Nursing Major (B.S.)

The nursing program faculty believe learning is a creative process wherein students are active participants in their education, growth, and development as professional nurses. Faculty members are facilitators and mentors to students within a supportive, scholarly environment.

The curricula are divided into biological, social sciences, and humanities as a foundation for courses in the major, and nursing courses, which emphasize relationship-based care, reflective thinking, clinical decision making, and the application of evidence-based guidelines to develop quality and safe clinical skills. Clinical experiences are offered in area health facilities, community health agencies, and a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory. The senior year culminates in a capstone practicum, NURS 721C Integrating Professional Nursing Practice Clinical, in which students apply curricular concepts in a precepted clinical experience. Candidates for the nursing degree must satisfy all of the University Discovery Program requirements in addition to satisfying major requirements. Discovery courses listed below require a C or better in the major.

A grade of C or better in high school chemistry is also required, as well as biology or physics.

A course in statistics (HHS 540, PSYC 402, SOC 402, MATH 439) must be completed prior to, or taken concurrent with, nursing research.  The statistics course also requires a C or better in the major. 

Prerequisite courses require grades of C or better and only one prerequisite course may be repeated one time in order to progress. Most of the prerequisite courses also meet Discovery requirements. Major courses require a minimum grade of C. Nursing courses may not be repeated. A cumulative grade-point average of 2.5 must be maintained throughout the program.

Students are responsible for their own transportation to clinical agencies, uniforms, professional equipment, health insurance coverage, yearly criminal background checks, drug screening, fingerprinting, yearly health assessment, and select immunizations and titers. Students must maintain certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the American Heart Association Basic Life Support for Healthcare Professionals level. All clinical documents must be received by July 1st before the sophomore year, except flu vaccine, which is due by October 15th, and remain up to date until graduation. Clinical documents cannot expire during the academic year; documents that must be submitted yearly must be dated between May 1 and June 30. Students will be assessed a late fee if clinical documents are not received by the due date. Students will be dropped from nursing courses if documentation is not received by the first day of class. Additional costs associated with the program include, but are not limited to, simulation laboratory fees, fees associated with program requirements, and attendance at professional meetings.

Honors-in-Major Program

The Honors-in-Major Program is offered to interested junior nursing students who achieve a minimum grade-point average of 3.75 in NURS courses and cumulative GPA of 3.4 at the end of the sophomore year in nursing and/or junior nursing students who are members of the University Honors Program.  A total of 18 credits taken at the honors level is required for the Honors-in-Major Program.  Orientation to the Honors-in-Major Program is held at the beginning of junior nursing year.  Students must successfully complete with a grade of B or better 8 additional credits of honors coursework drawn from the following courses:

Honors-in-major students must also successfully complete with a grade of B or better:

These self-directed learning experiences, related to the student's interests, are designed to help students acquire advanced knowledge and skills to undertake inquiry or scholarly projects. Students must submit a project description to a faculty adviser at the beginning of the senior year. Students present the results of this study at the Nursing Inquiry Day.

Degree Plan

¹

May be taken fall or spring semester

²

May be taken fall or spring semester.

³

PSYC 402 Statistics in Psychology, SOC 402 Statistics, MATH 439 Statistical Discovery for Everyone, HHS 540 Statistics for Health and Human Service Professionals

⁴

May be taken fall or spring semester

Major Requirements

The undergraduate student is prepared to:

• Synthesize core knowledge from the liberal arts, sciences, and nursing as the foundation of professional practice.
• Integrate knowledge and skills to assess, design, implement, and evaluate nursing care in a safe, compassionate, culturally sensitive, evidence-based manner.
• Engage clients, families, and communities in collaborative decision-making incorporating evidence-based knowledge and anticipatory guidance.
• Employ team leadership and collaborative skills with other health professionals to optimize client and system outcomes.
• Recognize the influence of complex health systems on health care practice and advocate for policies that promote a socially just, patient centered healthcare system.
• Engage in scholarly inquiry to identify, evaluate and integrate the best current practice.
• Integrates health promotion, clinical prevention strategies when providing care at the individual or population level.
• Incorporates principles of patient safety and risk mitigation when using healthcare technology and therapeutics in the provision of care.
• Uses effective written, verbal, and nonverbal communication strategies when engaged in professional practice.
• Embrace professional values embodied in the ANA code of ethics.