Faculty of Nursing launches four-year strategic plan

By Scott Strasser, March 28 2017 —

The University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing launched a new four-year strategic plan on March 22, outlining the faculty’s priorities from 2017–2020.

Faculty of Nursing dean Dianne Tapp says the new plan aims to build on the faculty’s old strategic plan, which was developed in 2011–12.

“We did another version of our strategic plan about five years ago on the heels of the university’s Eyes High strategy,” Tapp said. “We were really interested for the last plan on building research capacity in nursing. People know nurses are clinicians, but they may not realize that nurses are scholars and scientists as well.”

The new plan’s priorities include building leadership capacity, promoting wellness for work and study and increasing research in three areas to promote health.

Tapp said the focus on leadership is about grooming and supporting  leadership qualities in nursing students.

“It’s in the context of nursing being a leadership role in the healthcare system. All our alumni and graduates should be well-poised to take on the everyday leadership that nurses do,” she said.

The faculty’s three research priorities under the new plan include advancing nursing education, studying mental health in children and families and living well with chronic conditions.

“I think the values we landed on are really reflective of nursing as a discipline,” Tapp said.

Students’ Union nursing representative Jessica Revington said she is pleased with the new strategic plan.

“I’m looking forward to what the faculty has planned out over the next four years,” Revington said. “There is always room for more student input and development, but I’m happy with how the Faculty of Nursing worked to take student feedback into account when coming up with this plan.”

An advisory committee of nursing students, staff and faculty members developed the strategic plan. The committee conducted 15 focus groups, 25 interviews with external stakeholders and an internal survey in the last year to gauge feedback on the plan’s focuses.

There are roughly 800 undergraduate students and 150 graduate students in the Faculty of Nursing.