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2014-2015 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2014-2015 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Nursing, RN-BSN Completion Option
 

The RN-BSN Completion Option provides registered nurses quality instruction through a multi-dimensional distance-learning environment, allowing students to further their education while maintaining their current professional careers. Adventist University of Health Sciences collaborates with Pearson-Embanet in the delivery of the distance education. Students participate in a virtual community of learners and are mentored via online communication. The lead instructor and section adjuncts monitor student success. Students have up to five years (60 months) from their start date to complete the program. Bridge students have up to seven years (84 months) from their start date to complete the program.

Admission

Applicants are considered for admission when they meet the following admission requirements:

  1. Submit an application online and nonrefundable $20 application fee. Paperwork received without an application on file will not be processed. Admission files will not be considered complete until the application fee is paid.
  2. Submit official transcripts from all colleges previously attended. Admission GPAs will be calculated based on credits and grades from regionally accredited institutions only. Failure to disclose all colleges previously attended could result in denial or dismissal. Additionally, transcripts from institutions outside the United States must be evaluated by World Education Services. This is the only company which we will accept transcript evaluations from.
  3. A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 on at least 12 college-level credits.
    1. Diploma graduates who do not have college credit for Phase I courses must complete each required course with a minimum grade of “C” (2.00) and earn a cumulative GPA of 2.50 before being considered for admission to the Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Option (see Diploma Graduates in the Nursing section for more information).
    2. Associate degree graduates who have not completed the prerequisite courses must complete each course with a minimum grade of “C” (2.00) and earn a cumulative GPA of 2.50 before transitioning into the Baccalaureate degree program (see Pre-BSN section below).
    3. A current license to practice as a registered nurse in his or her state of residence or practice. If the student is a new or international graduate, the applicant must be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN but must have obtained a valid license prior to enrolling in the last DNRS (nursing) course.
  4. Submit official transcripts for all College Level Examination Program (CLEP), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and/or Dantes (DSST) coursework, only if the applicant would like them to be considered for transfer of credit.
  5. Submit two recommendations on ADU Recommendation Forms. All applicants must submit a recommendation from an employer/supervisor if employed within the last five years. Applicants who graduated within the last five years must submit a recommendation from their basic nursing program faculty.
  6. Present verification of tuberculosis screening. If test is positive, refer to the Communicable Disease policy in the Student Handbook for additional information.
  7. Present updated immunizations, including hepatitis B.
  8. Present certification in professional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from the American Heart Association, including infant, child, and adult CPR.

It is recommended that applicants who lack recent work experience in nursing (five years or more) take an RN refresher course prior to enrolling in clinical nursing courses.

Pre-BSN for the RN to BSN Completion Option:

Pre-BSN status is given to those applicants who have an active RN License and have graduated with an Associate of Science degree from a regionally-accredited institution, but have not completed the prerequisite courses for the RN-BSN Option (see Prerequisite courses in the Curriculum section). Students will begin Bachelor of Science Completion Degree Option coursework once all requirements have been successfully met.

Bridge Requirements for the RN to BSN Completion Option

Bridge status will be granted to those applicants who have an Active RN License and have graduated from a Nursing diploma program,or graduated with an Associate of Science degree from a non-regionally accredited institution. Students admitted to the Bridge path will be granted 36 college credits by validation for having successfully passed the NCLEX-RN exam and holding an active RN license.

