PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES

Philosophy

God is our Supreme Being, Creator of the Universe and everything therein. He created man in his own image and likeness; thus, man has intrinsic dignity and worth regardless of his educational, economic, political and social status.

Man is a biophysical being capable of self-care for the development of physical, psychological, interpersonal and social aspect of human functioning. He has hierarchy of human needs that must be met and activities of daily living that must be performed to attain the highest level of health potential and health actualization.

Health is every man’s fundamental need as well as responsibility. It is a state of wholeness or integrity of a human being free of disease and able to use one’s powers to the fullest without giving undue burden to others.

Nursing is a science and art aimed to place a person in the best condition for nature to restore or preserve health. It has knowledge, skills and attitudes capable of fulfilling the fundamental rights to health and to improve quality of life. It is accomplished through human-to-human relationship, utilizing nursing process and critical thinking. It conducts and participates in research and utilizes research findings.

Nursing education is concerned with providing the students situations and opportunities to develop physically, mentally, socially, spiritually, professionally equipping them with knowledge, skills and positive attitudes necessary to meet their own needs and problems and that of their clients with globally accepted competence and quality. It is achieved by utilizing related concepts, theories and principles rather than isolated facts.

Society is composed of individuals, families and communities working together for the attainment of common aims and protection. There is a relationship between the society and profession where society is the supplier of nursing manpower as well as consumer of nursing services. Society assists in the education of student nurses using its resources throughout the profession.

Program Objectives

To develop in the student a deep sense of commitment in the local & global community, the nursing Department aims to produce a nurse who:

1. has developed skills, knowledge and positive attitude in the practice of nursing;

2. possessed sound judgment and independent critical thinking skills in the care of the clients through the utilization of nursing process and research;

3. has demonstrated a deep sense of responsibility in assuming leadership roles and functions through active participation in health and welfare activities both in the school and in the community;

4. imbued upon himself/herself an abiding faith in God through the practice of moral principles and ethical standards both in his/her personal and professional life;

5. recognized the need for personal and professional growth through participation in continuing education programs, post graduates studies, trainings and skills enhancement;

6. acquired the necessary foundation needed in assuming the role of nurse educator for individuals, families and communities; and

7. develop a deep sense of nationalism through the utilization of, but not limited to, indigenous materials and resources in pursuing health for all Filipinos.

PROGRAM HISTORY

The program started in 1975 as the Davao Doctors Hospital School of Nursing (DDHSN).. The initiative to open a nursing school was a response to the increasing need of Davao Doctors Hospital of nurses to man the different departments. In 1979, it expanded its curricular offering from Graduate Nursing to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and in 1981 DDHSN became Davao Doctors College. BSN was then the banner of the college.

For 3 decades, the program gained significant recognition as it continuously produced top notchers in the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination (PNLE).  More so when the program had several consecutive years with a 100% board examination passing rates. With this, the program attracted more aspiring nurses and had successfully produced professionals who became known and recognized in their fields of specialization.

ACCREDITATION

In our continued quest for excellence, the program has been recently granted Level IV accreditation by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA). This accrediting body is a private agency which gives formal recognition to an educational institution by attesting that its academic program maintains excellent standards in its educational operations, in the context of its aims and objectives.
One of the objectives of PACUCOA is to identify schools whose competence and performance in a particular field warrant public and professional recognition.

Programs with Level IV accreditation are highly respected as very high academic programs in the Philippines and with prestige and authority comparable to similar programs in excellent foreign universities. The benefits that the Nursing Program  is currently enjoying having granted such are: full administrative deregulation; financial deregulation in terms of setting of tuition and other fees and charges; privilege to offer extension classes and transnational education; authority to revise the curriculum without Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approval; priority in the awards of grants/subsidies or funding assistance from CHED;  grant of full autonomy for the program for the duration of its Level IV accredited status; authority to offer new graduate programs allied to existing Level IV courses; and privilege to open learning/distance education and extension classes without need for prior approval by CHED.

To date, Davao Doctors College is the first Nursing School in the Philippines which is granted the Highest Accreditation status by PACUCOA. This achievement is a result of the collective efforts of the School Administration, the different departments, the Nursing Management Team, the Clinical Instructors, students, DDC alumni, and our affiliating agencies. Having attained such prestige, the program’s pursuit for excellence however continues. The program’s next step is to be granted as Center of Development and eventually as Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by CHED. Currently the program is working on its next goal.

AFFILIATION

The Nursing students of the program are exposed to different patients, whether well or ill. In order to put into application, the theories and concepts learned in the classroom, the students undergo clinical exposure to different clinical settings. The duration of exposure depends on the required number of hours for a specific nursing subject for each level.

The majority of the students’ clinical exposure is in Davao Doctors Hospital, the school’s base-hospital. This hospital is a privately-owned, tertiary level and multi-specialty hospital. From its foundation in 1969, today this is the largest and most modern hospital in Southern Philippines with 250 beds and offering state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic and intensive care facilities.

Ensuring that the students get the best out of their Related Learning Experience (RLE), the program specially chose other affiliating agencies which would provide worthwhile learning opportunities. This include: Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), the largest government-owned tertiary hospital in Southern Mindanao; SPMC Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine; SPMC Birthing Home; New Day Recovery Center; Isaac T. Robillo Memorial Hospital; Holy Spirit Community Hospital; Davao City Central 911; Philippine Red Cross Davao City Chapter; and other various medical  and lying-in clinics. The program also works closely with Davao City Health Office in terms of the students’ exposure in Community Health Nursing.

RESEARCH

Being aware of the importance of developing new knowledge, the Nursing Program has developed a research culture among its faculty and students. This is evident in various research outputs produced by the program for every school year. This is also shown in several research papers being presented in local and national research conferences; and in seminars and trainings attended to and conducted by the program.

The program takes pride of its faculty having able to produce substantial research papers. A number of nursing faculty were recognized for their significant contribution in the field of research through producing papers which are peer-reviewed and are now published in an international research journal publication. Some also gained recognition by winning in an interdisciplinary national research competition.

Currently, a new set of research papers by the nursing faculty are being formulated which are due for proposal defense. This is one of the goals of the program, that each faculty will produce at least one (1) research output every school year. As a long term goal, each faculty is expected to have a peer-reviewed research article in an international research journal.

Lastly, students are also enjoined in research endeavors. Aside from the fact that nursing students are required to have a thesis before they are allowed to graduate, activities such as Research Fora, are done annually to showcase and disseminate the different research outputs of the students.