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 BSN curriculum aligns with the AACN Essentials for entry level professional nursing education, and 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 Nursing degree planner will ensure completion of the nursing program in eight (8) semesters, 124 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.

Degree Planner

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 - Introduction to Professional 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 124-unit program meets university core curriculum requirements as reflected in the following:

Program Learning Outcomes

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

• or

• 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. More information is outlined in the BSN student handbook in sections 3 and 4.