Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Accelerated BSN students will engage in a combination of educational skill labs and guided clinical immersions. By utilizing clinical facilities in Lewistown, MT, and Anchorage, Alaska – along with our partnerships with Central Montana Medical Center in Lewistown and Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, students will be exposed to various nursing disciplines, practices, and specialties.

**(Lewistown Applicants) Dormitories are NOT available to students at our Lewistown, MT site.  Students in Lewistown will need to find unaffiliated housing in the local community. In addition, Lewistown students will need to provide their own transportation to clinicals, labs, and classes as directed.**

**(Anchorage Applicants) Providence Alaska provides reduced-price dormitories for nursing students to reside on the medical center campus.  Clinicals, Labs, study rooms, and meeting places are within a 5-minute walk from the medical center. Students who choose to reside in Providence, Alaska, dormitories will be required to reach out to the Anchorage site coordinator to set that up.**

Accelerated BSN students are required to complete 54 credits of nursing coursework. Accelerated BSN coursework is delivered over a 12-month period beginning in January and concluding in December. Coursework, skill labs, simulations, and clinicals will be dispersed over three semesters, each containing two eight-week learning intensives. Students are expected to attend courses on a full-time basis, with minimal breaks between eight-week intensives and semesters. Due to the program’s intensity, students should not expect to maintain outside employment while enrolled.

The University of Providence is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) and the Montana Board of Nursing. In addition, all baccalaureate and master’s degree programs at the University of Providence are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Graduates of the accelerated BSN degree program are eligible to sit for national licensure through the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX), the exam required to become licensed to practice as a Registered Nurse (RN). The accelerated BSN degree program prepares students to sit for the NCLEX exam.

The University of Providence ABSN NCLEX Pass Rates

2020 – 94.12% | 2021 – 86.36% | 2022 – 69.70% | 2023 – 80.50%

The accelerated nursing program requires eligible students to complete the following prerequisite courses. ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY I AND II WITH LABS (8 TOTAL CREDITS) MUST BE COMPLETED AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. All additional prerequisite courses can be completed before or after admission into the program. APPLICANTS MUST COMPLETE ALL PREREQUISITES BEFORE THE START OF THE PROGRAM IN JANUARY 2025. For prerequisites to qualify for credit, they must be completed by the student with a grade of C (75%) or higher within the last 10 years.

Required at application time

• Anatomy & Physiology I with lab (4 Credits)
• Anatomy & Physiology II with lab (4 Credits)

Not required at application time

• Microbiology with lab (4 Credits)
• Statistics (3 Credits)
• Nutrition (3 Credits)

**ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY I & II MUST BE COMPLETED AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION**

Admission cycles for the accelerated BSN program applications, will start being reviewed on April 1st until June 15^th. Courses begin annually in January and run through December of the same year. Applicants must apply to the Lewistown, MT, or Anchorage, AK clinical site. Those accepted into the program must relocate to or reside in these locations at the time of the program’s start.

Important 2025 Cohort Deadlines

Applications for the 2025 BSN Cohort will start being reviewed on April 1, 2024, and will be accepted until June 15, 2024.

Learn more about our admissions process on the Undergraduate Admission Page.

The program’s mission is “to prepare graduates for accountable and professional nursing practice that is relationship-based, vigilant, theory-guided, and grounded in the best possible evidence.”

The program’s mission is supported by a conceptual framework consisting of the following constructs:

Relationship-Based Care

The University of Providence’s Accelerated BSN Degree Completion Program honors the patient and family as the center of the care delivery team. In relationship-based practice, excellent patient care outcomes are achieved through collaborative and sacred relationships among the patient, his or her family, and the healthcare team.

Vigilance

Nursing vigilance is reflected in unwavering attention to both the patient and the care delivery environment. This vigilance protects patients from harm and ensures their safe passage as they journey through the continuum of their care experience.

Professional Accountability

The professional nurse is accountable for nursing outcomes of care delivery by ensuring vigilant care processes, maintaining expertise in practice, and creating healing care environments. The professional nurse is answerable for practice that consistently meets established standards. This accountability includes the steadfast pursuit of opportunities to coach and mentor other members of the inter-professional healthcare team. Nurses are at all times responsible for their own self-care, professional development, and proactive career management.

Change

Constant, complex change is the expected norm and sets the context for contemporary life in health care delivery. Professional nurses thrive in–and are prepared to lead and manage positive change in improving health, with patients, colleagues, and communities.

A graduate of the program will be a leader in healthcare. Graduates will be excellent communicators, clinicians, and leaders of change. A graduate is a lifelong learner and will enhance the nursing profession by providing nursing evidence-based practice that is population-centered, as well as grounded in spiritual, ethical, and compassionate care.

