet the community need for responsible, competent, and caring registered nurses. We are committed to contributing to the profession of nursing through providing a sound educational program based on the following philosophy.

Nursing and Nursing Practice
We believe nursing is a dynamic caring profession that provides an essential service to society. That service is health promotion, health maintenance, and /or health restoration for individuals and their families within the context of the community. The nurse provides services with respect for human dignity and the uniqueness of the client unrestricted by considerations of social and economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of the health problem.

Nursing utilizes a unique body of knowledge based upon theory, practice and research incorporating facts and concepts from biological, social, physical and behavioral sciences. From this body of knowledge, nurses provide nursing care through the three primary roles:

Provider of Care – provides safe, competent nursing care for individuals and or families demonstrating caring, competence, confidence, and commitment through the use of interpersonal processes. Using problem solving and the critical thinking skills, the nurse assesses diagnoses, plans, implements, and evaluated the care provided.
Coordinator of Care - Collaborates with other healthcare providers, coordinates care and delegates specific aspects of nursing care to others as appropriate. Implements nursing care in a cost-effective manner and assumes an advocate role for individuals and families effectively managing human and material resources.
Member of the Profession - Practices within the ethical/legal framework of the profession and assumes responsibility and accountability for nursing practice and through promotion of excellence in nursing and a commitment to lifelong learning, projects a positive image of nursing.

These identified roles provide the context for nursing decisions and communication. These decisions require the use of critical thinking and the nursing process. Critical thinking and the nursing process provide the framework for decision-making. The nursing process is a systematic problem-solving process incorporating assessment, diagnosis, planning, and interventions to address individualized needs and evaluating the individual’s response to care. Nursing is an interpersonal process characterized by the systematic use of problem solving and critical thinking, management of a rapidly changing environment, the need for clinical competency, effective use of communication, acceptance of personal accountability, and a commitment to the value of caring.

Individual
We believe the individual is a unique being and has inherent dignity, worth and the capacity for growth. Each individual has a blend of physiological, psychosocial, spiritual needs that influence the perception of self, others, and the world. All individuals have human needs and possess the right to make choices that affect health. The individual or family is the recipient of nursing care and in the program are referred to as clients.

Learning
We believe learning is an active process characterized by a change in behavior, insights, and perceptions whereby students acquire and apply knowledge. Learning is also an interactive process in which the faculty and the students share responsibility. The faculty has the responsibility for guiding learners to experiences that will assist them in meeting the outcomes of the nursing program. The student has the responsibility for acquiring the knowledge, values and skills necessary to meet the outcomes of the nursing program. The nursing faculty acts as facilitators and role models recognizing and supporting each student’s unique qualities, varying backgrounds, skills, and learning styles.

Students participate in learning through course activities that integrate previously learned concepts with newly acquired content. Self-motivation and responsibility are essential elements in the learning process. Students develop critical thinking and nursing process skills to readily access and evaluate information, place it in context, and effectively apply it for making appropriate nursing decisions. Respect for differing viewpoints, opinions, beliefs and cultures are encouraged as students interact with clients, faculty, peers, and members of the community. Learning is enhanced when the student perceives knowledge as relevant with concurrent application.

Nursing Education
We believe that the purpose of nursing education is to prepare graduates with the knowledge and skills for licensure in a rapidly changing profession in a technological age. This education is a stimulus for life long learning. The faculty is responsible for the design and implementation of a curriculum that includes relevant, innovative elements. In order to maintain currency and relevance, the faculty systematically evaluates and revises the nursing curriculum and its policies.

Faculty promotes an environment that provides students with opportunities to experience interactive learning incorporating knowledge from the biological, behavioral, and physical sciences to the acquisition of a unique body of nursing knowledge. Students apply this body of nursing knowledge through use of the nursing process and critical thinking when making nursing decisions in a variety of practice settings.

ADN Graduate
We believe the ADN Graduate is prepared with the skills necessary for entry into nursing practice. The ADN graduate acts in a caring, professional manner within the ethical, legal and regulating frameworks of nursing and standards of professional practice in a variety of practice settings.

Beginning practice settings for the ADN graduate should provide direct access to more experienced practitioners with greater levels of clinical expertise. Settings for beginning practice of the ADN graduate should have clearly identified policies, procedures, protocols and lines of communication to support the new graduate. Within this environment, the new graduate has the opportunity and resources for the continuation of personal and professional growth.

The faculty subscribes to the educational outcomes established by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas (BNE) and the American Nurses’ Association Standards of Practice.

The philosophy is reflected in the program educational outcomes.

Nursing Program Educational Outcomes

Provider of Care

Utilize critical thinking and the nursing process in decision making to provide safe, quality and comprehensive nursing care for multiple clients and their families.
Communicates therapeutically with multiple clients and their families in the provision of nursing care.
Integrates the teaching-learning process in the delivery of care to multiple clients and their families to meet their needs for health maintenance, promotion, and/or restoration.

