Mission & Philosophy - NJCU :: Professional Studies :: Nursing - NJCU :: Professional Studies

The mission of the Nursing Department is to prepare highly competent professional nurses to address complex human needs within a multicultural environment that will improve the health of individuals, families, and communities through the discovery and dissemination of nursing knowledge and the translation of science into practice. Faculty facilitate the education of students in the art and science of nursing to provide ethical, holistic, culturally competent, evidence-based care in collaboration with other members of the healthcare team in a variety of health care settings within a constantly evolving health care environment. Students, as members of the community in which they receive their education, are stakeholders in the health and welfare of the community they will serve.

The Nursing Department of New Jersey City University believes nursing is a professional, scientific discipline with academic and practice dimensions. The discipline has as its primary focus the maintenance and promotion of health achieved through collaboration with individuals, families, groups, and the community in a manner that is consistent with society’s expectations and needs. The Nursing Department believes the baccalaureate level to be the essential educational preparation for professional nursing practice.

The theoretical underpinnings of professional nursing practice derive from the related disciplines of the natural sciences, social sciences, and nursing. The profession of nursing builds its knowledge base through the rigorous scientific inquiry of theory and practice that continues the process of theory development and provides the foundation for evidence-based practice. The nursing process establishes the foundation for critical thinking and decision making skills that allow complex independent judgments to be made based on available data and knowledge.

The faculty of the Nursing Department believe that teaching-learning is a continuous, reciprocal, varying process according to individual differences among faculty, agency, and students. The development of a spirit of inquiry and the ability to think critically are crucial for the professional nurse. Facilitating student movement toward self-actualization is a basic responsibility of faculty in the teaching-learning process as students move toward becoming contributing and accountable members of the profession and of society. Evaluation is a continual process which must be conducted systematically by faculty, students, and others involved in learning. Ongoing evaluation contributes to the promotion, maintenance, and restoration of the health of the community of which the University and Department is a part.