All faculty members and the NLRC coordinator hold the minimum of a master's degree, with all but one having the M.S.N. degree. The director of the program and one full-time nursing faculty member have earned doctorates. No graduate students are employed by Thiel. The nursing curriculum is centered on the philosophies of the Department of Nursing and of Thiel College. The College's major focus is to instill in students an integrated world view or holism.
Holism is the underlying theoretical base of the nursing program.
It includes the realization that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that the part and the whole exist in a dynamic relationship. Holism considers the interrelationship of humans individually and collectively and takes into consideration the factors that affect societies as well as the world community. Self-directed inquiry with modular learning is the primary method of instruction in the Thiel nursing program. Under the careful mentoring of the nursing faculty, student learners take the initiative to diagnose their learning needs, develop goals, identify human and material resources, choose and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluate their learning outcomes. Self-directed inquiry takes place in association with various kinds of facilitators, including professors, tutors, resource people, and peers.