Graduate Outcomes

This program will prepare graduates who:

• Practice in an expanded, specialized, and/or advanced nursing role.
• Affirm the dignity of life and human diversity.
• Advocate for quality outcomes for individuals, families, populations, and systems.
• Demonstrate ethical leadership and faithful service in their chosen roles and settings.
• Facilitate the translation of research and evidence into practice.
• Utilize information and healthcare technology to impact best practice.

Curricular Model

In this graphical representation of the curriculum, the broad and multidisciplinary aspects of theory, practice, research, and evidence comprise the outermost circle of the model and serve as the scientific underpinnings of nursing practice.  Graduate nursing students are assisted to integrate multiple theories from nursing and other disciplines, to analyze relevant research findings, and to seek and evaluate evidence with which to enhance their knowledge and skills in advanced professional practice.

The next circle delineates the curricular concepts of health, quality, leadership, advocacy, ethics, collaboration, technology, and diversity.  These broad concepts flow from the mission and expected graduate outcomes as well as are consistent with the DNP and MSN Essentials documents (AACN, 2006, 2011). Content related to these major concepts is addressed in the core courses and threaded throughout the role and population -focused coursework that prepares graduates for expanded, specialized, and advanced nursing roles.

While each specific role preparation is unique, the core curricular components and unified mission and outcomes represent the solidarity of purposes among them. The circular framework implies a systematic and life-long commitment to learning to be proficient and current in the chosen roles and settings.

Curricular Concepts with Related Content Explicated (not exhaustive; overlapping)

• A. Outer Circle
  Research, Theory, Practice, and Evidence: the source and outcome of our life-long learning, our professional role development, and our care and caring
• Middle Circle
  • Quality: health care quality, health and care outcomes, health care delivery, quality/process improvement and safety, quality of life, quality education, expertise, evidence-based, technology, professional competence, standards/ policies, culture of excellence
  • Advocacy: for  the health of individuals, families, communities, populations, the vulnerable and underserved, role and professional advocacy, system navigation (micro, meso, macro), voice, caring, conflict, policy, proactive, negotiation, accessibility, accountability, affordability, power, activism, social justice, equity, teach
  • Health: individual, aggregate, population, holistic, health continuum, health promotion, genomics, epidemiology, health maintenance, clinical prevention, organizational/system health, health care finances, health policy, complementary/alternative, environmental, global, determinants of health, health in illness, health education, disparities, risk assessment, illness prevention, health protection, health programming, health care delivery across the continuum and the lifespan, health literacy, primary, secondary, tertiary care
  • Technology: informatics, for teaching/learning, for optimal care, literacy, ever changing, balance with touch, safety, communication, data management, analysis, retrieval, decision support, standardized terminologies, EHRs, metrics, health information management, privacy
  • Ethics: informed, respect, moral reasoning, principled thinking, decision-making, values, protection, policy, virtues, dilemmas
  • Diversity: sensitivity, recognizing differences, respect, cultural, human, ethnicity, special needs, competence, sensitivity, group dynamics, across generations, multifaceted, teaching learning needs, cultural broker
  • Leadership: faithful service, change agent, advocate, transformational, innovative,  horizontal/vertical, systems, authentic, servant, adaptive, engagement, empowerment, emotional intelligence, to advance profession, ethical, chaos/complexity issues, scholarship, micro/meso/macro,  systems broker,  influence policy, professional competence, teach/learn, manage, organizational
  • Collaboration: interdisciplinary, intradisciplinary, interprofessional, respectful, partnerships, engagement, communication, team building, negotiation, advocacy, coordination, consultation, conflict management, delegation, lateral integration, mentor, coach, coach, teach/learn, care coordination, relationships
• Inner Circles
  Expanded, specialized, advanced nursing roles: Developing students/graduates of Viterbo University for role preparation.