Nursing students at the University of Providence will learn these themes and more:

• Compassion, ethics, and spirituality
• Patient and family-centered care
• Leadership and effective advocacy
• Evidence-based practice
• Population and Community Health
• Transforming healthcare
• Safety and quality outcomes
• Professional accountability
• Collaboration and inter-professional teams
• Reflective practice and lifelong development

Traditional BSN students at the University of Providence will achieve these outcomes and more:

1. Integrate a compassionate and ethical understanding of the human experience into nursing practice using the foundations of a liberal arts education.
2. Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision-making to engage healthcare teams in creating, promoting, and managing safety and quality outcomes.
3. Apply nursing practices informed by research, evidence-based practice, and innovation to optimize health.
4. Utilize information technology to communicate, mitigate errors, and make improved clinical decisions related to the care of diverse populations.
5. Advocate to influence change in legal, political, social, and economic factors that transform healthcare delivery.
6. Collaborate with the inter-professional team to improve patient/family outcomes and the work environment.
7. Provide compassionate, spiritual, ethical, and culturally appropriate care across the lifespan and the continuum of care.
8. Practice preventive care, health promotion, and disease intervention across care settings for self, individuals, families, the community, and populations.
9. Assume professional accountability to uphold the standards of nursing practice as defined by the Nurse Practice Act (in the state in which the nurse practices) and the ANA Code of Ethics.
10. Demonstrate reflective nursing practice.

Accelerated BSN students at the University of Providence will learn these skills and more:

• Critical thinking
• Complex problem solving
• Coordinating care of individuals, families, and community
• Checking and monitoring vital signs
• Time management and stamina

The University of Providence’s accelerated BSN program is administered over 12 months, starting in January and concluding in December. Students will enroll in 3 semesters with an average of 3 classes per semester or 8 – 10 average credit hours per semester. Students will complete a total of 54 credits upon graduation. Courses are delivered in two eight-week intensives per semester. Students progress through the course in the cohort model respective to their designated clinical site location.

Accelerated BSN Course Layout

Semester 1: First 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 313 Nursing Practice Fundamentals (4 credits)
• NRS PL 376 Pathophysiology and Pharmacology Concepts I (3 credits)
• NRS PL 370 Introduction to Professional Nursing (1 credit)

Semester 1: Second 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 372 Nursing Concepts I (4 credits)
• NSR PL 412 Nursing Ethics and Spirituality (3 credits)
• NRS PL 378 Pathophysiology and Pharmacology Concepts II (3 credits)

Semester 2: First 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 430 Clinical Concepts I (3 credits)
• NRS PL 410 Evidence-Based Nursing Practice (3 credits)
• NRS PL 422 Quality and Safety in Nursing Leadership (2 credits)

Semester 2: Second 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 374 Nursing Concepts II (3 credits)
• NRS PL 414 Population Health (3 credits)
• NRS PL 421 Nursing Leadership (4 credits)

Semester 3: First 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 440 Clinical Concepts II (4 credits)
• NRS PL 474 Nursing Concepts III (3 credits)
• NRS PL 425 Health Promotion in Nursing (2 credits)

Semester 3: Second 8-Weeks

• NRS PL 417 Global Perspectives in Healthcare (2 credits)
• NRS PL 450 Transition to Nursing Practice (6 credits)
• NRS PL 495 Senior Seminar (1 credit)

*****Course listings are designed to demonstrate a ‘sample’ student schedule for an accelerated BSN student. Individual student schedules may not reflect the listed order of courses listed here*****

Want to learn more about our Accelerated BSN program? Follow the links below:

• Tuition & Fees at the University of Providence
• Accelerated BSN Program: Estimated Cost Breakdown
• Accelerated BSN Program Handbook
• How to Apply to the Accelerated BSN Program
• Accelerated BSN Program: Frequently Asked Questions

At the University of Providence, we have created a platform designed to prepare aspiring nurses to serve as leaders in nursing. Our dynamic curriculum offers valuable, in-demand courses specifically tailored to meet the current needs of registered nurses while giving students the tools to become lifelong learners in healthcare practices and applications. Our graduates will meet the needs of the current workforce and be prepared to lead current and future nurses in providing quality, compassionate care to all patients through quality, evidence-based education.

Caregivers can find more information about these benefits by visiting the Heal The World page.

Caregivers who enroll in our Accelerated BSN program can receive discounted tuition rates as part of our ongoing partnership with Providence Health Services and additional employer education benefits now offered through the Guild Education Benefit. These incentives allow eligible caregivers and their dependents more ways to save on higher education. These include:

• Tuition reimbursement up to $5,250 per calendar year. This reimbursement is available to eligible caregivers at the start of each year and can be applied toward the Online RN-BSN program.
• Direct pay through Guild Education helps eligible caregivers cover most up-front program costs. (Caregivers will be able to utilize this benefit starting in the Spring 2024 enrollment period.)

Caregivers can find more information about these benefits on by visiting the Heal The World page.

The University of Providence is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Information can be found on the NWCCU website, and Comments can be directed to the NWCCU staff at the following address:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

8060 165th Avenue NE, Suite 100

Redmond, WA 98052

(425) 558-4224

www.nwccu.org

The baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in nursing at the University of Providence are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 887-6791.

https://www.ccneaccreditation.org

The University of Providence is accredited by the Montana Board of Nursing. Information can be found on the Montana Nursing Board website, and Comments can be directed to the Montana Nursing Board staff at the following address:

Montana Board of Nursing

PO Box 200513

Helena, MT 59620-0513

(406) 841-2380

https://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/nursing/