Choosing a Christian Nursing School: How Does Being a Christian College Shape the Education at Gustavus Adolphus?
As you decide which nursing programs to apply to, you’ll be considering a number of factors. Do you want to get your nursing degree from a private college or a state university? What sort of student resources and programs does each college or university offer? What about financial aid to complete your nursing degree? How will you balance the affordability of your college degree with the quality of the program?
Another question you might have is whether you want to enroll in a nursing program at a Christian college or university. For some nursing degree seekers, attending a Christian nursing school is a top priority. Other students might be open to nursing programs at both Christian and secular schools but lean toward one or the other. And still other future nursing students might wonder if they will feel comfortable at a Christian school. Will the nursing program and the college generally welcome diverse points of view? Will the nursing major require certain religion classes to graduate? How does the college being Christian affect the campus programs and resources offered?
At Gustavus Adolphus, we are proud of our Swedish Lutheran heritage and the vibrant spiritual life on our campus. We want prospective nursing students to know what our faith means to us and how that shapes our school culture and the nursing education you’ll receive there. Keep reading for answers to some common questions you might have about attending nursing school at Gustavus, including how being a Christian college shapes our values, inclusivity, programs, and nursing curriculum.
Gustavus Adolphus and other Christian nursing schools: quick FAQs
There is a wide range of Christian undergraduate institutions in the U.S. that offer a nursing major. Nursing schools include Catholic universities, non-denominational liberal arts colleges, and four-year schools associated with or run by various Christian denominations. If you’re considering earning a degree from a Christian nursing college or university, you'll want to find one whose programs and campus environment align with your personal values and priorities.
Here’s how Gustavus compares to other Christian schools in essential ways that inform your decision about attending nursing school here:
What is Gustavus’s Christian college heritage?
Our college was founded in 1862 by a Swedish Lutheran immigrant pastor. After a few name and location changes, Gustavus Adolphus College settled in 1876 under our current name at our current location in the beautiful Minnesota River Valley in the small town of Saint Peter, MN.
Gustavus evolved from its origins as a school primarily for the local Swedish immigrant population to a liberal arts college serving a diverse population of students hailing from across the country and around the world. Over a century and a half after its founding, Gustavus remains true to its Swedish Lutheran roots, operating in affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Gustavus Adolphus College Association of Congregations.
Are non-Christian students welcome at a Christian nursing school?
Whether or not you’re a Christian, you may wonder about religious inclusivity at Christian nursing schools. It’s not unusual for a Christian university or college to require all students and faculty to profess the Christian faith, often including adherence to the school’s more specific theological commitments within the Christian framework.
At Gustavus, we do not discriminate in either hiring or admissions based on religion. We equally welcome students of all faith backgrounds as well as those who are not a part of any spiritual or religious group. We believe all our students benefit from going to a college grounded in a healthy faith tradition that also includes faculty, staff, and other students of diverse backgrounds, practices, and beliefs.
Are most Gustavus students and faculty Christian?
Because of our Christian heritage and affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a large percentage of our students and faculty are Christian. Just under three-quarters of Gustavus students identify as Christian, and over half of those students are Lutheran. Of the remaining student population, about half follow faith practices other than Christianity, and half have no religious affiliation.
Do I need to sign a lifestyle pledge to attend school?
No. Many Christian colleges require students to sign a form agreeing to abide by certain lifestyle practices while attending the college, including while off-campus and on school break. It’s not uncommon for a Christian university to enforce policies around sexual activity, alcohol consumption, dancing, and other behaviors in line with the school’s religious values.
At Gustavus Adolphus College, our students do not sign a pledge like this. We expect Gustavus students to uphold our core values, maintain academic integrity, follow the law, adhere to our common-sense campus safety regulations, and consistently treat their peers and authority figures with respect and dignity.
Instead of enforcing lifestyle rules, we offer programs that aid students in making informed choices that improve their health and well-being. We support students through medical health services, mental health counseling, alumni mentoring relationships, campus chaplains, and a host of other programs designed to keep students safe, connected, and healthy.
Are LGBTQ+ students welcome at Gustavus?
Yes. Gustavus does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and there is an active queer student community on our college campus. Our student-led organization for LGBTQ+ students and allies hosts weekly meetings and special events on campus aimed at fostering a welcoming and supportive community.
We also take all our students’ health and safety seriously and maintain active protocols for investigating incidents of bias or hate crimes against students in minority groups.
What does spiritual life look like at Gustavus?
At Gustavus Adolphus, our Christian values directly inform our commitment to respecting and affirming the dignity of all people, including each individual’s self-determination when it comes to matters of theology and faith. As a nursing student at Gustavus, you’re not required to attend chapel worship services or to participate in religious activities. Instead, we facilitate students to find spiritual community with those who share their faith and provide resources for students to cultivate interfaith conversations and relationships.
Christ Chapel
Majestic Christ Chapel is the focal point of the Gustavus school grounds, located in the center of our campus with the other college buildings arrayed around it. Christ Chapel serves as the primary Christian site of worship at Gustavus, as well as the central gathering place for dozens of lectures, conferences, and other events each year.
As a nursing student at Gustavus, you are warmly invited to attend weekly Sunday worship services and Daily Sabbaths at the Chapel. Christ Chapel also hosts numerous special services and Christian holiday celebrations throughout the school year, such as the traditional Swedish Festival of St. Lucia each December.
Bonnier Multifaith Center
As its name suggests, the Bonnier Multifaith Center is a sacred space dedicated to the cultivation of diverse religious and spiritual practices. The Center is open throughout the year for students, faculty, and staff to drop in for self-directed meditation, reflection, prayer, contemplation, or text studies, either individually or in groups. Students can also request to reserve the space for organized gatherings around spiritual or contemplative practices.
