St. Margaret School of Nursing Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission of St. Margaret School of Nursing

The mission of St. Margaret School of Nursing is to foster the development of an entry-level graduate nurse who is prepared to transition to practice as a member of the interprofessional healthcare team. The school is part of UPMC St. Margaret which is part of the UPMC health system. The focus of our program is mastery of high level competencies reflecting the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for the delivery of safe, quality nursing care.

School of Nursing Vision

The vision of St. Margaret School of Nursing is to advance the heart and science of nursing through the provision of excellence in nursing education by integrating the use of best evidence through innovative teaching strategies, remaining a leader in nursing education at the local and national level, and maintaining successful outcomes.

Our Values

• Quality and Safety
  We create a safe environment where quality is our guiding principle.
• Dignity and Respect
  We treat all individuals with dignity and respect.
• Caring and Listening
  We listen to and care for our students, our patients, our health plan members, our fellow employees, our physicians, and our community.
• Responsibility and Integrity
  We perform our work to the highest level of responsibility and integrity.
• Excellence and Innovation
  We think creatively and build excellence into everything that we do.

Our Beliefs

Beliefs about the Individual and Health

The faculty believes that the patient is the center of all health care experiences. Every patient has the right to autonomy, respect, dignity and health care education. We assist each patient to a level of optimal health, while respecting their unique needs and diversity.

Beliefs about Nursing

The faculty have adopted the definition of professional nursing as defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA): “is the protection, promotion and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.” The Faculty at St. Margaret School of Nursing also believes that the discipline of nursing is science based and requires continuous inquiry to advance the knowledge and practice of the profession. The professional nurse utilizes clinical judgment as a basis for decision making to ensure safe nursing practice, and adhere to professional nursing standards. The nurse, as a patient advocate utilizes all available resources to ensure collaboration and quality care for all patients across the lifespan.

Beliefs about Education

The faculty incorporate a diverse theoretical foundation that encompasses nursing and adult learning principles.

Malcolm Knowles’ Theory of Adult Learning guides our use of andragogy and self-direction based on the learner’s self-concepts, experience, readiness and motivation.

Through the adoption of Christine Tanner’s Model of Clinical Judgment based on the concepts of noticing, interpreting, responding, and reflecting; we design experiences that prepare graduates to respond to rapidly changing patient situations, and help learners identify strengths and areas for improvement.

The faculty base our curriculum on quality and safety principles.

The curriculum is designed to prepare the graduate nurse for practicing professional nursing at an entry level, and is based on the foundations of quality and safety in nursing education. The St. Margaret School of Nursing has integrated the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies into the framework of its curriculum. The intent of these principles is to equip the graduate nurse with the knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSA’s) necessary to provide optimal patient care.

QSEN Competencies:

1. Patient Centered Care – Recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based on respect for patient’s preferences, values, and needs.
2. Teamwork and Collaboration – Function effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care.
3. Evidence Based Practice (EBP) – Integrate best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient/family preferences and values for delivery of optimal health care.
4. Quality Improvement – Use data to monitor the outcomes of care processes and use improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems.
5. Safety – Minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
6. Informatics – Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision –making.

The faculty are dedicated to fostering life-long learning.

Learning is a dynamic relationship between students and faculty. Through learner centered strategies that actively engage the student, the students share responsibility for their acquisition and development of clinical reasoning.

The faculty are dedicated to best practice in nursing education.

The faculty recognizes the ever changing health care environment and the needs of the student population while striving to meet these needs through on-going professional development.

The faculty are dedicated to a positive learning environment.

The faculty displays mutual respect and dignity for all students through honest communication and feedback, while serving as professional role models.