Fisk University

Nursing Programs Offered

BSN Program Details

Fisk University has joined with the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) to launch a Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing. This unique cooperative program of study will provide students with an experience in the liberal arts environment of a small university and a two-year clinical experience at a research-based university and hospital center. The program received final approval from the State Board of Nursing on September 4, 2003.

Students in the program will spend the first five semesters at Fisk in a liberal arts program of study with an emphasis on ethics strongly complemented by three semesters at Vanderbilt with training in undergraduate nursing education. The Fisk/Vanderbilt Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing curriculum meets the requirements of the Tennessee Board of Nursing for a professional nursing degree with initial approval for enrollment of students in September 2003. Upon successful completion of the combined programs of study the degree will be awarded by Fisk University.

This unique combination of study on two different campuses will provide students with the training to function as a bachelor’s degree nurse and have the required foundation to pursue masters and doctoral studies in nursing. Students in this program have the opportunity to apply for early admission to Vanderbilt’s Masters in Nursing program during their seventh semester. The program will be administered by Fisk and Vanderbilt’s Senior Associate Dean of Nursing who will serve as the Director of Nursing at Fisk.

Fisk University and Vanderbilt University School of Nursing have collaborated in a joint degree program since 1989. VUSN closed its BSN program in 1989 to focus on the preparation of masters graduates for the nursing profession. Currently there is a senior year in absentia option, whereby students complete 3 years of coursework at Fisk and enter the 6 semester sequence of the VUSN “bridge” masters in nursing program. Fisk University counts the first two semesters of the VUSN program as meeting degree requirements at Fisk and awards a bachelors degree in nursing after successful completion of these semesters. The student continues at VUSN for the additional four semesters and receives the MSN from Vanderbilt.