School of Nursing
Faculty
Heather Shlosser, Dean, School of Nursing, Associate Professor and Chief Nursing Administrator
Chaluza Kapaale, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, School of Nursing, and Teaching Professor
Isabelle Milne, Assistant Professor of Practice and Director, Pre-Licensure Nursing Clinical Education
LaDonna Christian, Associate Professor of Practice and Director, Dotson Bridge and Mentoring Program
Delmy Piano, Assistant Professor of Practice and Assistant Director, Dotson Bridge and Mentoring Program
Karen Agostini, Associate Professor of Practice
Helen Bellenoit, Associate Professor of Practice
Charlene Canada, Associate Professor of Practice
Dove Conover, Associate Professor and Clinical Simulation Educator
Hope Gallo, Assistant Professor of Practice
Katherine Ladetto, Assistant Professor
Allison Reid, Assistant Professor of Practice and Simulation Center Faculty
Laura Rossi, Associate Professor
Overview
Housed in the School of Nursing, the undergraduate nursing program accepts first-year students and transfer students. Students seeking to accelerate their programs of study may opt for a five-year BSN-MSN (4+1) track or a 6-year BSN-DNP (4+2) track, both of which prepare students for advanced practice roles. The nursing faculty believes that liberal education and nursing education provide essential preparation for the professional nurse practicing in a culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse community. The process as well as the content of a liberal education is fundamental to the development of the critical thinking, decision-making, and communication skills essential to the practice of nursing science. The liberal arts and sciences, in combination with the major in nursing, serve as a foundation for a variety of careers in professional nursing. Graduates of the nursing program are prepared to meet the diverse health needs of clients in a variety of settings, as well as to coordinate health services, deliver humanistic nursing care, and engage in health assessment and health maintenance. Graduates may practice in community health agencies and programs, clinics, hospitals, and extended-care facilities.
The Bachelor of Science degree is awarded and qualifies the graduate for admission to graduate schools offering advanced degrees in nursing. Graduates are prepared to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensure examination required for practice by the Board of Registration, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. The department is an agency member of the Council of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs of the National League for Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Learning Outcomes
- Utilize current evidence, clinical judgment, and patient preference to systematically assess, analyze, implement and evaluate health care interventions in order to promote safe, quality care throughout the lifespan, beginning with health promotion, through end of life.
- Deliver compassionate, respectful, patient and family centered care and education that reflects an understanding of human growth, development, nutrition, genomics, spirituality, culture, symptom management and health literacy across the health illness continuum through all transitions of care in all health care settings.
- Communicate/collaborate effectively with all members of the health care team, patient and family.
- Demonstrate leadership competency both inter-professionally and when delegating and supervising or coordinating teams to achieve shared goals and improve patient outcomes.
- Synthesize knowledge of health care delivery systems, social justice, global health, health care policy, informatics and principles of entrepreneurship in addressing the healthcare needs of individuals and populations.
- Accepts accountability for continued development as a strategic, ethical, reflective scholar and practitioner to engage as a lifelong learner with the goal of advancing the profession of nursing.
Departmental Honors
The Department of Nursing offers the opportunity for students with a superior record in the major to receive departmental honors. The candidate must have a minimum 3.5 overall GPA and 3.5 Nursing GPA and be in the top 5% of their nursing class. The student is expected to be intellectually curious, self-directed in learning and actions, have high level critical thinking and analysis skills, and demonstrate superior writing. The candidate will complete an 8 credit (2 semester) thesis or equivalent project of high quality supervised by a nursing faculty.