The mission
of the Department of Nursing is to prepare professional nurses
who are critical thinkers and knowledgeable and competent providers
of health promotion, disease prevention, and care of sick and
dying patients across the life span in this region, nationally,
and globally. This is consistent with the Rutgers University
motto: Jersey Roots-Global Reach.
To accomplish this mission, we
envision a marked expansion of Rutgers-Camden Department
of Nursing, not just through increased
baccalaureate program enrollments, but through the establishment of an
autonomous School of Nursing on the Camden Campus.
First, for its mission of preparing the future leadership in professional nursing
clinical practice in community health settings and home care; in in-patient general
and specialty practice; in the practice of nursing administration; the translation
of nursing research to practice; and in nursing education, we envision the creation
of master's-level programs in targeted clinical specialties with the functional
minors most needed in this region.
Second, in synchrony with master's-level program development, we envision the
creation of a nursing PhD program that will develop top-tier nurse researchers
and college and university faculty educators.
At the Rutgers-Camden Department
of Nursing, the faculty believe that nursing is a discipline
and a profession. As a discipline, nursing develops its
own knowledge base and shares the knowledge of other disciplines.
Because humans are holistic beings, nursing knowledge for
professional practice involves but is not limited to the
synthesis of empirics (or science), aesthetics, ethics
and other branches of philosophy, personal knowledge of
the self and others, spirituality, and history. Professional
nursing in this multicultural and global society integrates
the arts and humanities with the findings of nursing research,
which are systematically translated into more highly developed,
evidence-based practice.
Baccalaureate-prepared
nurses are autonomous professionals who communicate with
and collaborate with professionals from other disciplines
as well as the recipients of care to promote optimal health
and well being in individuals, families, groups, communities,
and larger societies. Nursing care takes place across the
continuum of health promotion, disease prevention, sickness
and illness, recovery and rehabilitation, and end-of-life
care throughout the life span. Each individual is unique,
has personal dignity and worth, and is recognized as an
active participant in health care decision-making. Access
to care and decision-making regarding one's care are rights,
not privileges, in a free society. Concomitantly, all rights
come with responsibilities. Nurses, as professional leaders
and advocates, act individually and disciplinarily to increase
access to care and adequacy of care, especially for underserved
populations.
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