HISTORY
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University opened the College of Nursing on June 1976, in response to the need for a Catholic School of Nursing which has community-based program. The happy realization of the Ateneo Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program was the result of the initiative of Rev. Fr. Agustin M. Bello, S.J. He personally obtained from the Secretary of Education, the Hon. Juan Manuel, the green light to start the ball rolling. Rev. Fr. Asterio Katigbak, SJ former President of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, carried the ball dogged and relentlessly. Mrs. Agnes B. Toribio, the first Division Head, and Rev. Fr. Ernesto Carretero, SJ, the immediate past President of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, carried the ball beyond the goal line to score a touchdown.
In 1976, the two-year Pre-Nursing course was phased out to give way to the training proper of BSN students. By order of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECS), the regular five year course leading to BSN was reduced and compressed to four years. The MECS also approved the Adjusted Curriculum for Graduate Nurse who may wish to acquire a BSN degree.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University College of Nursing entered into consortium with the Zamboanga Doctors’ Hospital and with the City Health Office for the Clinical practicum. Later, in 1978, the affiliation with the Zamboanga General Hospital started.
In the summer of 2004, the Special Program in Nursing was opened to cater the professionals (except Medical Doctors) who are preferably graduates of any Jesuit School.
The College of Nursing functions within the Philosophy of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University… “Man and woman for others”. The BSN program combines liberal arts with professional nursing and its related learning experiences.
PHILOSOPHY
Man is a unified dimension, rational and free, a bio-psycho-socio-cultural and spiritual being created in the image and likeness of God with individual aspirations, which are influenced by the stages of development, life experiences, society, culture and technological advances. Man constantly interacts with his family, and community as a holistic being.
Health is a dynamic state and a process of being and becoming whole and using one’s powers to the fullest extent. It is not merely the absence of pathologic conditions. It is a self-responsibility while it is a basic human right. It is influenced by socio-economic-political-education and spiritual dimensions. It is socially determined thus it achieves people empowerment.
Nursing is an indispensable profession predicted on the ideals of service for the promotion of health, prevention of illness, restoration of health, alleviation of suffering and provision of spiritual environment. It utilizes the nursing process and regulated bio ethico-legal, moral principles.
Nursing education in conformity with the philosophy of higher education, the vision and mission of this Jesuit educational community, committed to quality education, an active teaching-learning multi-disciplinary, cyclical process aimed at seeking truth. In collaboration with nursing service it aims to produce a compassionate, committed, nationalistic, creative and a critical thinking generalist with attitude, knowledge and skills in communication, nursing, research and leadership. It is relevant to the needs of the Filipino in the light of global concerns.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COLLEGE OF NURSING
The College of Nursing is composed of four departments known as “levels”, each headed by a level department chair. The college aims to mold students into nurses who are caring, compassionate, competent and committed.
The objectives of the College of Nursing are the following:
- Provide students with the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes for the promotion, restoration of health, prevention of illness, and alleviation of suffering.
- Develop in the students deep awareness and understanding of the legal, social and moral responsibilities of the profession.
- Develop critical and creative thinking as well as research capabilities through the use of the nursing process.
