Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing

As a traditional BSN student, you will engage in practical clinical experiences designed to prepare you for a rewarding career in nursing. Using UP’s new, state-of-the-art nursing simulation facility, you will graduate ready to meet the challenges facing today’s registered nurses.

Woven into our traditional BSN curriculum is mission-focused, care-driven course content across the nursing and liberal arts and sciences disciplines. UP’s traditional BSN curriculum emphasizes a quality education centered around serving patients, especially those who are poor and vulnerable.

As a graduate of the traditional BSN program, you will be a leader in healthcare who utilizes excellent communication, clinical skills, and leadership qualities. You will use your education to enhance the nursing profession by providing evidence-based nursing practice that is population centered and grounded in spiritual, ethical, and compassionate care of all those you will serve.

Graduates of the traditional 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 traditional BSN degree program prepares students to sit for the NCLEX exam.

All interested students will first apply for Direct Entry Admission. Direct Entry admission will be competitive and is designed for candidates who have demonstrated academic excellence and have a strong understanding of the Nursing Profession.

Direct Entry Admission requires NO ADDITIONAL APPLICATION once admitted to the University of Providence’s traditional BSN program as a freshman. Students are enrolled in the official BSN curriculum beginning their first semester.

*Direct Entry Admission is available to freshman applicants only.

Criteria for Direct Entry Admission

Students applying through Direct Entry Admission must meet the following criteria:

• Completed NursingCAS application by the August 21, 2023 containing:
  • Personal Statement addressing knowledge of the Mission of the University of Providence.
    • As a Roman Catholic institution, the University of Providence is called to teach and to heal as Jesus did. Led by the teachings of the Catholic Faith, the University holds Jesus Christ as the core model of who we are and strive to be as a community… compassionate, inclusive, and always mission driven. How would you contribute to the mission of the University of Providence, both as a future student, and after graduation, in your professional nursing practice?
  • Personal Statement addressing interest and experience with the nursing profession
    • Please explain your interest in the Nursing profession.  Please be sure to include information about your knowledge of and experience with nursing, and how the nursing program at UP aligns with your professional goals. 
• Two professional letters of recommendation
• 3.0 cumulative high school GPA
• Completion of two years of science (biology and chemistry recommended)
• Completion of high school math through Algebra II

The Pre-Nursing pathway will feature focused advising from Nursing faculty, opportunities to explore nursing, and a brief internal application to join the traditional BSN program once certain goals and criteria are achieved. The path to traditional BSN program admission is designed for the following students:

1. Students who initially begin enrollment at UP in a NON-NURSING PROGRAM and later decide to change their academic program to nursing.
2. Any student who is not selected for Direct Entry admission but decides to enroll at UP with the goal of enrolling in the Traditional BSN program later on.

Internal applications for pre-nursing students will be open EVERY SPRING TERM for possible admission/entry into the Nursing program each fall.

Criteria for Pre-Nursing Admission

Students applying through Pre-Nursing admission must meet the following criteria:

• Current enrollment at the University of Providence as a degree-seeking student, either Pre-Nursing or under another major.
• Completion of the following courses:
  • COD 100 – Corps of Discovery
  • CHM 101 – Introduction to Chemistry
  • ENG 117 – Writing Essays
  • TRL 201 – Introduction to Theology
• A minimum cumulative grade point average of a 3.0
• No more than two repeated or withdrawn courses considered to be a prerequisite or part of the nursing curriculum.
• Students should be in good academic standing at the University of Providence and have no conduct violations.

Applications for the Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing program are accepted for the fall and spring semesters. All applications must be submitted through the NursingCAS Application on the Undergraduate Admissions Page:

• NursingCAS Spring 2024 Admissions Deadline: December 20, 2023
• NursingCAS Fall 2024 Admissions Deadline: August 16, 2024

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 Traditional 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

The traditional BSN degree program will begin accepting applications in the spring of 2023, sponsored by a generous gift from the Vander Werff family. The traditional BSN program will be administered over a 4-year duration through an on-campus, in-person learning experience. Students will utilize a brand-new, state-of-the-art nursing simulation facility to practice and build core competencies and skills in nursing practice.

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

• Person-centered Care
• Communication
• Leadership
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Care coordination
• Evidence-based practice
• Research and scholarship
• Quality improvement
• Safety
• Informatics
• Legal and ethical reasoning
• Clinical reasoning

Traditional BSN students at the University of Providence graduate able to:

• Integrate a compassionate and ethical understanding of the human experience into nursing practice using the foundations of a liberal arts education.
• Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision-making to engage healthcare teams in creating, promoting, and managing safety and quality outcomes.
• Apply nursing practices that are informed by research, evidence-based practice, and innovation to optimize health.
• Utilize information technology to communicate, mitigate errors, and make improved clinical decisions related to the care of diverse populations.
• Advocate to influence change in legal, political, social, and economic factors that transform healthcare delivery.
• Collaborate with the inter-professional team to improve patient/family outcomes and the work environment.
• Provide compassionate, spiritual, ethical, and culturally appropriate care across the lifespan and the continuum of care.
• Practice preventive care, health promotion, and disease intervention across care settings for self, individuals, families, the community, and populations.
• 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.
• Demonstrate reflective nursing practice.