Students are encouraged to view the Center as an opportunity for “engaged compassion,” a term that embodies the Center’s aim to promote understanding, respect, and genuine appreciation across diverse faiths and worldviews.
Office of the Chaplains
The mission of the chaplains at Gustavus is to support the spiritual well-being of students, promote healthy religious practices, and foster interfaith learning and dialogue. Gustavus nursing students can meet with chaplains confidentially to process experiences of grief and loss, talk through relational and spiritual questions, or receive guidance as they discern their vocation. Chaplains also act as a confidential resource for students during sensitive processes such as Title IX or bias incidents.
The Office of the Chaplains serves students of all faiths, traditions, and philosophical beliefs; their job is to help guide you toward practices and habits that connect you to something larger than yourself. Chaplains are available to listen to your concerns, facilitate thoughtful conversation, and direct you toward helpful resources for spiritual growth and health.
Student Organizations
Gustavus has dozens of officially recognized student-run organizations, including religious organizations advancing various aspects of spiritual community, ministry, study, and outreach. We also encourage students with ideas for a type of organization not currently represented to apply to start one!
What does a Christian nursing school curriculum look like?
Prospective nursing students might wonder, how does being a Christian school affect my nursing education at Gustavus?
The Gustavus educational tradition
Gustavus Adolphus College is one of 26 colleges and universities carrying on the Lutheran intellectual tradition through higher education in association with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As an ECLA college, we focus on the healthy development of the whole person: physical, intellectual, psychological, relational, and spiritual. This includes facilitating students to thoughtfully discern a vocation or calling, freely explore the big questions that accompany that, and graduate from college ready to lead lives of purpose.
These guiding principles inform everything we do at Gustavus, from academics to Christian and interfaith resources to campus health and wellness programs.
Nursing school and the liberal arts
In keeping with our Lutheran academic heritage, Gustavus is a liberal arts college first and foremost. Our curriculum is coordinated across programs and majors to provide students with a rigorous, cross-disciplinary education grounded in the humanities. This includes our nursing program, which offers students a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN).
To succeed in the field of health care, nurses need not only technical expertise but also excellent problem-solving skills, critical thinking capacities, emotional intelligence, and cultural literacy. To this end, nursing program students receive a strong core education in the arts and humanities, choosing from a range of elective classes that foster creative expression, philosophical exploration, and the development of excellent oral and written communication skills.
As part of their core degree requirements, nursing students take at least one course in theological or ethics.
The Gustavus Adolphus nursing major
The nursing curriculum at Gustavus approaches the discipline of nursing holistically, educating future nurses to dive deep into the political, cultural, spiritual, and material factors that impact the field of health care generally and the care of patients specifically. With a broad view of health care and its intersecting complexities, future nurses learn to situate themselves in the nursing profession as global citizens, servant leaders, thoughtful decision makers, and compassionate patient advocates.
Faculty
Our expert nursing faculty teach 100% of classes in the program and are dedicated nurse mentors, bringing decades of diverse professional experience to each 40-student nursing cohort. Historically the average Gustavus class size is only 15 students, allowing nursing faculty to offer one-on-one guidance to every student. By keeping our program small and our faculty well-resourced, we’re able to ensure that our students get the full benefit of the skills and experience our nursing professors bring to the classroom.
Curriculum
The first two years of your nursing degree will focus on liberal arts classes and nursing prerequisites such as biology, chemistry, and psychology courses. Junior-year nursing students learn fundamental nursing and health assessment skills and begin participating in clinical nursing experiences in acute care settings.
Senior-year nursing students hone in on specialty nursing disciplines including pediatric nursing, psychiatric nursing, public health, and advanced medical-surgical nursing. Clinical and lab experiences intensify, and nursing students are prepared to transition into the professional world with continued skill-building in leadership, management, and research.
Experiential learning
Our nursing degree program offers comprehensive hands-on training in the science of nursing, including extensive clinical experiences in a variety of settings in coordination with our local healthcare partners. Our state-of-the-art nursing simulation labs on campus feature medium and high-fidelity manikins, allowing nursing students to enact medical scenarios that closely mimic real-life situations.
Junior-year nursing students take an intensive Research and Ethics in the Health Sciences class, with the option for embarking on an original, independent research project in collaboration with a faculty member. Nursing students are also encouraged and facilitated to pursue a summer nursing internship between their junior and senior years to gain valuable clinical experience going into their final nursing studies.
Sophomore nursing students have the option to do a college semester abroad, and senior nursing students can opt into a public health nursing immersion program where they’ll travel and do health promotion and clinical care in the communities of Fairbanks and Utgiagvik, AK.
Graduates
Nursing students graduate from Gustavus ready to take the NCLEX exam to become an RN, and Gustavus nursing graduates with an RN license are also certified as public health nurses in the state of Minnesota. Typically around 90% of our nursing college graduates pass the NCLEX-RN on their first try, and Gustavus nursing majors historically enjoy 100% placement rate within 6 months of graduation.
Christian values and Gustavus programs
Our five core values at Gustavus are excellence, community, justice, service, and faith. With these interconnected values front and center, we support our nursing students every step of their college journey, providing multi-layered networks of mentoring and wellness programs to promote their ongoing health and success as students and as people.
If you’re looking for a nursing degree program at a Christian school that is dedicated to your holistic health, Gustavus Adolphus College might be the nursing school for you! Contact us for more information, visit our college campus, and discover what our nursing program has to offer you as a future nursing professional.
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