Student Learning Outcomes for Nursing Programs
BSN Program
Upon successful completion of the BSN program, the graduate will be able to:
- Demonstrate professional behaviors in all activities.
- Engage in evidence-based clinically competent care across transitions of care.
- Exhibit cultural awareness, sensitivity, competency, and ethical behaviors in the provision of nursing care to individuals, groups and populations within a diverse society.
- Utilize clinical judgments that incorporate reflection, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Implement health-promotion, risk-reduction and disease-prevention activities for individuals, groups and populations.
- Utilize information and health care technologies to improve quality and provide safe care.
- Enact the professional roles of care provider, care coordinator and lifelong learner.
- Collaborate as a member of an interdisciplinary health care team.
- Participate as a leader within the scope of professional practice.
MSN Program
Upon successful completion of the MSN program, the graduate will be able to:
- Translate science to guide advanced nursing practice, quality improvement and scholarship.
- Demonstrate ethical organizational and systems leadership to improve patient and healthcare outcomes.
- Apply quality improvement initiatives within an organization or practice setting.
- Provide leadership in the translation and integration of current evidence to ensure safe, quality practice.
- Incorporate current and emerging healthcare technologies and informatics into practice.
- Advocate and serve as a change agent to influence policy, improve healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes.
- Incorporate interprofessional collaboration in the design, implementation, and evaluation of evidence based, client-centered care for patients, families and vulnerable populations, which include health promotion and disease prevention strategies.
- Promote safe, ethical, high quality advanced practice care to diverse populations in a variety of settings.
DNP Program
DNP Student Learning Outcomes based on 2006 AACN Essentials
Upon successful completion of the DNP program, the graduate will be able to:
- Integrate scientific underpinnings which support the translation of nursing research to improve nursing clinical practice.
- Design and evaluate safe, cost-effective, patient care delivery strategies to meet the needs of patient populations and positively influence health outcomes.
- Apply clinical scholarship and leadership skills to advance nursing practice.
- Utilize information systems/technology and patient care technology to improve and transform healthcare.
- Demonstrate knowledge to develop, implement, and evaluate health care policy to advocate for patient populations.
- Engage in effective communication skills to lead and participate in inter-professional collaboration for improving patient and population health outcomes.
- Lead culturally sensitive, preventive, population focused health services based on epidemiological, biostatistical and environmental data.
- Demonstrate advanced nursing practice at the individual, family and population levels.
DNP Student Learning Outcomes based on 2021 AACN Essentials
*The Faculty Organization approved and adopted these new DNP SLOs in November of 2021. DNP curricula developed since is linked to these new SLOs. Coursework linked to the new DNP SLOs will use an asterisk (*) in the course objective parenthetical references to indicate this linkage and differentiate from the pre-existing DNP SLOs above.
Upon successful completion of the DNP program, the graduate will be able to:
- Integrate, translate and apply scientific underpinnings to improve nursing practice, clinical judgement and patient outcomes within the four spheres of care;
- Design, implement and evaluate safe, evidence-based, person-centered, compassionate care;
- Influence population health, including improvements in health care policy, utilizing effective collaboration and advocacy strategies to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion;
- Employ nursing scholarship to advance nursing practice, optimize care, address health inequities and take actions that target high priority social determinants of health;
- Apply principles of quality improvement, ethics and safety at both the individual and systems levels;
- Effectively communicate and collaborate with care team members, patients, families, communities and other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience and strengthen outcomes;
- Lead innovative strategies that promote the provision of safe, cost-effective, equitable care to diverse patient populations across complex healthcare systems;
- Utilize information systems, communication technology and informatics to improve and transform healthcare systems;
- Demonstrate professionalism, including participation in activities that support nursing’s professional identity, accountability, ethical principles and values;
- Participate in activities and self-reflection that foster personal health, resilience, well–being, lifelong learning, competence and leadership.
PhD Program
Upon successful completion of the PhD program, the graduate will provide leadership as a practice scientist by:
- Generate and disseminate new knowledge by developing and evaluating interventions to improve health outcomes.
- Integrate culturally competent and ethically responsible research practices as a response to health disparities and identified needs.
- Lead and promote interdisciplinary teams to conduct health-related translational research and evidence-based practice.
- Communicate nursing research findings to influence health policy decision-making and to promote health equities.
- Conduct scholarly activities through research, teaching, mentoring and service to support the discipline and practice of nursing.
- Provide leadership in advancing the profession through discovery, application and integration of nursing science.