UP’s traditional BSN students will take courses in the liberal arts and sciences and nursing curriculum. Over the course of enrollment, students will take a total of 120 credit hours over four years – with the first two years focusing on liberal arts and sciences and the second year building foundational and clinical skills in nursing.

Students will take 60 credit hours of liberal arts and science courses, including biology, chemistry, and math prerequisites. Students will then transition into the nursing program, where the curriculum will include courses in ethics, nursing fundamentals, pharmacology, and population health. Students will learn these skills through in-person learning, interactive, on-campus skills labs, and clinical experiences.

Review the Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing program curriculum.

The University of Providence’s traditional BSN program is administered over four years. Students will enroll in 8 semesters (fall and spring) with an average of 4 – 5 classes per semester or 14 – 16 average credit hours per semester – totaling 120 credits upon graduation. Courses are delivered on a 16-week learning model for maximum course delivery.

Liberal Arts & Science Courses (First 4 Semesters)

Semester 1: Freshman Fall

• COD 100 | Corps of Discovery
• CHM 101** | Essentials of Inorganic Chemistry
• ENG 117 | Writing Essays
• FA or HST | Fine Arts or History Core
• TRL 201 | Introduction to Theology

Semester 2: Freshman Spring

• PHL 101 | What Does it Mean to be Human?
• BIO 251** | Human Anatomy & Physiology 1
• BIO 251 L** | Lab: Human Anatomy & Physiology 1
• ENG 215 | Introduction to Literary Studies
• CPS 14X & CPS 215 | Technology Module & Information Literacy
• MTH 108** | Elementary Statistics

Semester 3: Sophomore Fall

• BIO 252** | Human Anatomy & Physiology 2
• BIO 252 L ** | Lab: Human Anatomy & Physiology 2
• FA or HST | Fine Arts or History Core
• NRS PL 370 | Introduction to Professional Nursing
• TRL 301 | The Christian Life
• PSY 212 | Developmental Psychology

Semester 4: Sophomore Spring

• ILC 330 | What is Truth?
• PHL 301 | Ethics
• BIO 208** | Microbiology for Health Sciences
• BIO 271** | Basic and Clinical Nutrition

**TRADITIONAL BSN PRE-REQUISITE COURSE

*****Course listings are based on sample semesters designed to demonstrate a ‘sample’ student schedule for the first two years of a traditional BSN student. Individual student schedules may not reflect the listed order of courses found in this example*****

Nursing Courses (Last 4 Semesters)

Students enrolled in the traditional BSN degree program can expect to take the following courses in the nursing discipline in the last two years:

Semester 5: Junior Fall

• NRS PL 412*** Service Learning-Communication | Nursing Ethics & Spirituality
• ENG 300 – 309 WAC | Choice of Advanced Writing Course
• NRS PL 376 | Pathophysiology & Pharmacology 1
• NRS PL 313 | Nursing Practice Fundamentals: 2 Didactic Credits, 2 Clinical Credits
• NRS PL 425 | Health Promotion in Nursing Didactic

Semester 6: Junior Spring

• NRS PL 372 | Nursing Concepts 1: 2 Didactic Credits, 2 Clinical Credits Med/Surg
• NRS PL 430 | Clinical Concepts 1: Clinical Course Med/Surg
• NRS PL 410 | Evidence-Based Nursing Practice, Didactic
• NRS PL 378 | Pathophysiology & Pharmacology 2
• NRS PL 414 Service Learning | Population Health, Didactic

Semester 7: Senior Fall

• NRS PL 422 | Quality & Safety in Nursing Leadership, Didactic
• NRS PL 421 | Nursing Leadership: 3 Didactic Credits & 1 Clinical Credit
• NRS PL 440 | Clinical Concepts 2: Clinical Credit: Peds, OB, Psych, The Specialties
• NRS PL 374 | Nursing Concepts 2: Didactic: Peds, OB, Psych, The Specialties
• NRS PL 417 Service Learning | Global Perspectives in Healthcare Didactic

Semester 8: Senior Spring

• NRS PL 450 | Transition to Nursing Practice Clinical Credit
• NRS PL 474 | Nursing Concepts 3: Long-Term Care, Hospice, Palliative
• NRS PL 495 | Senior Seminar, Clinical Credit

*** SERVICE-LEARNING DISTRIBUTION

*****Course listings are based on sample semesters designed to demonstrate a ‘sample’ student schedule for the last two years of a traditional BSN student. Individual student schedules may not reflect the listed order of courses found in this example*****

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/