Nursing Major

Roles of the Professional Nurse

The nursing process is represented by the strong foundation in clinical knowledge pertaining to assessment, diagnosis, skills, interventions and management of physiological and psychological symptoms in a culturally sensitive way among patients in a variety of settings.

• Professional nurses make informed and responsible choices that help shape the future of the nursing profession and the future of society (leader); they are the advocates for their clients and for their right to self-determination (advocate); at the baccalaureate level, they are first-level managers who supervise direct providers of patient care (manager).
• Research is the basis of and the process for validating and improving care; the professional nurse evaluates and uses research findings and the research process to plan and provide care (consumer of research).
• Professional nurses provide, coordinate, and/or direct the care of individuals, groups, families, and other aggregates of the community (case manager); they provide a unique service that takes the form of a helping relationship whereby the helper and the helped evolve through a facilitative process of self-exploration, better understanding, commitment to change, and appropriate action (communicator).
• Caring, compassion, responsiveness to human and system needs, and adherence to legal and ethical principles are essential elements of professional nursing practice (caregiver).
• Teaching is a major role of the professional nurse (teacher).
• The nurse engages in joint decision-making regarding actions towards the prevention and/or resolution of client health problems and promotion of optimum health. The collaboration always includes the client and significant others as well as all appropriate health care providers (collaborator).
• The nurse engages in actions toward limiting the incapacitation caused by health problems and toward the prevention of recurrences of health problems (rehabilitator).

Additional Requirement (CA BRN)

The California Board of Registered Nursing requires that before nursing graduates are eligible to take the NCLEX, they must successfully complete courses (earn a “C” or better) in the basic sciences and communication as well as nursing.

At USF, aside from the Nursing requirements and required support courses, students must successfully complete a course in group, verbal, and written communication. These courses include Public Speaking (RHET 103 ) and Written Communication (RHET 120 ). These courses are met by the core curriculum requirements of the university. Due to the uniqueness of the School of Nursing and Health Professions curriculum, clinical courses are not graded “A” through “F” as most courses are, but graded “S” (Satisfactory) or “U” (Unsatisfactory). Clinical courses in nursing will be counted toward a nursing student’s full-time status. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to make the Dean’s Honor Roll.

The nursing faculty has adopted the Quality, Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies as major pre-licensure threads in the BSN curriculum in order to promote improved quality and safety of the health care system. These competencies include: teamwork and collaboration, evidenced-based practice, quality improvement, informatics, safety, patient-centered care. In addition, the nine essentials outlined in the AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice document provide a framework for baccalaureate nursing education. These include: liberal education, leadership and organization, evidence based practice, information management, health care policy and finance, inter-professional communication, prevention and population health, and general nursing practice.

The proposed BSN curriculum also adheres to the Standards of Competent Performance mandated by the CABRN Excerpt From California Code of Regulations Title 16 - Chapter 14. A registered nurse shall be considered to be competent when he/she consistently demonstrates the ability to transfer scientific knowledge from social, biological and physical sciences in applying the nursing process.

The BSN Curriculum

The nursing curriculum is integrated, progressing along a life span continuum. This approach to learning allows the student to progress through the nursing program along a path similar to that of the growth and development of individuals.

BSN students in their first semester will be introduced to nursing at USF in a 1 credit course, NURS 120 Nursing in the Jesuit Tradition and the following semester they will be introduced to the profession of nursing in a 1 credit course NURS 170, Introduction to Professional Nursing. These two courses encourage engagement into the university and the SONHP as well as provide foundational information to the nursing program and profession. These introductory courses as well as anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and general psychology must be successfully completed (grade of C or better) before enrolling in the first clinical semester.

The nursing semesters are offered in a consecutive manner throughout the eight semester nursing program, which includes the nursing major courses and the university Learning Core courses. These courses are arranged in a prescribed sequence and each block of courses must be taken concurrently and passed successfully with a “C” or better in order for the student to proceed to the next level of courses. Adherence to the BSN Curriculum Pattern  will ensure completion of the nursing program in eight (8) semesters, 128 credits.

The pre-licensure course work for the nursing curriculum is divided into didactic and clinical courses. Clinical courses also include time in the nursing Learning Resource Center (LRC) and the Nursing Simulation Center (Sim Lab). Students are placed in a variety of clinical settings including hospitals, clinics, public health, and a variety of community agencies to apply what they have learned in their didactic classes, the nursing LRC, and Sim Lab.

