180 CREDITS (Includes 60 Transfer credits and 30 Test credits)
Mission
In support of the overall mission, vision, values, and goals of the Lake Washington Institute of Technology, this nursing program seeks to provide a safe, inclusive, student-centered learning environment where students are provided the opportunity to develop the skill and knowledge necessary to provide ethical, safe, and compassionate patient-centered nursing care within a modern diverse healthcare system. Enhance student learning through the integration of theoretical learning and hands-on experiences. Provide a strong understanding of evidence-based practice that promotes best practice standards. Act as a resource for students, faculty, staff, and the community. Instill within our students a firm understanding of the ANA code of ethics and professional nursing standards.
Vision
To provide a supportive and innovative educational experience designed to inspire both students and educators alike, based on a commitment to positively contribute to the health of individuals, families, and communities.
Values
The core values of the Lake Washington Institute of Technology’s Nursing program encompass the concepts, competencies, and values that are reflected in our program’s framework, which includes the incorporation of the ethical standards associated with professional nursing practice.
Philosophy
To provide students with an equitable and inclusive program, faculty recognizes that students have individual and unique learning styles, needs, support structures, and backgrounds. Learning is a constant and ever-evolving life-long process that proceeds from simple to complex and occurs in the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective domains. This process is enhanced by a learning environment that promotes the application of theoretical concepts to clinical practice through the utilization of the nursing process critical thinking, clinical judgment, evidence-based practice, informatics, as well as patient-centered clinical care and simulation-based experiences.
The nursing program faculty employ various teaching strategies designed to meet the diverse learning needs and styles of our students. Faculty are committed to assisting every student in meeting their educational and professional goals through a supportive environment centered around student learning and growth. Support for student academic success must be provided from entry until graduation.
Nurses are educated to provide safe, competent, and compassionate patient care through clinical decision-making, effective communication, and appropriate leadership. The faculty believe that nursing, in addition to a practice discipline, is an art and a science designed to meet the health needs of society in a professional and caring manner.
Nursing requires the presence of the following attributes:
- Respect for individual autonomy
- Personal and professional integrity
- Ethical behavior
- Self-accountability
- Commitment to lifelong learning
The art and science of nursing are intrinsically linked as a compassionate and patient-centered approach presents a mandate to provide care that is competent and well informed. Competent care is accomplished through independent, interdependent, and delegated practice, effective communication, and collaborative care.
The discipline of nursing focuses on nursing actions and processes, considering the patient and practice environment. The distinct focus of nursing is reflected in the metaparadigm of nursing practice which identifies the following as the subjective matters of interest for nurses:
- Humans
- Environment
- Health
- Nursing
In the context of nursing knowledge, these constructs are incorporated within our program framework. They are reflected within the concepts and competencies of QSN, the National League of Nursing (NLN), and the AACN BSN Essentials on which our program framework is designed.
End-of-Program Student Learning Outcomes (EPSLOs)
Upon program completion, LWTech RN-BSN students will meet the following End-of-Program Student Learning Outcomes (EPSLOs):
EPSLO 1: Use clinical reasoning and scholarly inquiry to make sound clinical judgments and deliver holistic, culturally responsive person-centered care to diverse populations across the lifespan and settings.
EPSLO 2: Through the development of BSN-role identity, students will lead, implement, and evaluate best-practice initiatives in leadership, management, quality improvement, and client safety by applying systems-thinking perspectives, change management, and interprofessional collaboration to optimize communication, outcomes, and care processes.
EPSLO 3: Synthesize and translate evidence to design, measure, evaluate, and refine care processes that contribute at the unit and systems level to optimize care coordination, education, advocacy, and collaboration with clients, families, communities, and teams.
EPSLO 4: Use data to continually assess and identify quality improvement opportunities to design and implement appropriate resource utilization with a goal of reducing errors, removing barriers, and improving health outcomes that supports financially responsible, safe, inclusive, and equitable nursing care.
EPSLO 5: Demonstrate ethical use of informatics and evolving healthcare technologies to inform processes that facilitate professional communication, proper data management and protection, and clinical decision-making to optimize client and systems outcomes.
Accreditation
Accreditation is a form of quality control, ensuring that institutions of higher education satisfy certain standards. Lake Washington Institute of Technology is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) at the associate degree level and at the baccalaureate level and has received Washington State Board of Nursing (WABON) initial program approval.
LWTech is in the process of obtaining RN-BSN Nursing program accreditation with ACEN and aims to enter candidacy status prior to the first graduating cohort. Once initial approval is granted, the accreditation status is retroactive to the candidacy status date, and all graduates completing the LWTech RN-BSN program will have completed an ACEN-accredited program. The LWTech RN-BSN website will be updated as accreditation updates become available.
Return to: