University of Saint Francis

Founded in 1890, the University of Saint Francis is located on a beautiful 108-acre campus on the edge of Fort Wayne featuring Mirror Lake at its heart along with the historic Bass Mansion, and the state-of-the-art Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education.

Approximately 2,100 graduate and undergraduate students enjoy the benefits of individual attention from dedicated faculty with a student faculty ratio of 12-to-1. The quality of education enables the university to claim an overall job placement record of over 90 percent. More than 95 percent of students receive some form of financial aid.

The Department of Nursing

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The Department of Nursing exists to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for careers in professional nursing practice. The faculty of the Department of Nursing facilitate learning and personal and professional development in an environment that reflects the university's Franciscan values and encourages life-long learning.

Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN)

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The ASN program is available as a 2-year licensed practical nurse to RN articulation program (LPN-ASN). The ASN prepares students for a basic role as providers of care, managers of care and as members of the discipline of nursing, utilizing numerous technical skills and nursing concepts.

ASN Program Goals

The graduate is prepared for entry-level nursing practice in clinically oriented environments. Each graduate will be able to:

• Value caring behaviors that assist individuals and groups to achieve optimal health.
• Communicate effectively to establish helping relationships with clients and to maintain collaborative working relationships with members of the health care team.
• Use the nursing process as a critical thinking framework within structured health care settings for the provision of individualized nursing care.
• Demonstrate a commitment to professional growth and ongoing learning.
• Integrate related concepts from the physical, social and behavioral sciences and humanities with nursing knowledge and practice.
• Demonstrate the roles of provider of care, manager of care and member of the nursing profession.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

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The BSN degree builds on the liberal arts tradition of the university to prepare nurse generalists who are able to practice in the community, fulfill leadership roles and utilize research. The BSN is available as a 4-year entry-level track (Generic BSN).

BSN Program Goals

At the completion of the program, graduates will be prepared as nurse generalists and will be able to:

• Integrate the concept of holistic person and a multi-dimensional definition of health into nursing practice.
• Integrate critical thinking into nursing care for individual clients, families, groups and communities across the lifespan in a variety of settings.
• Synthesize knowledge from humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and life and physical sciences with nursing theory and practice.
• Foster a caring presence through modifying communication techniques and establishing therapeutic relationships with individuals, families, groups and communities.
• Collaborate with members of the health team to promote clients' health and welfare.
• Assume a leadership role in directing nursing activities and initiating change to improve health care delivery within an increasingly technological and diverse world.
• Demonstrate legal and ethical responsibility and accountability for professional nursing care.
• Implement a plan for professional growth and development as a member of the nursing profession.
• Evaluate the applicability of research findings to validate and improve nursing practice.

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

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The Master of Science in Nursing builds upon the baccalaureate curriculum to prepare students for advanced practice by promoting the development of advanced knowledge and therapeutic nursing interventions, theory evaluation and research applications. Graduate students use critical thinking, creativity and problem solving skills that require in-depth nursing knowledge. They are also prepared to coordinate health care programs within complex systems in an era of health care reform.

The MSN program encompasses two tracks: Family Nurse Practitioner and Community Health and Education. The Family Nurse Practitioner track prepares professional nurses to function in advanced practice roles in primary care settings in order to provide holistic, comprehensive nursing care. The demand for advanced practice nurses (Community Health and Education) who are able to provide health care to aggregates, has grown in response to community-based care and increased public awareness of health promotion efforts. Advanced practice nurses work in specific nursing arenas such as:

• Education
• Acute care
• Administration
• Community health
• Parish nursing
• Occupational health

An RN-to-MSN Transitional Sequence is also available, allowing ASN and diploma prepared nurses to enter the master in nursing program after completing transition course work.

The program is designed for part-time or full-time study. Part-time students complete their degree requirements in three years. Full-time students complete degree requirements in two years.

Classes are offered in a hybrid format. Students are expected to be on campus at scheduled times throughout the semester. All MSN courses are web-assisted and online class work occurs with this hybrid format.

Information

If you are interested in this school and would like to find out more, please Request Information from University of Saint Francis.

For more information, visit the home page of University of Saint Francis - Department of Nursing.