Undergraduate Programs

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Overview                                                                 School of Nursing Fact Sheet

The School of Nursing undergraduate program leads to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). This program is available to qualified high school graduates, non-nursing baccalaureate graduates, and qualified transfer students. The basic program includes four years of study and is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to practice as professional nurse generalists upon graduation. The general and professional education acquired in this program provides a basis for the graduate to progress to positions of increasing responsibility and to undertake graduate study.

The BSN curriculum gives students a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. Courses in the natural, biological and behavioral sciences, as well as the University core courses, support the philosophy that provides the basis for the organizing framework of the professional nursing program. Professional nursing courses, which constitute the major, include theory and practice in the nursing care of individuals, families and aggregates.

Prior to graduation, students are required to successfully complete requirements designed to prepare them for taking the NCLEX-RN exam. Upon the successful completion of the program of studies, graduates are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN examination for licensure as an RN.

School of Nursing Conceptual Framework

The curriculum flows logically from the conceptual framework originally developed by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. The Synergy Model suggests that patient outcomes are enhanced when the nurses’ competencies are compatible with the characteristics or needs of the patient. When applied in the educational system, the center of attention for the model is the students and their learning. In the academic environment, developmental needs of the students are advanced when faculty competencies are aligned with the learning needs of nursing students. The competencies of the nurse identified in the model are those the faculty envisions as essential to the success of the nurses’ interventions. Underlying all of the nurses’ competencies is the unique contribution of nurses to provide “safe passage” for patients and their families through the health care environment. According to Curly (1998) these competencies are:

0. Clinical judgment – clinical reasoning that underpins decision-making in clinical practice, includes the assessment of given patient care situations, and nursing skill.
0. Advocacy and moral agency – representing the interests of the “other” and identifying and working to manage or explain ethical and clinical concerns. This dimension acknowledges the unique trust inherent in the nurse patient relationship.
0. Caring practices – constellation of nursing activities that are responsive to the uniqueness of the patient, family, group and community and create therapeutic environment. Caring practices include: vigilance, engagement and responsiveness.
0. Facilitation of learning – ability to use self to maximize patients’ learning.
0. Collaboration – working with others to promote and encourage each person’s contribution to achieving optimal goals for the patient. This includes intra and interdisciplinary work.
0. Systems thinking – appreciating the care environment and the interrelationships within and across health care systems.
0. Response to diversity – sensitive to recognize appreciate and incorporate differences between and among people along multiple dimensions in the provision of care.
0. Clinical inquiry – process of questioning and evaluating practice, assessing evidence base of practice and innovating through research and learning.

Program Outcomes

At the completion of the nursing program, the student will:

0. Integrate clinical judgment skills when implementing care for individuals, families, groups, and community.
0. Justify one’s practice through the implementation of the role of being a moral agent.
0. Display a caring attitude in all aspects of one’s practice.
0. Institute collaborative efforts for the improvement of care to individuals and for improvement in health care delivery.
0. Demonstrate the ability to utilize integrated systems analysis for personal and professional navigation of the health care delivery systems.
0. Integrate cultural sensitivity in caring for individuals/families of diverse populations.
0. Engage in evidence based practice.
0. Incorporate teaching into all aspects of one’s practice.
0. Evaluate the interrelationship of nurse competencies and the patient characteristics to patient outcomes.