Nursing Courses

The courses in the nursing major extend over six of the eight semesters. These courses are arranged in a prescribed sequence and each block of courses must be taken concurrently and passed successfully with a “C” or better in order for the student to proceed to the next level of courses.

The nursing curriculum is integrated, progressing along a life span continuum. This approach to learning allows the student to progress through the nursing program along a path similar to that of the growth and development of individuals. The initial courses that students take are NURS 120 - Nursing in the Jesuit Tradition I  and NURS 170 - Intro Prof Nursing Practice . These two courses encourage engagement with the university and the SONHP, as well as providing foundational information for the nursing program and profession. Students must have successfully completed the nursing support courses of anatomy, physiology, microbiology, and general psychology before enrolling in their first nursing module.

The pre-licensure coursework for the nursing curriculum is divided into didactic and clinical courses. Clinical courses also include time in the Nursing Learning Resource Center (LRC) and the Nursing Simulation Center (Sim Lab). Students are placed in a variety of clinical settings, including hospitals, clinics, public health and a variety of community agencies, to apply what they have learned in their didactic classes, the Nursing LRC, and Sim Lab.

The 128-unit program meets university core curriculum requirements as reflected in the following:

Program Learning Outcomes

At the completion of the Bachelor of Science in nursing program at the University of San Francisco, the graduate will:

• Work collaboratively as a member of the interdisciplinary healthcare team, utilizing effective written and oral communication, and professional behaviors to foster shared decision making and accountability among team members for patient care outcomes
• Synthesize data, research information, and clinical expertise to develop, implement, and evaluate patient care protocols and guidelines for clinical practice that achieve optimal client outcomes, improve access to care, and manage healthcare costs
• Participate in critical analyses of systems and utilize data to continuously monitor patient outcomes and to inform decisions for change that improve the quality of care delivered to individuals, families and communities
• Advocate for social justice, equitable access to health care, and policy change through political action
• Demonstrate health care technology and information literacy to access, monitor, manage, and communicate data to plan, deliver, and evaluate direct and indirect patient care to improve healthcare outcomes
• Demonstrate knowledge of regulatory requirements to employ safeguards to protect the privacy of patients and their healthcare data
• Employ knowledge of human factors implicated in adverse patient outcomes to continuously analyze the delivery and outcomes of care within the context of the healthcare system to identify and minimize patient risk, harm, and error
• Design, coordinate, implement, and evaluate population-sensitive care to individuals, families, and communities utilizing primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies in a variety of environments
• Incorporate caring and compassionate behaviors to demonstrate advocacy and respect for patient choice and values that are ethically and legally grounded

Major Requirements (67 units)

All major courses require a C grade or higher.

Nursing Support Courses

• BIOL 113 - Human Anatomy
• BIOL 114 - Human Anatomy Lab
• BIOL 115 - Human Physiology
• BIOL 116 - Human Physiology Lab
• BIOL 134 - Microbiology
• BIOL 135 - Microbiology Lab

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• MATH 101 - Elementary Statistics

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• PSYC 260 - Psychological Statistics

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• PSYC 101 - General Psychology

BRN Certification Courses

Note:

Students may not drop or withdraw from any clinical course if their performance has been deemed unsafe. They will receive an immediate grade of “Unsatisfactory” for the course and be removed from the clinical.

Nursing faculty will utilize the following procedure related to unsafe practice in the clinical setting by a nursing student:

• Provide detailed, progressive, written evaluation on an Academic Improvement Form in a timely manner, share this with the student and encourage the student to sign the form.
• Clearly identify problems with failure to meet standards for safe practice as outlined in clinical syllabus.
• Document specific recommendations for achieving student improvement in collaboration with student.
• Provide definitions of expectations of the clinical that are not being met.
• Communicate with the department chair to inform them of potential student problems and seek consultation and support.
• Initiate a Learning Resource Center Student Referral Form (BSN Nursing Student Handbook - Appendix G) if the problem is related to skills weakness. This provides the student with the opportunity to improve psycho-motor skills. In general, the skills deficiency should be corrected within one week of the initiation of the form.