Vision
The NAHP Department will have a significant impact on health, especially in the rural environment, through education, scholarship, service and partnerships. The department will sustain high quality programs and will serve as a catalyst for healthcare careers and professional development.
Mission Statement
The Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions is strongly committed to quality undergraduate and graduate education in the health professions.
- We strive to meet the diverse needs of students.
- Partnerships and teamwork are key elements in our education, scholarship and service.
- We prepare students for leadership in the health professions.
Goal Areas, Goals and Strategies
A. Academic Excellence
B. Student Development and Success
C. Enrollment Management
D. Partnerships
E. Resource Development
F. Continuous Improvement
G. Civic Engagement (Service)
Philosophy of Nursing Programs
The philosophy of the programs of Nursing is consistent with the mission of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the College of Health and Human Services. The philosophy is informed by Neuman’s systems model from which the working definitions of the major nursing paradigms (person, environment, health, illness, and nursing) are drawn. The faculty is committed to providing a high-quality professional education that builds on a base of liberal studies and promotes lifelong learning.
The person is an open system that interacts with the environment and its stressors in an effort to seek and maintain health. The “person” indicates the recipients of care by nurses: individuals, families, groups, and communities. Each person is a synergistic blend of body, mind, and spirit with unique beliefs, ideals, and expectations. Each person has inherent worth and dignity, is entitled to personal beliefs, and has the right to make choices about health care. Many variables influence how life is experienced. Some of these variables include race, age, gender, religion, environment, genetic heritage, culture, and socioeconomic status. In addition, the person is in a constant state of interaction with the internal and external forces that surround them. Stressors in these environments may enhance or diminish the person’s health depending on the current state of the person’s defenses.
Health is a dynamic balance towards which the person continually strives. It is viewed within the person’s physical, psychological, sociocultural, developmental, and spiritual parameters. The person’s health is determined by the ability to adapt to changes in the environment and maintain dynamic equilibrium. Health is a fundamental right of each person who assumes responsibility for maintenance of health through choices. Health care resources are used by the person to achieve integrated function.
The nursing profession has evolved as an art and science over time. The primary aim of nursing is the stability of the person system. The essence of nursing is caring for and nurturing the person. As a profession, nursing is concerned with the internal and external variables that affect human responses to stressors. Nurses base their practice on ethical and legal frameworks that guide relationships established with recipients of care and on their awareness of nursing’s place in the global health system. As critical thinkers, nurses assess situations, define problems, identify goals, and evaluate care provided by themselves and others. Mastery of communication skills and the ability to think critically are basic to professional nursing practice.
Graduates of the baccalaureate program are prepared as beginning practitioners of nursing who can integrate principles from the physical, behavioral, and social sciences into their practice. These nurses are able to function interdependently within an established system, to recognize areas where change is needed, to initiate action to effect change, and to act in a collaborative role with other health care providers and consumers. Graduates of the master's program are prepared as advanced practitioners of nursing, with specialized practice within communities. These graduates are prepared to function in leadership roles in a variety of health care settings, to contribute to the development of nursing knowledge, and to advance the profession.