Our department offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, supporting today's health care workforce and delivery of quality patient care.
The health care field is complex and ever changing. The nursing profession is focused on providing patients with high quality care that reflects empathy, compassion and effective communication. At USD, we strive to live our values of excellence, professionalism, relationship-centered and service as we learn together and demonstrate our commitment to excellent patient outcomes.
Our faculty are committed to improving health care through research/scholarship, service and education. Our students learn to take a person-centered approach to care while clinical reasoning skills through clinical experiences, service learning and simulations in state-of-the-art facilities. As students at the state's leading institution for health care education, they learn with other future health care practitioners which prepares them to be effective members of their health care teams. Our students graduate with confidence as they begin or advance their careers
For Lisa Varenhorst, instructor in the Department of Nursing at the University of South Dakota and graduate of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, the journey from critical care nurse to educator was entirely organic.
Committed to making a difference in the lives of others, University of South Dakota nursing student Ashley Miedema extended this commitment by becoming a stem cell donor. Now, she advocates for others to do the same.
Well before Lindsay Weber, DNP ’24, BSN ’07, CNP, became president and CEO of Avera St. Benedict Health Center in Parkston, South Dakota, she already had a solid understanding of the ins and outs of patient care.
Our department offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in nursing, supporting today's health care workforce and delivery of quality patient care.
I am learning so much about the history of this field of nursing, the more technical sides of informatics and – as always in anything we do to improve our education and/or situation – learning new valuable leadership skills. The faculty at USD has been supportive, always available and very easy to work with.
Ashley Leigh Herrity
Quality Educational Experiences
The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of South Dakota are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
The Department of Nursing develops exceptional practitioners, leaders, and scholars who advocate for and improve the well-being of all people, particularly those in rural and underserved communities. To benefit the workforce needs of South Dakota, the region, and beyond, we emphasize academic excellence, practical experience, and public service within an interprofessional, learner-centered, collaborative environment.
The Department of Nursing will provide accomplished, forward-thinking leadership in nursing education that advances a culture of skillful and compassionate care for all.
Excellence
Relationship-Centered
Professionalism
Service
USD Nursing is committed to producing lifelong learners who excel in their careers, are recognized as leaders, and who focus on patient-centered care and the health of society. We are committed to producing nurses who practice with emotional intelligence and exceptional communication and who rely on evidence and critical thinking to achieve excellent patient outcomes and a healthier global society. As a result, our graduates are distinctive in how they think and relate to others.
We as a community of Nurse Scholars believe that nursing is both an art and a science. Foundational to nursing is caring and compassion with the essence of a person to be valued, respected, nurtured, and understood. Through the spirit of inquiry, the nurse optimizes critical thinking and evidence-based practice in the delivery of holistic care across the lifespan. Nursing as a profession embraces leadership, scholarship, and excellence; nurses advocate for well-being, comfort, dignity and health for humanity. The nurse develops a unique professional identity which serves as a guiding principle for the development of leadership, knowledge, values and ethics, and professional comportment. As nurses share knowledge and engage in scientific discovery, they significantly impact the health and well-being of individuals and populations. We as a community of Nurse Scholars believe that nurses have a responsibility to advocate for a safe and healthy environment in which to learn and practice. The environments of our practice have two parts: the Internal Environment (our state of mind, personal beliefs and values, worldview, and level of knowledge and experience) and the External Environment (societal and professional norms, practice environment, and cultural, social, political, and economic environments). The confluence of these environments is where people grow, learn, work, and reside. Therefore, the context within which nursing care is delivered is inclusive of culture, relationships, and community.
We as a community of Nurse Scholars believe that nursing education is a synergetic partnership between the learner and educator. Building on a foundation of liberal arts, nursing education leads to a broad worldview and rich perspective that allows the learner to develop a strong personal value system and professional identity. To foster the ability to link nursing practice and ethical reasoning, nursing education incorporates evidence-based, innovative educational pedagogies and active engagement. Nursing education supports the progression of knowledge, skills, and values from novice to expert and a commitment to lifelong learning. Through ongoing discovery and professional growth, nursing education leads to the development of nurse leaders committed to improving the health and well-being of the society they serve.
Goal: Provide value education to build South Dakota’s future nursing workforce and improve the health and well-being of South Dakota’s citizens, meeting the state and region needs.
Goal: Build synergetic partnerships to leverage resources, skill, expertise, and advance health and knowledge through community engaged learning and service.
Goal: Improve healthcare through intellectual curiosity, engagement, scholarship, expert knowledge, research and innovation.
Goal: Invest in people to broaden faculty and staff professional development and leadership where all people can excel and feel valued.
