The School of Nursing

Joanne Masella, Dean

Faculty

PROFESSORS

Patrick Heyman

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Diane Esposito
Deborah Morgan
Donna Murray

Mission

The mission of the Doctor Nursing Practice (DNP) program is to provide a Christian Worldview-based educational experience that prepares experts in advanced practice nursing.

The School of Nursing (SON) offers the DNP based on national standards set forth in the American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Core Competencies, and the Quality Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Competencies. The SON plans to seek accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Core Values

Christ-centered:
Christ is at the center of everything the School of Nursing does. “He [Christ] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” – Colossians 1:17 – 20 (NIV)

Servant Leader
PBA prepares students for lifelong learning and leadership. We strongly believe that leadership begins with being a servant. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:26 – 28 (NIV)

Ministry of Caring
Caring for the sick is not simply an act of goodness, but an act of worship and obedience, taking part in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)

Empathy for: Empathy leads to action: “Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. ‘Lord,’ they answered, ‘we want our sight.’ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” – Matthew 20:32-34 (NIV)

Connection to: Our common humanity binds us together. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” – John 11:33 (NIV)

Being with: Sometimes simply being with another is more important than doing for them: “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” – Luke 10:40-42 (NIV)

Holistic approach
Health involves much more than mere physical wellness or even psychological well-being. Health includes socio-cultural and spiritual aspects as well, and nurses must take them into account. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” – Mark 8:36 (NIV)

Professionalism
PBA is dedicated to excellence. PBA Nursing expresses that excellence through dedication to professionalism. It is not enough to simply feel empathy or compassion, or even act on them. Caring must be competent, tempered by learning, experience, and judgment. “I was sick and you looked after me…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:36,40 (NIV)

School of Nursing Goals

The School of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program will prepare the advanced practices nurse to be clinical experts, provide leadership to effect change, and translate research into evidence based practice.
The School of Nursing will prepare nurses to lead fulfilling lives through learning, leadership, and service.
The School of Nursing will impact the world by educating nursing students in a Christ-centered atmosphere that pursues spiritual and academic excellence.
The School of Nursing will encourage love, caring and respect for patients, colleagues, and the world, taking into account cultural and religious differences.
The School of Nursing will promote lifelong learning with the dual aim of improving character and applying current research and theory to practice.
The School of Nursing will engender cooperation, accountability, and unity among students, helping them to function as members of a team and a profession.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

DNP PROGRAM OUTCOMES
A graduate of the DNP program will be able to:

Synthesize theoretical and empirical knowledge from the liberal arts, sciences, humanities, Christian faith to support ethical decision making for optimal health outcomes.
Implement organizational and systems leadership principles to strengthen advanced nursing practice and healthcare delivery.
Integrate research and scholarly activities that support evidence based practice, nursing education, clinical practice, and healthcare organization.
Implement technology and information systems to improve and transform healthcare.
Advocate healthcare policy at all levels to improve patient and community health outcomes.
Collaborate with leaders in nursing and other disciplines to improve the quality of professional nursing practice, outcomes, and the healthcare system.
Synthesize evidence-based practice, organizational leadership, and technology to support quality improvement in clinical prevention and population health.
Practice advanced nursing for complex populations.

DNP PROGRAM OPTIONS
The SON offers two DNP options: BSN to DNP and Post-Master’s DNP.

BSN to DNP

The BSN to DNP option is for those with a baccalaureate in nursing which prepares graduates to be eligible for Family Nurse Practitioner certification and licensure.
The BSN to DNP curriculum provides a minimum of 1100 clinical practice hours.
The BSN to DNP program requires 74 credits over nine semesters. A full time student should complete the program in three years.

Post-Master’s DNP

The Post-Master’s DNP option is for those who already hold a master’s of nursing.
Nurse Practitioner preparation is optional for Post-Master’s students and degree plan will vary based transcript review.
The Post-Master’s curriculum provides a minimum of 540 practice hours. (All DNP graduates must complete a minimum of 1000 hours. Students who completed less than 460 hours in the master’s program will have to complete additional practice hours at the DNP level to meet the 1000 hour minimum).