There are two phases to the Bridge path. Phase I involves the successful completion of 39 credit hours of lower division credit as outlined below. Students accepted to the Bridge path are granted regular admission status and must complete all of the Phase I requirements before starting Phase II. During Phase II, students will begin the Bachelor of Science Completion Option coursework. It is recognized that Bridge students may transfer some credits from regionally-accredited institutions. Combined with the 36 hours of credit by validation, the Bridge student will have a total of 75 lower division credits at the completion of Phase I. The following courses are required and must be completed with a minimum grade of “C” and a cumulative GPA of 2.50:

Phase I Curriculum

Cognate Requirements

Total: 24

General Education Requirements

Total: 15

Credit for Prior Course Work

Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Option Nursing Coursework

Transfer of RN-BSN Completion option nursing coursework is subject to approval from the Department Chair and Academic Administration. All courses must satisfy the math and science transfer policies of Adventist University of Health Sciences (ADU). The BSN core coursework includes service learning hours and must be completed at ADU to meet the service learning requirements. The RN-BSN completion option includes service learning hours that must be completed while enrolled at ADU.

Associate Degree Nursing Coursework

Graduates of regionally-accredited Associate degree programs may have a maximum of 32 trimester hours of nursing credit transferred as Associate degree credit and applied toward the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Students admitted to the RN to BSN, Pre-BSN, and Bridge path will be granted 32 college credits by validation for having successfully passed the NCLEX-RN exam and holding an active RN license. These credits will be transferred as Associate degree credits and applied toward the Bachelor of Science Completion Degree (see the College-level Credit by Examination).

Graduates of international nursing programs will be evaluated on an individual basis. International transcripts must be accompanied by official copies of translations and a course-by-course evaluation. Foreign transcripts must be evaluated (course-by-course evaluation) and/or translated by an evaluation organization approved by Enrollment Services. Information regarding the approved organizations may be obtained from the Office of Enrollment Services.

General Education and Cognate Courses

Once enrolled in the RN-BSN Completion option, students must seek prior approval from the Department Chair and the Office of Academic Administration (see the Transient Policy ) before taking any general education or cognate course at another regionally-accredited institution. Failure to have prior approval may result in earned credit not being accepted for transfer to ADU.

Associate Degree Graduates

Graduates of regionally-accredited Associate degree programs will be considered to have met the Associate degree general education and cognate requirements. Twenty-four (24) lower division credits will be transferred in from the AS degree into the RN to BSN Completion Option to ensure that students graduate with 127 credits. If 24 college-level credits cannot be found, additional elective courses will be required to make up the missing credits.

If the following courses or the equivalent were not included in the Associate degree, they must be completed prior to admission to the Bachelor of Science Completion degree option (see Pre-BSN section): a general computer course, CPTR 105 ; English Composition I, DENG 101 ; English Composition II, DENG 102 ; Survey of Inorganic Chemistry, DCHE 111  and Survey of Organic and Biochemistry, DCHE 112 .

Diploma Graduates

For more information, please see the Bridge Requirements for the RN to BSN Completion Option section.

Community Clinical Activities

The RN-BSN Completion option includes clinical projects that are completed in community settings, as well as service learning projects. Students are responsible for investigating and meeting the clinical agency requirements to complete Service Learning and/or clinical projects in the community.

Progression

Students may progress in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Completion option when they:

  1. Maintain current licensure to practice as a registered nurse in their state of residence or practice. New or international graduates must be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN and must successfully take the NCLEX-RN by the end of the third trimester of enrollment or prior to registering for DNRS 499 .
  2. Earn a minimum grade of “C” (2.00) in each RN-BSN Completion option course and maintain a minimum RN-BSN Completion option nursing GPA of 2.50. Evaluation of the nursing GPA occurs when 20 RN-BSN Completion option nursing credits have been satisfied.
  3. Earn a minimum grade of “C” (2.00) in each cognate and general education course.
  4. Successfully repeat all courses in which the minimum grade of “C” (2.00) was not achieved. No more than two courses may be repeated, only one of which may be a nursing course. Courses may be repeated in the following combinations: one nursing course and one cognate course, one nursing course and one general education course, two cognate courses, or two general education courses.

