Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, saw herself as called by God to be a nurse. That’s a view Palm Beach Atlantic University says it echoes in educating nurses at the Christian university in West Palm Beach.
The university says integrating faith into student education is a critical part of the university’s mission. The nursing school numbered 212 undergraduate and 68 graduate students in 2023-24. Palm Beach Atlantic doesn’t require students to be Christians, but all its faculty are.
True health care means socio-cultural understanding and spiritual encouragement along with scientific knowledge, the university says. Associate professor of nursing Kathy McKinnon teaches a community nursing class in which students care and pray for people with Alzheimer’s, cancer, in addiction recovery or in some other way part of a vulnerable population in Palm Beach County.
“Understanding a patient’s upbringing, beliefs, culture, and any trauma, addictions, or loss they’ve encountered is vital,” McKinnon says. “These are valuable to assess so that [nurses] can reach the patient’s heart, provide care, and meet their needs with empathy.”
Students and professors pray for patients and each other in classes and faculty meetings, hold devotionals and encourage dialogue, according to the school. The university requires all its students, regardless of major, to put in 45 hours of volunteer service a year. Nursing students also do service trips through the School of Nursing and the Gregory Center for Medical Missions. The university’s first medical mission trip was in 2003 and has grown to as many as five trips a year with 70 to 90 students participating each summer.
Spiritual support for students is essential in a taxing field such as nursing, the university says. The nursing school has a stress management elective. Also, classes hold debriefings to give students practical tools for dealing with stresses. A graduate “Faith and Science” course explores how faith impacts a nurse’s profession. There’s also a university chapter of Nurses Christian Fellowship, a professional organization.
“Nursing can be a challenging career, caring for the sick and dying, vulnerable populations and working to promote optimal health in the community,” says Diane Esposito, associate dean of graduate nursing and associate professor of nursing. “It is important for nurses to care for their own body, mind, and spirit — so that they can provide this holistic approach to those they serve.”