Scholarly Project and Advisory Committee
The final DNP Scholarly Project must make a significant impact on nursing practice and health outcomes of populations and communities, demonstrate an evidence-based contribution to existing nursing knowledge, and be suitable for peer-reviewed presentation or publication. DNP students should identify a faculty chair and two committee members no later than the completion of NUR 6153 DNP Practicum II. This team is known as the Scholarly Project Advisory Committee. The Committee must approve the Scholarly Project plan and supervise all stages of its implementation. Students may not graduate until the Committee has approved the completion of the Scholarly Project and students have met all other University and DNP graduation requirements. Students who have completed all other DNP course work must maintain registration in NUR 8504 Scholarly Project Completion each semester until graduation.

Health Requirements and Limitations

Professional nursing students are responsible for their own health and for the health of others with whom they come in contact. The following policies have been created to protect both the student and clients. Students are responsible for timely updates of their health care records according to the prescribed schedule. In order to successfully complete the nursing program, students must be able to perform the following essential abilities:
Observation/Sensation
Nursing students must be able to observe and sense the client’s current physical, psychological, developmental, spiritual, and sociocultural health care status as well as client responses to nursing interventions. Vision, hearing, and other sensory perceptions are necessary for this ability.
Communication
Nursing students must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written forms with clients and the health care team members. Communication in nursing includes the ability to gather assessment data, provide effective teaching, and provide emotional support for all clients.
Motor
Nursing students must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from clients by palpation, percussion, auscultation, diagnostic maneuvers, and comfort/positioning measures. They must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general nursing care and emergency treatments. Such actions require moderate motor strength, equilibrium, gross and fine muscle movement coordination, and functional use of touch and vision senses.
Intellectual
Nursing students must have the ability to accurately measure, calculate, reason, and analyze. In addition they must be able to synthesize and apply complex information. Students must be fully alert and attentive at all times when caring for clients and communicating with health care team members. Each student must demonstrate mastery of these skills and possess the ability to incorporate new information from peers, professors, and the nursing and medical literature to formulate sound judgment in patient assessment, intervention, evaluation, and teaching and setting of short- and long-term goals.
Behavioral/Social
Nursing students must possess of level of emotional health that allows full utilization of intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, prompt completion of all responsibilities, attention to the nursing diagnoses and subsequent patient care, and the development of mature, empathetic and effective nurse-client relationships. Students must be able to function effectively under stress. The student must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, accept and integrate constructive criticism given in classroom and clinical settings, effectively interact in the clinical setting with other members of the healthcare team, and learn to function cooperatively and efficiently in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical practice.
The student must be able to adapt to and function effectively in stressful situations in both classroom and clinical settings, including emergency situations.

Students with Disabilities:
Students admitted to the PBASON must be able to fully perform the essential nursing functions in each of the following five categories: observation/sensation, communication, motor, intellectual, and behavioral/social. Degrees of ability vary widely among individuals. SON faculty will consider candidates with any form of properly disclosed and documented disability on an individual basis. Students with documented special needs must contact both the Dean of the School of Nursing and the University Accommodations for Students with Disabilities designate. Palm Beach Atlantic University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities through established University policies and procedures.

Progression Policies

Some didactic courses require a clinical co-requisite course that must be successfully completed together. (For example: NUR 7033 Management I: Acute and Chronic Health Problems and its corresponding clinical course NUR 7053 Management I: Acute and Chronic Health Problems Clinical.)

If a student withdraws from a didactic course, the student must also withdraw from the clinical course.
If a student withdraws from a clinical course, the student must also withdraw from the didactic course.
If a student is unsuccessful in a didactic course but is passing the clinical course, the student will receive a W in the clinical course.
If a student is unsuccessful in a clinical course but is passing the didactic course, the student will receive a W in the didactic course.

If five years have elapsed since a nurse practitioner track student has taken Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, or Advanced Pharmacotherapeutics, retaking the course is recommended. Retaking the course is mandatory after seven years.