Mission, Outcomes, Objectives

Program Mission

The Austin Community College Vocational Nursing Program is committed to excellence in education in an environment in which a diverse student population is able to develop the values, skills, and attitudes consistent with the nursing profession and the healthcare needs of the community. The program provides a setting which promotes caring behaviors, critical thinking skills, and competent nursing care within the vocational nursing scope of practice. Site-based instruction and a variety of instructional technology will be employed to deliver course content and increase student accessibility.

Vocational Nursing Program Philosophy

The Vocational Nursing Program supports the vision, helps fulfill the Mission, and aligns with the core values of Austin Community College.

The Vocational Nursing Faculty believes that all individuals are unique, with each being a dynamic blend of mind, body and spirit. Further, individuals have inherent dignity and worth, and are therefore deserving of respect. Individuals are social beings. Throughout the lifespan, individuals join together to form groups to achieve common goals, producing a society that assists the individual in maintaining homeostatis.

Health is a state of internal and external homeostasis existing on a continuum throughout the lifespan. Individuals make choices and take responsibility for their health based on their perception of their health needs.

Vocational nurses participate as members of the nursing profession and the interdisciplinary health team. They serve as providers and coordinators of care for clients with commonly occurring health needs, utilizing the nursing process to perform these functions safely in a variety of healthcare settings.

Nursing is an art and science that encompasses caring, compassion, and competence and combines this with knowledge, skills, and judgment in meeting the individual’s health needs. Nursing exists in response to the health needs of society and is a process of nurse-client interaction. The nursing process is the systematic problem-solving approach used in promoting and restoring the individual’s health.

The faculty believes that learning is an interactive process that fosters personal and professional growth. Learning is an individual and collective responsibility proceeding from familiar to unfamiliar, general to specific, and from simple to complex. Faculty members accept the responsibility for creating a learning environment and for facilitating educational experiences for students which are enhanced through open communication between students, faculty, and clinical staff. They are accessible for advising and willingly assist students in meeting their learning goals. Faculty serve as role models and facilitators in the learning process but expect students to be responsible and accountable for their own learning by actively participating in the overall learning experiences.

Nursing education encompasses the development of nursing knowledge, skills, and attitudes (caring, ethics, compassion, nurturing) that are essential for the initial practice of nursing. The faculty believes vocational nursing education should provide an environment in which the vocational nursing student can develop self-discipline, intellectual curiosity, problem solving techniques, critical thinking skills, and technological skills in preparation for meeting the nursing needs of a changing, culturally diverse society.

Education is a life-long process; as one educational experience ends, another begins. Attainment of certification in vocational nursing lays the foundation for continuing education. Each educational experience builds upon previous experiences, developing in the individual, rich resources for future learning.

Program Outcomes

1. 90% of all graduates and employers report that the graduate utilizes critical thinking skills and the nursing process as the basis for providing safe, effective individualized care to clients, families, and communities having basic nursing care needs.
2. 100% of graduates and employers will report that the Vocational Nursing program at ACC adequately prepared its graduates as entry level practitioners of Vocational Nursing.
3. 90% of all graduates and employers will report that the graduate is able to use therapeutic communication skills while interacting with clients, families, communities, and members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
4. 100% of graduates and employers will report that the graduate is able to safely plan and implement therapeutic nursing interventions as an entry level practitioner.
5. 90% of students and graduates report satisfaction with the learning resources and student support services made available by the college.
6. 90% of all graduates will report satisfaction with the learning environment created through the faculty’s use of resources and support services.
7. 90% graduates of the Vocational Nursing program at ACC will pass the NCLEX-PN on the first writing.
8. 75% of students admitted to the Vocational Nursing program at ACC will complete the program within six semesters.
9. Each class admitted and graduated will reflect the ACC student population in terms of diversity.
10. 90% of all graduates will report that the Vocational Nursing program prepared them to meet their employment needs.
11. 100% of all graduates will report that the Vocational Nursing program provided opportunities to develop basic technology skills.
12. 100% of graduates will report the ability to provide culturally sensitive care to a diverse client population.
13. 90% of graduates and employers report that the graduate is able to provide cost-effective and appropriate care.
    

Vocational Nursing Program Objectives

Upon completion of the Vocational Nursing Program, the ACC graduate will be able to:

1. Demonstrate respect for humans and their right to make choices relevant to their health needs.
2. Demonstrate caring behaviors in meeting the needs of the client.
3. Demonstrate critical thinking skills in the delivery of safe and effective care.
4. Safely plan and implement therapeutic nursing interventions within the scope and role of the LVN as an entry level practitioner in a variety of healthcare settings.
5. Utilize the nursing process as a conceptual model in the care of clients, families, and communities with commonly occurring health needs throughout the life span.
6. Coordinate basic client care utilizing human and material resources to meet client health needs in a cost effective manner.
7. Demonstrate therapeutic communication skills while interacting with clients, families, communities, and members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
8. Communicate nursing interventions and client responses to appropriate members of the health team in a manner to facilitate client health goal attainment.
9. Implement a teaching plan for clients with common health problems and well defined learning needs.
10. Summarize the concepts of growth and development as they apply to the client’s health and illness across the life span.
11. Explain the concepts of mental health that guide practice when caring for clients across the life span.
12. Recognize the Vocational Nurses’ responsibility for optimum development as an individual, as a member of a profession, and as a member of society.
13. Demonstrate professional values and ethical behaviors in the practice of Vocational Nursing.
14. Explain the importance of life long learning on the practice of nursing.
15. Demonstrate basic technology skills to acquire, organize, analyze, and communicate information.
16. Provide culturally sensitive care to a diverse client population.
17. Utilize appropriate resources and steps to attain employment.
18. Collaborate with members of the healthcare team to promote wellness behaviors for clients across the life span.
19. Apply the concepts of nutrition to the client’s health and illness across the lifespan.