A Pioneering Partnership to Educate Nurses
Saint Mary’s College of California is the first institution to partner with Dr. Maria O’Rourke, grounding its BSN program in Professional Role Clarity.
Saint Mary’s College of California has partnered with Dr. Maria O’Rourke and the O’Rourke Institute in the development and launch of its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. From the outset, this collaboration has shaped an innovative approach to nursing education—one that clearly differentiates Saint Mary’s and prepares graduates for the realities of contemporary nursing practice.
Dr. O’Rourke is a nationally recognized leader in nursing education whose work centers on Professional Role Clarity: helping nurses clearly understand their responsibilities, authority, and ethical obligations in caring for and advocating for patients. Through her work with hospitals, clinics, and health systems, she has emphasized that strong clinical skills must be paired with a clear professional role identity.
This partnership marks the first time the O’Rourke Institute has formally affiliated with a college nursing program. At Saint Mary’s, Professional Role Clarity is embedded throughout the BSN curriculum, ensuring that students graduate not only as competent clinicians, but as confident professionals prepared to lead, collaborate, and advocate in complex healthcare environments.
Strengthening Nursing Practice and Patient Care
At Saint Mary’s, the partnership with the O’Rourke Institute means SMC Nursing faculty design curriculum and approach their work with that sense of role clarity. That also means SMC Nursing students are able to undertake clinical placements with a clear sense of what their role and responsibilities are. They understand the why as well as the what behind their work.
Dr. Pamela Stanley, who heads the SMC Nursing Program, has observed what a difference role clarity makes for nurses at all stages of their careers. “They show up differently,” she says. “It benefits their work with patients and families, and it makes for more effective communication.”
Nursing students who bring those skills from the outset bring a value-add to the place where they work and the people they serve.
Defining Nursing for Today’s Needs
Maria O’Rourke has played a significant role in shaping how nursing is understood and practiced in today’s healthcare environment. Her work has focused on clarifying the nurse’s professional role—particularly the responsibility to serve as a patient advocate—and on ensuring that healthcare settings reinforce, rather than undermine, that role.
Central to this work is communication. As part of Professional Role Clarity, nurses must be able to communicate clearly and effectively in moments that are often brief, high-stakes, and complex—conveying essential information while keeping patient advocacy at the center of care.
“This has a real impact on patient outcomes,” says Dr. Daniel Doolan, Academic Director for Saint Mary’s Nursing Program. “Here, we’re putting patient advocacy up front and framing what students learn through the lens of the professional role of a nurse. It’s much more than learning tasks. That framing helps students make deeper sense of the knowledge they’re gaining.”
By defining nursing in this way, the program prepares students to enter clinical settings not just ready to perform skills, but ready to think, communicate, and advocate as professionals from the very start of their careers.
Building a Signature Approach to Nursing Education
In addition to building its Nursing program around Professional Role Clarity, Saint Mary’s has partnered with Maria O’Rourke to offer continuing education opportunities for practicing nurses. Alongside preparing new nurses for the profession, the program is designed to support healthcare partners across California through seminars, workshops, and related professional learning initiatives.
“From the outset, we made a deliberate decision to ground the program in the O’Rourke Role Clarity Model for Professional Nursing Practice,” says Dr. Carol Ann Gittens, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. “Saint Mary’s is the first institution to take this approach at the undergraduate level. We’re already seeing interest from other institutions who recognize the strength of this approach and the clarity it brings to nursing education.”