University of Connecticut

Nursing Programs Offered

Accelerated BSN Programs
Adult Health Nursing - Postbaccalaureate certificate
BSN Programs
DNP Programs (Doctor of Nursing Practice)
Nursing Administration - Master's degree
Nursing Science - Doctor's degree - professional practice
Nursing Science - Doctor's degree - research/scholarship
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing - Postbaccalaureate certificate
RN Programs
RN to MSN Programs

BSN Program Details

Graduates of the University of Connecticut School of Nursing undergraduate program are liberally educated with a strong background in the humanities and sciences. Students spend their first four semesters acquiring these building blocks of knowledge. Upon admission, students are assigned a faculty advisor who assists them in planning their course of study. Most of the nursing courses are concentrated in the second half of the program. College laboratories facilitate the transfer of knowledge from theory to actual practice. The multimedia laboratory offers the student the opportunity to view a variety of videotapes dealing with theoretical knowledge, as well as technical skills and procedures. In the simulated laboratory students learn and practice physical assessment skills.

In the last four semesters students have their clinical experiences in a variety of settings. The School of Nursing is affiliated with approximately 60 to 70 health care agencies within a 50-mile radius of the Storrs campus. These include hospitals such as the UConn Health Center, schools, day care centers, housing for the elderly, extended care facilities, community health agencies, ambulatory centers, and clinics.

In addition to being with patients in the clinical setting, time is devoted to conferences with instructors and peers to discuss patient care experiences. In the clinical areas, students are placed in small groups which are guided by expert nurse faculty. Upon successful completion of the curriculum, students receive a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from the University of Connecticut and are eligible to take the licensure examination. Educated to be generalists, new graduates of this program work as beginning level practitioners in the broad spectrum of health care agencies. Each graduate has the necessary background for admission to graduate school.

MSN Program Details

The Graduate Program at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing began offering courses in September 1971. Our graduates are located in many states and countries. Approximately 30 to 40 students graduate each year. The Clinical Nurse Leader Master of Science Program prepares students for advanced practice, with several options for specialization. This option can be pursued by RN’s through the RN to MS program.

The purpose of the master’s program is to prepare advanced practice nurses with specialized knowledge, skills and values. Graduates assume leadership roles in the health care system and advance practice and the discipline of nursing by applying existing nursing knowledge and using a spirit of inquiry to examine and test nursing knowledge.

Accelerated BSN Program Details

The University of Connecticut RN to Master’s (RN to MS) program is designed for self-starting, self-paced RNs who have earned a diploma or associate degree from an NLN accredited program in nursing. The RN-MS program for students without a baccalaureate degree is based at the Avery Point campus. Upon admission to the program, the student is advised by the RN-MS track coordinator. The student will change the advisor upon admission to the graduate specialty, Clinical Nurse Leader.

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Details

The Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, the first program in Connecticut, is designed to serve nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, midwives, nurse anesthetists, and administrators who prefer an alternative to doctoral programs focused on research. The program prepares practitioners at the professional doctoral level with courses focused on adding the highest degree of professional expertise in eight essential areas specified by the American Association of Colleges of Nurses (AACN). Students have the opportunity to specialize in an individual area. AACN has called for implementation of the DNP program as entry into advanced practice nursing in schools of nursing throughout the U.S. by 2015 .

“The program was developed in direct response to the national need for doctorally prepared leaders in practice,” said Anne Bavier, dean of the School of Nursing. “The program emphasizes the scientific basis of knowledge, evidence-based practice, and development of leadership expertise within advanced practice nursing.”

The UConn program was approved from the state Board of Governors of Higher Education in April and the School’s first class now has 16 enrolled and has enormous growth potential.