HISTORY OF THE NURSING PROGRAM
West Liberty University is an accredited, coeducational, multipurpose institution with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The College campus stretches over a wide hilltop, covering 298 acres in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. This location provides relative seclusion for study and contemplation, but is within commuting distance of three metropolitan centers: Pittsburgh (PA), Steubenville (OH), and Wheeling, (WV).
The Nursing Program became a part of West Liberty State College in the early 1970s with the establishment of an associate degree program in nursing. After only two years, the College was mandated by the Board of Regents (WV) to transfer this program to the newly created community college, West Virginia Northern Community College (WVNCC) located in Wheeling, which is 12 miles south of West Liberty. In an effort to service the continuing educational needs of registered nurses, West Liberty initiated an RN completion program in 1976.
During the early 1980s the Administration of the College began giving consideration to offering a baccalaureate degree program in nursing for basic students (non-RNs). It was during the mid-1980s that discussions were held between Ohio Valley Medical Center (OVMC), Wheeling, and West Liberty State College concerning the closure of the Ohio Valley General Hospital School of Nursing and the opening of a basic baccalaureate program in nursing at West Liberty. The West Virginia Board of Regents approved the new BSN program in spring, 1988 and the first Director, Dr. Donna Lukich, was appointed to implement the program in fall, 1988. In 1992 the first class completed the new baccalaureate nursing program at West Liberty State College and fifteen students, including one RN, graduated. In May 2009, West Liberty State College was invested as West Liberty University.
West Liberty University Mission Statement and Core Values
To provide our students the opportunity for a high quality undergraduate, graduate, and professional education.
Core Values: Opportunity, Caring, Professionalism, Excellence, Civic Engagement
Nursing Vision
The vision of the West Liberty University Nursing Faculty is to be a state and regional leader in providing excellence in professional nursing education.
Nursing Mission Statement
The mission of the nursing program is to provide excellence in nursing education which is congruent with the University’s mission. Based on an integration of liberal arts and sciences, the nursing program facilitates the development of the student to make safe clinical decisions in a collaborative and global healthcare environment.
The nursing graduate will be competent in providing safe, quality, patient-centered care. Care will be based on current evidence, utilizing information management and technologies. The professional nurse collaborates with the patient, the family, and the interprofessional healthcare team and participates in quality improvement. The nurse assumes a variety of leadership roles including provider of care, coordinator of care, and member of the profession.
Values
The nursing faculty hold core values, consistent with those of the University, that permeate interactions with patients, students, colleagues, and other members of the academic and healthcare communities. The following values guide personal and professional behaviors in the academic as well as in the practice setting:
Caring is connecting to and being with another person. In the healthcare setting, caring is demonstrated by partnering with the patient to plan care based on the patient’s values and needs and on current best evidence. In the academic setting caring is manifested by partnering with students and colleagues to develop a learning environment based on the values and needs of the learner and on current evidence and best practices. Caring creates the environment for actualizing the values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice.
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