Nursing

Arlene Gates Department of Nursing Mission Statement

The Arlene Gates Department of Nursing, as an integral part of Dakota Wesleyan University, is aligned with its mission, vision, values, and philosophy. The nursing department aspires to prepare students for meaningful careers in professional nursing within a liberal arts setting. The nursing department aspires to cultivate a challenging learning environment based on Christian values and acceptance of diversity. The faculty foster lifelong learning, professional development, and responsibility to service.

Arlene Gates Department of Nursing Vision

The Vision of the Arlene Gates Department of Nursing is to strategically develop and grow DWU nursing programs to further the practice of professional nursing throughout the region.

Arlene Gates Department of Nursing Core Values

The Mission, Vision and Philosophy of the Arlene Gates Department of Nursing are carried out with guidance from AACN’s Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (AACN, 2019). The core values for nursing are human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice.

The Program Learning Outcomes are supported by AACN’s The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (AACN, 2019). Based on ten domains that represent the essence of professional nursing practice and expected competencies for each domain, four spheres of care are articulated. The domains, competencies and spheres of care lend a uniqueness to the profession of nursing, and diversity to practice (AACN, 2019) while providing a guide for the nursing curriculum toward outcomes-based learning.

The four spheres of care are: 

1. disease prevention/promotion of health and wellbeing
2. chronic disease care
3. regenerative or restorative care
4. hospice/palliative/supportive care across the lifespan

The domains and competencies allow the learner to build knowledge, skills, and abilities for entry into professional practice. The Essentials also features eight overarching concepts which are fundamental to professional nursing practice and are integrated within and across the domains and competencies. The Essentials serve as a guide for the DWU nursing programs’ program learning outcomes.

The Program Learning Outcomes are as follows: 

1. Teach graduates to independently provide culturally sensitive, competent nursing care in a variety of settings guided by a scientific concept-based curriculum and professional accountability.
2. Develop graduates who incorporate critical thinking and clinical judgement in the provision of holistic, evidence-based nursing care of clients throughout the lifespan.
3. Support graduates in the planning and providing of person-centered, coordinated nursing care that contributes to safe and high-quality care outcomes.
4. Facilitate graduates who communicate and collaborate with inter-professional teams, utilize health information technology, incorporate cost-effectiveness, and utilize educational principles to promote wellness and well-being.
5. Motivate graduates to be committed to lifelong learning and service, display leadership, and who participate in scholarships that advance the profession of nursing.
6. Produce graduates who exhibit caring behaviors and who uphold moral ethical and ethical competence in the practice of nursing.

• The programs’ three year mean for NCLEX-RN pass rates will be at or above the minimum standard of 80% required by the nursing programs’ accrediting body (CCNE) Collegiate Commission on Nursing Education.
• The programs’ three year mean for NCLEX-RN pass rates will be above the minimum standard of 75% required by the programs’ licensing body the (SDBON) South Dakota Board of Nursing.
• Seventy percent (70%) of students admitted into the B.S. Nursing program will graduate within five years through achievement of one of the CCNE standards found in standard IV-B.
• Seventy percent (70%) of students admitted into the LPN to B.S. nursing program will graduate within four years through achievement of one of the CCNE standards found in standard IV-B.
• Ninety percent (90%) of graduates who are actively seeking employment in nursing will be employed as a practicing registered nurse at six to twelve months post-graduation.
• At six to twelve months post-graduation all items on the graduate survey will receive a mean of 3.0 or higher.