The School of Nursing and Health Professions was founded in 1988 as the first state-supported baccalaureate nursing program in southern Indiana. In 1996, the School initiated a master's degree program in nursing. Recognizing the complexity of health care and the cost of nursing education, the School has developed an undergraduate and graduate nursing curriculum designed to prepare students efficiently and expertly. This curriculum emphasizes clinical nursing competence and uses a wide array of learning resources.
Faculty members have expertise and strong clinical practice backgrounds in their areas of teaching.
The School of Nursing and Health Professions emphasizes the principles and processes of nursing care through programs that integrate humanistic foundations, theoretical inquiry, and clinical practice. The School believes that only by means of such thorough preparation can the nursing profession respond to the challenges that confront the health-care system as it moves into the next century. The School of Nursing and Health Professions has taken a lead role in the development of distance education courses and programs. In additional to these nursing programs, the School of Nursing and Health Professions offers online programs in health services, health administration, and radiologic and imaging sciences. The baccalaureate nursing program is designed to prepare the professional nurse to plan, implement, and evaluate health care for individuals, families, and groups in institutional and community settings.