Nursing

Keuka College offers programs in Nursing that culminate in BS, MS, and post-Master’s Certificate credentials. The BS with a major in Nursing, the MS Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, and the post-MS Certificate Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program curriculum are based primarily on The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021). This document highlights the core knowledge and skills necessary to address the needs of professional nursing practice and advanced nursing practice in the 21st century. This core knowledge and the accompanying skill sets and competencies are incorporated into both the didactic and clinical coursework. Aligned with this AACN document are the criteria elaborated by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Curriculum development is also guided by the ideas contained in the following publications of the American Nurses Association (ANA): Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2021); and the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (2015).

Undergraduate Nursing Programs

The license-qualifying BS in Nursing program is designed for undergraduate students who desire a residential college experience and culminates in the BS degree with a major in Nursing. The graduate of this program is eligible to take the NCLEX-RN examination.

The RN to BS in Nursing program is designed for registered nurses (RNs) who have an AAS degree in nursing and wish to advance their careers in health care.

MS Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and Post-Master's Certificate

The MS in Nursing Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner program is for baccalaureate prepared nurses who aspire to practice as an Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. There is a post-MS Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate program for nurses who already possess a Master’s degree in Nursing.

The faculty designed classroom, digital, and clinical learning experiences prepare the student to address the health needs of the adult and geriatric populations. A holistic approach to promote health and manage health deviations of adult clients in the primary care setting is the basis of the program plan of instruction. Students will complete the foundational core Master’s in Nursing course work which prepares them for interesting and meaningful clinical experiences. The concept of health will be examined through several lenses in order for students to fully realize the impact of health deviations on the patient within the family and community. Students will be immersed in interdisciplinary collaboration as they use evidence-based practice in the clinical setting to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for excellence in advanced nursing practice.

Philosophy of Keuka College Division of Nursing

RN to BS Program and Master’s in Nursing Program
An Integral Philosophy of Nursing

The Keuka College Division of Nursing is committed to providing an education in nursing that will culminate in practitioners who are strong in conviction, deep in knowledge, excellent in skill, appreciative of the collective nature of the universe, and well poised to lead in a world organized by multiple complex systems. The Division philosophy is based in a holistic paradigm that recognizes four areas of experience which together, make up the whole. These four areas encompass the experience of the self as an individual, the self as it relates to another, the self as a part of a group, and the self in relation to social and organizational systems. By recognizing these four separate yet overlapping perspectives, the whole is understood as more than the sum of the individual parts. We believe that this integrated nursing perspective based in holism leads to greater awareness of self and others, along with an appreciation of the interconnection of the individual or population within the environment. The integration of these perspectives provides the basis for the nurse to fully develop the self, to relate fully and deeply with others, to practice appreciation across all cultures, and to emerge as a leader of systems change. We believe these characteristics are the hallmark of an integral nursing theory of nursing practice.

Mission

To prepare the exemplary nurses of the future by expanding their concept of self and others and their understanding of the interconnectedness of professional nursing and the world.

Vision

To be renowned as a global leader in nursing education.

Values

1. Clinical Excellence: Highly competent and compassionate clinicians delivering safe and effective care that is evidence based and holistic.
2. Self Awareness and Resilience: Self appraisal and introspection involving honest evaluation of one’s own thoughts, emotions, perceptions and actions in the interconnected universe, along with considered action aimed at nurturing and sustaining one’s physical, mental, spiritual and social well being.
3. Transformational Leadership: A dynamic and creative organizational systems approach to nursing initiatives in the global healthcare arena, encompassing a coordinated and inspired power of influence in policy-making and regulation, delegation, diplomacy, ethics, and intercultural/interdisciplinary team work.
4. Scholarship: Exemplifies the character and qualities of a scholar through demonstration and application of deep and relevant knowledge, skilled inquiry, and clear and authoritative discourse. Nursing scholarship is attained through focused study, clinical experience and academic achievement.
5. Personal, Professional, and Social Responsibility: Commitment to holding one’s self to the highest standards of behavior with a strong focus on application of personal morals, professional knowledge, and social ethics to benefit the individual and society as a whole.
6. Holism and an Integrated World View: The ability to consistently see the world in its totality without reducing it to the level of individual systems, along with understanding that the totality is generally greater than the sum of its parts.
7. Compassionate Caring: Intentional, meaningful and coherent action of caring for individuals, communities and populations with the deliberate intent to consciously acknowledge others’ distress along with a desire to alleviate that distress.

Baccalaureate Nursing Graduate Outcomes

1. Commitment to Diversity: the embodiment of values which recognize and respect human differences and similarities and are marked by openness, caring and empathy.
2. Communication Ability: proficiency in multiple forms of communication including verbal, nonverbal, written and technological; and extending to inter-professional and intra-professional settings with clients, colleagues, peers and populations across multiple settings.
3. Effective Thinking Ability: the use of evidence based critical and creative thinking to expand proficiency, to enhance client outcomes, and to advance the professional across all health care settings.
4. Therapeutic Nursing Interventions: focused action based on scientific rationale, best available evidence, and clinical expertise that are executed to affectively and effectively benefit the client and/or client population.
5. Experiential Learning: the ability to integrate the “knowing” of theory and the “doing” of action to develop strategies for exemplary care giving as well as personal development.
6. Personal and Professional Development: commitment to discovery and development of self at the personal and professional level, and to engage purposefully in ongoing professional growth and self-care activities.
7. Service and Reflection: ongoing engagement in a process of self-reflection in which self and others are mutually benefitted.
8. Professional Citizenship: ethical and empowered membership and functioning in the profession with both an inter- professional and intra-professional point of view.

Graduate Nursing Outcomes

At the completion of the Master’s in Nursing Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program or the Post Master’s Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program, the graduate will:

1. Actively engage in collaborative relationships for the purpose of advancing healthcare by promoting high-quality, cost-effective, holistic advanced nursing practice in diverse settings within health systems and the communities.
2. Use evidence-based interventions, informatics, and educational strategies to promote, restore, maintain, and provide safe delivery of health care that is comprehensive and holistic.
3. Demonstrate exemplary clinical reasoning skills as well as practical and theoretical knowledge in clinical practice.
4. Synthesize knowledge to design, implement, and evaluate patient care and education as well as guide research.
5. Integrate theory and practice through reflection, research translation, implementation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and leadership.
6. Promote practice and education strategies that are respectful of diversity and are based on knowledge of the policies and political issues that influence the outcomes of care.
7. Acquire advanced knowledge and skills in a specialized area of nursing in order to plan and initiate change in the delivery of population focused healthcare.
8. Incorporate a commitment to life-long learning and competency in a specific advanced practice level functional role in nursing.

The MS in Nursing Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner prepares graduates for positions in: Primary care outpatient settings serving adults age 18 years and older in health system and community settings.

MS Nursing and Post-Master's Certificate Progression Policy

To ensure that student needs are met as well as developing students who are at risk for failing to meet the minimum grade requirement and GPA for the program, the Keuka College Division of Nursing faculty have set the following guidelines: 1) Students must pass each course in sequence, to progress in the program. Students who need to take courses out of sequence should submit an exception to policy form to the Nursing Division. Exceptions will be considered on an individual basis by the nursing division faculty. 2) Students who do not meet the requirements of the program may be dismissed from the program or placed on probationary status.

The baccalaureate degree and masters degree in nursing at Keuka College Division of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The CCNE address is:
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
655 K Street NW, Suite 750
Washington, DC 20001
Telephone: (202) 887-6791

Admissions Requirements can be found in the Admissions section of the catalog.