Breiner School of Nursing

Departmental Mission Statement

The Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Breiner School of Nursing mission is to promote excellence, value diversity, and provide education to meet the various and changing health care needs. The educational process which integrates the concepts from the liberal arts and sciences prepares professional nurses at the associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral levels emphasizing critical thinking, clinical judgment, and disparate experiences and perspectives.

Approved: 12/13/22 Faculty Assembly

Departmental Philosophy

The philosophy of the Breiner School of Nursing at Commonwealth University reflects the values and beliefs of faculty which provide a strong foundation for each nursing program, associate to doctoral, and contributes to excellence in professional nursing practice. Our program will prepare the graduate to be proficient in nursing competencies for clinical practice.  Our philosophy is based on the belief that nursing is a unique and valuable profession that requires a commitment to caring, career-lifelong learning, innovation, and professional development. We believe that nurses should be competent, compassionate, and provide person-centered holistic care. Faculty believe in fostering a supportive and collaborative learning environment that equips students with the necessary cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills, critical thinking, clinical reasoning, clinical judgement, and commitment to the values of the profession to function as effective nurse leaders. The faculty recognize diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences based on the students’ individual learning needs, learning styles, and readiness. Learning is a continuous, career-life-long process that occurs throughout domains enhanced by an environment that encompasses critical thinking, clinical reasoning, clinical judgment, evidence-based practice, clinical simulation, and person-centered holistic care. In a developmental manner, students will progress from knowledge to proficiency in the eight core concepts. We are committed to providing our students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to succeed as competent, compassionate, and person-centered professional nurses.    

Core Concepts

• Clinical Judgment  
• Communication  
• Compassionate Care  
• Diversity, equity, inclusion  
• Evidence-based practice  
• Ethics  
• Health policy  
• Social determinates of Health  

Your support of the academic community is critical for its continued success. Gifts from our alumni and friends allow our faculty to mentor students in their research projects throughout the year and put our students in the best position to succeed by helping provide availability of the latest technology, research and teaching methods.

Your support makes a difference

Everyone needs a nurse at some point in their life, so please consider supporting the Commonwealth University Breiner School of Nursing with a monetary gift to help ensure that high quality nurses are there when you need them. Our nursing program is recognized as a leading accredited program, and it is also ranked as one of the most affordable in PA. Your donation can help increase funding for equipment, supplies, educational trips, and research opportunities that will enhance the critical thinking and technical skills of our students.

The Simulated Learning Lab (SLL) provides a learning environment for students to practice skills and critical thinking. The SLL contains numerous medium and high-fidelity adult and pediatric simulation manikins that allow students to critically assess and respond to varying patient situations they may not see in the clinical setting. The SLL also contains a simulated electronic patient record system for documentation practice and an automated medication dispensing system. The SLL is a vitally important environment for building confident nurses who can think critically.

Senior level students expand their political advocacy awareness by explaining the importance of being politically active and be competent in advocacy for patients and the profession in this ever-changing health care arena.  Additionally, Commonwealth University nursing students participate in community and public health fairs and programs providing education to various population aggregates, and your donation can assist in obtaining the materials needed for these educational projects.

Commonwealth University’s Simulated Learning Lab’s (SLL) purpose is to provide our nursing students with a safe and controlled environment to learn and practice the skills necessary to excel not only during their clinical experiences at BU but throughout their nursing careers. The SLL, located on the fourth floor of Old Science Hall, is equipped with hospital beds, various injection and task trainer models, numerous manikins of differing fidelities from newborn to adult, and computerized medication dispensing systems.

Students have access to a computer program that allows for practice in reading and documenting in an electronic medical record during simulated clinical scenarios. Students engage in skills demonstrations, practice sessions, and clinical simulations during their sophomore, junior, and senior years.

The SLL employs numerous undergraduate managers who are proficient at nursing skills and leaders within the program. Managers must maintain a high GPA, receive faculty endorsement, and remain satisfactory in clinical courses for employment in the SLL. The SLL additionally employs a varying number of graduate assistants who are current and exemplary in their own clinical practice.

The SLL Director and Assistant Director has nursing experience in fields ranging from home health to the emergency department and are available Monday through Friday to oversee and expertly assist our nursing students.

Skills Testing

Demonstrations of select, course specific skills are provided at the sophomore and part of the junior years. As the student progresses in their junior and through their senior year, skills will transition to independent learning. Students are required to complete readings within their skills book, watch assigned videos, and take an online quiz prior to most skills demonstrations. Students will then have free time throughout the week to practice prior to a designated testing time.

Students are responsible for reviewing the BSN handbook and D2L Brightspace for specific requirements related to dress, lab coats, and nurse packs when coming to the SLL for practice or demonstration. While the SLL remains a safe place to learn and make mistakes, point reduction policies are in place in order to foster student accountability, professional behaviors, and efficient use of SLL resources.

Simulation

As part of the clinical curricular thread, undergraduate students complete simulated clinical scenarios during their sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Through the use of medium and high-fidelity manikins, and in some cases the use of standardized patients, pairs of students’ complete cases that include acute and chronic med-surg conditions, home health, school health, and prison or occupational nursing. Simulations are created around the psychomotor skills learned within the lab. The objective of simulation is to critically think about these acquired skills in order to safely apply them to their ‘patient’ in a safe and controlled setting. This process grows confidence in the nursing student as they continue and progress in a live clinical setting. Students will be provided with background information on their scenario prior to their simulation experience and will take part in a debriefing exercise following simulation.

SLL Resources

Nursing students may borrow various resources from the SLL including posters and models for health fairs, blood pressure cuffs, and various other client education materials for teaching projects. Additionally, nursing students have access to current course textbooks and small meeting rooms for group projects.

Contacts

• SLL Director, Gail Jasman, MSN, RN
• Nurse Instructor, Mary Anthony, BSN, RN