Service activities often are linked to faculty research and practice interests and thus may serve as an additional resource for teaching. In summary, the concepts of client system, environment, health and nursing comprise the elements of the School of Nursing philosophy and organizing framework. A visual model depicting their relationships follows. This organizing framework provides a means for understanding complex client systems and the changing relationships inherent within them. These consists of natural, biological, psychological, spiritual, behavioral, social, and cultural factors.
Health is the ability to adjust to or evolve with environmental changes.
The relative state of wellness or illness is dependent upon the degree of balance both within the client system and between the client system and the external environment. Nursing , as an art and science, is the means of assisting client systems to maintain or restore balance and to prevent further system imbalance as client systems grow and develop over time. Following from the four concepts explicated in the University of Kansas School of Nursing philosophy, the faculty have identified five related horizontal threads that construct the curricula. The concept of environment is embedded in each. Course and terminal objectives are stated in terms of the five threads.