Philosophy of School of Nursing

The Bowling Green State University (BGSU) School of Nursing faculty members adopt and support the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of BGSU. The School of Nursing faculty promote experiential learning through innovative, creative, engaging, and reflective education in the classroom, simulation laboratory, and clinical setting. Students develop clinical judgment skills to promote safe and quality person-centered care to diverse populations across the lifespan in a variety of health care settings.

Students should be actively engaged in learning, have a spirit of inquiry, build upon previous knowledge, and have a commitment to lifelong learning through integration of best evidence into nursing practice. Each student is an individual who has unique learning needs. Our goal is to foster each student’s diverse learning needs, promote autonomy, and provide a sense of belonging for all students within the University, Community, Ohio, and the Nation. We are a Public University for the Public Good.

Faculty are expert clinicians and educators who role model professional nursing, provide leadership, and are committed to lifelong learning and scholarship. As facilitators of learning, faculty provide a variety of teaching strategies to create opportunities for learners to be successful, caring, confident, and competent nurses. Faculty encourage students to contribute to a culture of provider and workplace safety and demonstrate a commitment to personal health and wellbeing.

The curriculum reflects current societal and health care trends and issues, research findings and innovative practices, as well as local and global perspectives. Faculty believe the curriculum should provide experiential cultural learning activities that enhance the ability of students to develop clinical judgment skills, reflect thoughtfully, and provide culturally sensitive evidence-based nursing care to diverse populations. Students will integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion as core to one’s professional identity. Additionally, the curriculum provides learning experiences that prepare graduates to assume roles that are essential to quality nursing practice, including but not limited to, roles of care provider, patient advocate, teacher, communicator, leader, change agent, care coordinator, user of information technology, collaborator, decision maker, and encourages a spirit of inquiry that fosters flexibility and professional maturity. Learning experiences that support evidence-based practice, multidisciplinary approaches to care, student achievement of clinical competence, clinical judgment, and, as appropriate, expertise in specialty roles to promote life design are incorporated throughout the curriculum.

The School of Nursing faculty believe that professional nursing foci are on the individual, family, community, health, and environment. Each individual person has specific needs. The needs are complex and require a holistic approach to emotional, spiritual, physical, culturally sensitive, and psychological health. Health includes prevention, wellness, quality of life, disease, and illness. The individual is connected to a family, community, and environment. Families are comprised of traditional and nontraditional units. Communities are groups of people with common characteristics. The environment includes all dimensions of living for the individual, family, and community which help or hinder health.

Professional nursing practice is an art and science which uses evidence-based practice to support the health of individuals, families, and communities. Person-centered care and values are incorporated into each respectful interaction. Nurses communicate effectively with health care teams, individuals, families, and groups, establish caring relationships, exercise knowledge, skills, courage, emotional intelligence, inclusivity, compassion, humility, integrity, altruism, ethical standards, values, standards of practice, accountability, professionalism, respect, and responsibility at all times. Nurses care for individuals, families, and communities within a context of an ever-changing health care environment.