The College prepares students for employment and professional development in the field of nursing. Nursing care is about providing quality patient care in public and private health entities. In the Kurdistan Region as well as in Iraq Prime there is a great need for a well-developed nursing sector within the health services. Furthermore there is a huge deficiency in the numbers of degree qualified nurses. The current lack of nurses has been derogatory to the quality of our health service. There is an urgent need for highly skilled nurses who can collaborate with members of the health care teams to provide health services with international standard.

Inspired by its mission of serving the local and regional community; the American University of Kurdistan has embarked on the opening of the College of Nursing to cater for the needs of the health service in the region and beyond. The aim is to graduate highly skilled nursing professionals to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients. The training of professional nurses in this college will be modelled according to highest standards of interdisciplinary nursing requirements followed in US universities.

The American University of Kurdistan is committed to working in partnership with the Department of Health in Duhok as well as universities, health and social care organizations in the US to provide solutions for the evolving needs of health services in Kurdistan and beyond.

The mission of the College of Nursing is consistent with the mission and vision of the American University of Kurdistan (AUK), which is to support values-based liberal arts and professional education to all students in achieving their educational goals in an environment of academic and scholarly excellence. The AUK College of Nursing is to prepare caring, innovative, professional nurses, who are leaders in addressing the health care needs in the region and beyond that improve the health and wellness of local, national and global communities.
The faculty of the College of Nursing, as well as the University, prepare students for lifelong learning by providing an engaging and supportive teaching and learning environment for students of diverse origins, experiences, needs, abilities, and goals.

The vision of the College of Nursing is committed to providing quality nursing education and scholarly training so that students become compassionately highly academically qualified nurses, educators, leaders and scholars of a diverse, sustainable, global society.
The College of Nursing is dedicated to serving our community through improving economic achievement, advancing civic engagement, enhancing personal well-being, promoting critical thinking, and enriching aesthetic and cultural experiences. The training of professional nurses in the College of Nursing will be modeled according to the highest standards of interdisciplinary academic nursing requirements followed in US universities.
  • Demonstrate integrity, caring, accountability, respect and excellence in nursing practice.
  • Collaborate with patients and health professionals to develop and implement culturally appropriate health promotion, disease prevention and illness care methods.
  • Apply evidence-based knowledge to guide and teach individuals, families and populations regarding health promotion and illness prevention.
  • Demonstrate essential nursing competencies when providing patient-centered nursing care using the nursing process and evidence-based outcomes to accommodate societal/cultural differences.
  • Adhere to ethical and legal standards and promote a positive image of professional nursing.
  • Apply healthcare team coordination and accountability for care delivery and decision making in a variety of settings.
Core Values are the beliefs that describe, define, and direct the work of the College of Nursing through the University and its operations. Inspired by the Core Values of the University, the College of Nursing has discovered its Core Values that provides a fundamental set of guiding principles to promote excellence in nursing education, research, practice, and service.

CARING: Caring encompasses the interest, concern, compassion and mentoring we demonstrate for our students, our patients, our communities and each other. Caring is central to nursing practice.

DIVERSITY: Diversity is fostering the potential of every individual through sensitivity, social justice, and cultural competence.

EXCELLENCE: Excellence is supporting the highest quality in an environment of collaboration, shared knowledge, innovation, scholarship, leadership, and competence.

INTEGRITY: Integrity is acting with honesty, fairness, and sincerity in all endeavors in an ethical and professional manner.

NURSING INNOVATION: Nursing innovation is the conversion of knowledge and ideas into meaningful work through creativity, entrepreneurship, and pushing beyond the boundaries of the current situation.

SCHOLARSHIP: Scholarship is to discover and disseminate new knowledge and using nursing scholarship to practice evidence-based care. As a practice profession and an academic discipline, nursing is an art and science.

SERVICE: Service is to commit to the people of the Region and beyond by providing high-quality nursing programs to promote the health of all people. We provide nursing expertise and service at the University, Kurdistan Region, Iraq Prime, and international levels.

RESPECT: Respect is acknowledging the value of ourselves and others by treating them with dignity, responsiveness, courtesy, and consideration.

The department is committed to conducting research to advance the field of Information Science and address the needs of the region.

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Faculty

Susie Chen, PhD

Dean, College of Nursing