The Chanute School of Practical Nursing was initiated as a college department in 1963 in response to the expanding need for nurses in the area.  The first class entered with an enrollment of 20 on June 24,1963. 

The Chanute School of Practical Nursing, prior to 1974, was housed off campus in the Chanute Senior High Trade School Building.  In 1974, the program moved to the college campus so that students might identify more closely with the college and the name was changed to Neosho County Community College Department of Practical Nursing.  In January, 1981, the program occupied specifically designed facilities in the Rowland Vocational Building on the Neosho County Community College campus.

A bi-level practical nursing-associate degree nursing program was presented for approval to the Kansas State Board of Nursing on December 3,1981, and was granted full approval on March 4,1982.  A bi-level satellite nursing program in Ottawa, Kansas, is available to the students in that area. In October 2006 the college received a grant to support the development of  RN level  online courses.   The  LPN level, in  collaboration with Independence Community College and Mercy Hospital, was re-established in Independence Kansas, with the class re-starting in July 2007.  The Neosho County Community College nursing program utilizes a variety of clinical facilities.

The program received initial National League for Nursing accreditation in June, 1986.

On December 5,1991, the Board of Trustees approved a resolution to rename the bi-level nursing program the Mary Grimes School of Nursing, in honor of the bi-level nursing program's first director.

The mission of Mary Grimes School of Nursing is to enrich the lives of our students and improve the healthcare of our communities through the provision of a quality practical and associate degree nursing education.  The focus is to provide an ethnically and academically diverse population with learning opportunities that will enable graduates of the program to succeed in the profession of nursing. Revised 10-14-04

Philosophy of the Department of Nursing

 The faculty of the Neosho County Community College, Mary Grimes School of Nursing, support the institutional mission and purposes and subscribe to the following philosophy, which provides a framework for the nursing curriculum.  The philosophy includes the faculty's beliefs about people, wellness/illness, nursing, nursing education, the teaching/learning process, and the role of the Associate Degree graduate within the scope of nursing prac­tice.

 The faculty sees the person as a developing bio-psychosocial spiritual being with a history and a future that is influenced by a constantly changing environment.  The person has functional health patterns, whether as individuals, families, or communities that evolves from client-environment interaction.  These functional health patterns are influenced by biological, developmental, cultural, social, and spiritual factors.  The person’s unique potential for learning and problem solving enables him to make reasonable and informed choices to alter his own health patterns so that basic human needs are met. 

 Health must be considered on a continuum with degrees of both wellness and illness in all individuals. Wellness occurs when health patterns contribute to the optimal functioning of the client, whereas, illness occurs when the health patterns are dysfunctional.

 Nursing is an art and science, devoted to the study of human response to health states.  It is a therapeutic partnership between the nurse and client, directed toward facilitating the achievement and maintenance of the client’s functional health patterns.  The goal of nursing is to promote, restore, and preserve health.

 The nursing faculty believes that nursing education is based on a foundation of knowledge including the bio-psychosocial sciences.  The nursing faculty, as teachers, assume the responsibility of serving as role models.  They are the resource persons who design, direct, and guide the collaborative learning experience of students.   

 Learning is a reciprocal process between the student and the teacher that is influenced by intrinsic motivation with all students being considered adult learners.  The school of nursing provides equal access to all students to provide a quality education for an ethnically and academically diverse population.   The faculty support articulation in nursing, promoting an opportunity for the practical nurse to articulate to the associate degree nursing program.  Our curriculum is based on the competencies of the associate degree nurse on entry into practice as defined by the National League of Nursing. Revised 5-23-06

·         The pass rate of all graduates taking the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt will be equal or greater than the national and state mean for all program types.

·         75% of the students admitted into the 2^nd Level of the nursing program will successfully complete the objectives/ competencies of the program.

·         At least 90% of returned employer surveys will rate overall vocational training of graduates as good or very good.

·         The majority of items assessing vocational training on the returned nursing graduate surveys will be rated as “helpful” or “very helpful”.

·          At least 80% of graduates will be working full or part-time in the nursing field following graduation.    8-09

 We believe the purpose of practical nursing education is to prepare students to practice as a Practical Nurse.  At the completion of the Practical Nursing program the graduate will demonstrate the following in a structured setting:

• Provide nursing care within the scope of the ethical and legal responsibilities of practical nursing.

• Utilize nursing process across life span to identify basic human needs in health maintenance, health preservation and prevention of illness or when human needs are not being met to assist in meeting physical, spiritual and psychosocial needs.

• Provide safe and skillful therapeutic care in simple nursing situations based on knowledge of biological, psychosocial and cultural needs of the individual throughout the lifespan.

• Demonstrate effective interpersonal relationships with the client, the client’s family, and members of the interdisciplinary health care team.

• Demonstrate responsibilities of the practical nurse as an individual who collaborates with the healthcare system.

We believe the purpose of associate degree nursing education is to prepare graduates to practice nursing within the roles of provider of care, manager of patient care, and a member within the profession.  Within these roles the graduate with the Associate Degree in Nursing will:

• Demonstrate professional behaviors characterized by a commitment to the profession of nursing while adhering to standards of professional practice.

• Demonstrate caring, compassion, and cultural awareness utilizing therapeutic communication.

• Provide comprehensive assessments utilizing a holistic view of the client.

• Utilize critical thinking skills to plan and evaluate the care addressing the acute and chronic health care needs of individuals across the life span.

• Provide caring interventions which are nurturing, protective, compassionate, and person-centered.

• Utilize teaching and learning processes to promote and maintain health and to reduce risk.

• Display the knowledge and skills necessary to make de­cisions regarding priorities of care.

• Manage care through the effective use of human, physical, financial, and technological resources .

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Last Update:  02/24/10