Readmission

Students who have been accepted to the University and choose not to enroll for the specific trimester for which they were admitted have one year from the date of acceptance before all new documents will be required. Additionally, students who attended Adventist University of Health Sciences (ADU) and left the University in good standing with an enrollment interruption of less than three trimesters are also required to submit an ADU Program Change and Reactivation Form, any updated transcript(s) for additional college work completed during the enrollment interruption, and an updated copy of licensure or professional registration. Students may submit this information in the third trimester of their enrollment interruption as long as all documentation is received by the admission deadline for the following trimester. Students providing this documentation during the third trimester, but after the admission deadline, will be required to reapply and should contact the Office of Enrollment Services.

Completion

Adventist University of Health Sciences (ADU) will consider students for graduation and conferral of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing when they have met the general requirements for graduation (see Graduation  in Academic Information  section) and when they:

  1. Complete a minimum of 127 trimester hours of credit.1
  2. Complete the prescribed course of study for the degree with a minimum nursing GPA of 2.50 and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 (see Curriculum in the RN-BSN Completion Option in the Nursing section).
  3. Achieve a minimum grade of “C” (2.00) in each nursing, cognate, and general education course.
  4. Successfully complete a minimum of 36 college-level credits at ADU to satisfy the ADU Residency Policy.
  5. Complete the service-learning requirement. Please refer to the RN-BSN Completion Option Student Handbook Supplement for more information.

1 This includes a maximum of 72 Associate degree nursing and general education credits.

Curriculum

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing Completion Option requires students to complete specific cognate and general education requirements to be considered for graduation and conferral of a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. Graduates of regionally-accredited Associate degree nursing programs will be considered to have met the Associate degree general education and cognate requirements. If Survey of Inorganic Chemistry, DCHE 111 ; Survey of Organic and Biochemistry, DCHE 112 ; English Composition I, DENG 101 ; English Composition II, DENG 102 ; or a computer course were not part of the Associate degree, they must be completed prior to registering for the first nursing course (DNRS prefix) in the RN-BSN Completion Option. Graduates of diploma or international programs will be evaluated individually.

Introduction to Microcomputers, DCPT 105 , is required for all incoming RN-BSN nursing students as a prerequisite to DNRS 324 . For students who completed an equivalent course, the five-year time limit will apply with regards to transfer of credit (please refer to the Transfer of Credit  policy for math, science, and computer courses).

Baccalaureate Degree Prerequisite Requirements

Baccalaureate Degree Prerequisite Requirements: 15

Baccalaureate Degree Cognate Requirements

Baccalaureate Degree Cognate Requirements: 6

Baccalaureate Degree General Education Requirements

Baccalaureate Degree General Education Requirements: 17

1 A.S. Nursing students planning to continue into the B.S. Nursing Program should wait to take these Religion courses during the B.S. Nursing portion of the program. Six credits of upperlevel Religion are required, and these are the only courses of this type offered online. If these courses are taken during the A.S. Nursing portion of the program, they may not be used again in the B.S. Nursing degree.

2 DHMN 325  Healing Words or any college-level humanities course will meet the humanities requirement for the Baccalaureate Degree General Education Requirements.

Bachelor of Science Completion Option Nursing Requirements

Bachelor of Science Completion Option Nursing Requirements: 33

Required Graduation Credits

  • NCLEX-RN Credit by Validation (32)
  • BSN Prerequisites + ASN general education requirements or Phase I coursework (39)
  • BSN Cognate and General Education Requirements (23)
  • Bachelor of Science Nursing requirements (33)

Total Credits: 127

Suggested Program

Students should contact the Department of Nursing for advising and assistance in planning a program of study. Individual programs of study will vary, based on each student’s needs and extracurricular responsibilities.

Nursing Courses

It is recommended that students complete the lower-level courses (300-level) before the upper-division (400-level) courses. Many nursing courses include theory and clinical projects. Total clock-hours of theory time and clinical projects are based on 55 minutes of classroom instruction per credit hour per 14 weeks (one trimester). Theory and clinical projects of each nursing course must be satisfactorily completed in order for course credit to be granted. Online nursing courses are designated by the DNRS course letters.