The Young School of Nursing is an integral component of Regis College. Founded upon the ideals expressed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicated to the exploration of religious traditions, Regis College is committed to excellence in scholarship and service. In concurrence with the mission of the university, the nursing faculty accepts the responsibility of providing an environment in which the learner can gain a breadth of knowledge in the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, as well as an in-depth understanding of one sector of learning. The faculty believes that by fostering professional growth, they encourage the student to become a positive influence on the nursing profession and society.

The Young School of Nursing is committed to the education of nurses from the undergraduate through the doctoral level. The faculty believes that multiple levels of nursing practice exist. The nursing education program at Regis College provides the structure for multiple entry and exit points along the continuum of the nursing profession, beginning with the associate's degree and continuing through the doctoral degree. The program builds a solid foundation for future endeavors in professional development and educational mobility.

The nursing faculty believes the central concepts of the discipline of nursing are person, environment, health, and nursing. These four concepts are viewed generically:

  • The concept of person may refer to individuals, families, groups, communities, organizations, or society as a whole. Every person has inherent dignity, worth, and individuality and a right to comprehensive, compassionate health care. The person is a unique biopsychosocial, cultural, and spiritual being who continuously interacts with the environment throughout the lifespan.
  • Environment refers to all the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the development of the person. It refers to all possible internal and external stimuli that may influence behavior and adaptation. It may be considered past, present, and future but is always seen in the context of the present.
  • Health is a dynamic state of being and becoming integrated and whole in which the individual adapts to changes in the environment.
  • Nursing, as an art and science, is a developing system of knowledge about persons, health, and their environment. Further, nursing is unique in the way it synthesizes the liberal arts and the physical, biological, and social sciences through the use of nursing process in the design and delivery of therapeutic nursing interventions for individuals, families, groups, the community, and society.

The concepts of adaptation, nursing process, and professional role explain the relationships and interactions between and among person, environment, health, and nursing. Adaptation is a dynamic process by which the person responds to stimuli in the environment while maintaining personal integrity. The adaptive potential of the person involves flexible adaptation, stability, growth, and change. Nursing promotes adaptation through the systematic, deliberate, intellectual application of the nursing process. Professional role encompasses caring, teaching, advocacy, leadership, management, and research. Therapeutic nursing intervention, critical thinking, and communication are instruments used to promote adaptation, implement nursing process, and develop a professional role. They also provide a framework for program outcome assessment.

Nursing education provides opportunity for the student to learn the art of caring based on a scientific body of knowledge that gives direction to nursing practice. Through the curriculum, the student learns to value a holistic approach to the individual, recognizing the person’s capacity to participate in decision making and to make informed choices.

Through a sequence of planned theoretical and clinical experiences, including student self-evaluation and faculty feedback, the student is prepared to assume the role of a professional nurse. Learning is a continuous, lifelong process that guides the learner in the acquisition of knowledge and the development of values and beliefs about people and their needs in an ever-changing society. Learning is the active process of acquiring knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and abilities that result in behavioral change. The student learns best in an environment that fosters open communication and mutual respect. Such an environment motivates and encourages participation in the educational process. The climate of an academic setting offers opportunities to become more reflective, compassionate, caring, and socially responsible.