Coordinator of Care

Collaborates with members of the health care team to develop client focused, quality care for clients and their families. +*
Manages material and human resources in an organized manner when providing care for multiple clients and their families. +*
Communicates in an effective, professional manner with members of the healthcare team to resolve problems affecting clients and their families. +*

Member of the Profession

Assumes responsibility and accountability for the practice of professional nursing. +*
Practices within the ethical/legal framework established by the nursing profession. +*

* Demonstrates DELC ADN competencies
+ Demonstrates SCANS competencies

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework derived from the philosophy of the Nursing Program forms a basis for the organization and structure of the nursing program. The conceptual framework serves as a guide for the selection of nursing content and learning experiences.

Major concepts selected from the philosophy are emphasized throughout the curriculum. The framework consists of five major concepts: Individual’s Needs, Roles of the Associate Degree Nurse (provider of care, coordinator of care, member of the profession), Nursing Decisions (nursing process and critical thinking), Nursing Goals (health promotion, maintenance, and restoration), and Nursing Interventions. The following illustration identifies the structure of the conceptual framework.

The individual who is part of a family and /or community is the center of the organizing framework. The individual has physiological, psychosocial, and spiritual needs. When an individual is unable to meet his or her own needs, nursing assists the individual to meet their needs.

Nursing is the protection, promotion, and 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, 2007)

Nurses engage in nursing care through three primary nursing roles:

Provider of Care – provides safe nursing care for individuals and or families demonstrating caring, competence, confidence, and commitment through the use of interpersonal processes using problem solving and critical thinking skills, the nurse assesses, diagnoses, plans, implements, and evaluates the care provided.
Coordinator of Care - Collaborates and communicates with other healthcare providers, coordinates care and delegates specific aspects of nursing care to others as appropriate. Implements nursing care in a cost effective manner and assumes an advocate role for individuals and families effectively managing human and material resources.
Member of the Profession – Practices within the ethical/legal framework of the profession and assumes responsibility and accountability for nursing practice. Promotes client advocacy and excellence in nursing with a commitment to lifelong learning.

These identified roles provide the context for nursing decisions. Nursing decisions require critical thinking and the nursing process. Critical thinking is the basis for the nurse’s application of knowledge and experience in making clinical judgments. The nursing process provides the framework for assessing, diagnosing, planning, intervening to address individual needs, and evaluating the individual’s response to care.

The goal of nursing is to assist the individual to meet their needs through:

Health Promotion - the goal of advancement toward an optimal state of wellness through the prevention of illness and advancement of wellness for individuals and families in communities across a spectrum of health problems/life processes
Health Maintenance - the goal to preserve, protect, and support the health of individuals and families in communities across a spectrum of health problems/life processes
Health Restoration - the goal to return a client to a previous level of functional health, while maintaining the remaining areas of physical and mental functioning, and preventing further deterioration through acute and rehabilitative care.

Nursing interventions are nursing actions based on theoretical knowledge that are performed to promote, maintain, or restore health.

Curriculum Definitions

Concept	Definition
Caring	Behaviors, thoughts and feelings that reflect a positive regard and concern for individuals, families, and groups which include promoting the client’s dignity and self esteem.
Community	Any group that comes together because of common values, interests, needs, or locality (such as a group of pregnant teenagers); or is viewed as forming a distinct segment of society (such as residents in an Alzheimer’s unit); also may refer to a physical location and the associated environment including the health of the environment and the available/accessible health care resources in that location.
Coordinator of Care	Collaborates with other healthcare providers. Coordinates care and delegates specific aspects of nursing care to others as appropriate. The graduate implements nursing care in a cost-effective manner and assumes an advocate role for individuals and families as needed.
Critical Thinking	A process of active, logical and creative thoughts leading to an analysis of information for differentiating fact from opinion, identifying assumptions and concepts, applying knowledge to new situations, and using reasoning skills to problem-solve and derive relevant conclusions.
Family	The people identified by the individual as being family.
Health Maintenance	the goal to preserve, protect, and support the health of individuals and families in communities across a spectrum of health problems/life processes
Health Promotion	The goal of advancement toward an optimal state of wellness through the prevention of illness and advancement of wellness for individuals and families in communities across a spectrum of health problems/life processes
Health Restoration	The goal to return a client to a previous level of functional health, while maintaining the remaining areas of physical and mental functioning, and preventing further deterioration through acute and rehabilitative care.
Individual	The person who is central to the goals of nursing care by being identified as having actual or potential health problems/life processes that can be assisted by nursing care.
Learning	Behaviors that reflect the integration of knowledge, insight, and skill
Member of the Profession	Practices within the ethical/legal framework of the profession and assumes responsibility for nursing practice, and through promotion of excellence in nursing and a commitment to lifelong learning, projects a positive image of nursing.
Needs	The individual’s physiological, psychosocial, and spiritual requirements for health promotion, maintenance, or restoration.
Nursing Care	Activities that focus on health promotion, health maintenance and or health restoration to assist individuals and families in community to attain and maintain health
Nursing	The diagnosis and treatment of individual, family or community responses to actual or potential health problems/life processes. These responses may be physiological, psychosocial, or spiritual.
Nursing Process	A systematic method, using critical thinking, to identify and treat actual and/or potential health problems/life processes.
Problem Solving	A process of determining an effective solution/decision.
Provider of Care	Provides safe, competent nursing care to individuals and families, which reflects the value of caring. Using problem solving and critical thinking skills, the nurse assesses, diagnoses, plans, implements, and evaluates the care provided.
Teaching	Facilitating the acquisition of knowledge, insight and skills