The Vocational Nursing Faculty supports the following beliefs:

Society - A society is formed by the networking of individuals, families, and communities. Each person brings to this group their own perceptions, values, attitudes, skills and knowledge. In a society that is dynamic and culturally diverse, everyone benefits when individuals work together to form common goals that meet the needs of all members.

Nursing - Nursing synthesizes knowledge from both the arts and the sciences to form the theoretical base for the profession. It combines the art of caring and nurturing with scientific principles and skills in providing preventative, therapeutic, and rehabilitative care for individuals and families. The nursing process is used as a basis for providing a systematic decision making approach in providing holistic care to clients in various stages of the life cycle. As nurses increase their levels of expertise, they demonstrate competency in the roles of provider of care, coordinator of care, and member of a profession according to their levels of responsibility.

Vocational nursing - The vocational nurse is an integral component of the health care team. Each nurse provides direct basic care for multiple clients in structured settings and assists in the coordination of care in collaboration with other health care professionals. These nurses recognize the role of nursing research in improving client care. Vocational nurses are accountable for their own actions and must provide a standard of practice that is within legal and ethical parameters. Each nurse must seek opportunities that promote personal and professional growth.

The teaching-learning process - Learning is defined as an interactive process demonstrated as a partnership that fosters professional growth. The teaching-learning process must be individualized and collaborative. The faculty must provide a curriculum that is continuously evaluated to meet the ever changing educational and technological needs of society. Faculty members must inspire excellence as they serve as role models and facilitators in providing learning experiences that target the learner’s needs. The student must demonstrate responsibility for learning by actively participating in the learning process. Learning experiences proceed on a continuum from simple to complex.

Nursing education - All nursing education consists of nursing theory principles integrated with clinical experiences in varied health care settings. Nursing education empowers students to problem solve and use critical thinking skills to seek solutions to problems. Students from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds must be provided opportunities to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to become competent, caring, and legal-ethical members of the health care team. Quality nursing education must be provided in an environment conducive to helping students achieve their personal and professional goals.

Education as a lifelong process - Education is a process that enhances one’s knowledge by building on experiences and skills. Therefore, the basic blocks for learning must be formed into a strong foundation so that learning can continue as a lifelong process. As each person acquires skills, knowledge, and legal-ethical growth, their educational goals may be attained for the present, but new ones should be formed for the future. Each person must learn to evaluate their need for continuing education to maintain a lifelong accountability in their educational journey.