West Chester University Pennsylvania

Nursing Programs Offered

RN to BSN Program Details

The BSN for the RN curriculum is specially designed for licensed Registered Nurses to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. You must currently be a Registered Nurse (or near graduation from an ADN program) to enroll in this program.

BSN Program Details

The department offers the Bachelor of Science in Nursing . A student graduating with this degree should be able to function as a self-directing professional, should have the knowledge and skills necessary to begin a career as a professional nurse, and should have an educational foundation that will allow him or her to hold leadership positions in the health care community.

The Department of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and is approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.

In addition to meeting West Chester University entrance requirements, applicants for nursing must have completed work equal to a standard high school curriculum, consisting of a minimum of 16 units. Specifically, a student should have four units of English, three units of social studies, two units of mathematics (one of which must be algebra), and two units of science with a related laboratory or the equivalent. A combined score of at least 1000 is expected on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT 1).

Students in the BSN program have a wide variety of clinical experiences including acute care, community health, day care centers, schools, retirement centers, nursing homes, and a veterans hospital. Individualized instruction is provided in the clinical setting with a 1:10 faculty/student ratio. A learning laboratory is available on campus to allow students to practice their psychomotor skills prior to actual contact with clients. BSN graduates have obtained jobs in many settings including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, community agencies, physicians' offices, etc. Most BSN graduates continue on with graduate study after a few years of experience as a professional nurse.

MSN Program Details

The Master of Science in Public Health Nursing program allows the graduate student to focus on the specialty area of his or her choice and apply it to community health nursing. The MSN prepares a nurse to serve as a clinical nurse specialist public health nursing. Each candidate also selects functional preparation in education, administration, or integrative health. The program incorporates individualized clinical experiences into the curriculum, and students are taught by full-time, doctorally prepared faculty.

The curriculum prepares professional nurses for careers in specialized public health care fields. The graduate will have developed the expertise of the a clinical specialist, the investigative skills of a nurse researcher, and the leadership skills needed to influence health care systems and policy development. Graduates of the program may choose employment in such areas as case management, birthing centers, hospice care, home health agencies or in integrative (complementary/alternative) health care settings.

All graduate students take the 18-credit community health nursing core and the 6-credit research course sequence. These courses include:

NSG 522 Epidemilogy
NSG 501 Nursing Theories and Issues
NSG 502 Perspectives of Public Health Nursing
NSG 503 Principles and Practice of Public Health Nursing
NSG 504 Advanced Concepts of Public Health Nursing
NSG 505 Nursing Research I
NSG 506 Nursing Research II

The functional component requires completion of 12 credits in administration, education, or integrative health courses. Relevant electives also are required in order to support the academic focus within the chosen functional area and will complete the required 39 semester hours.

Prior to the beginning of each of the three clinical courses, students must provide the graduate program coordinator with evidence of current Pennsylvania RN licensure, current liability insurance, and a completed health assessment form.

Accelerated BSN Program Details

Advance-2-BSN was developed in response to the present and projected nursing shortage. It enables the student with a previously earned baccalaureate degree to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and be eligible to take the NCLEX-RN exam (National Council on Licensure Examination for the RN) upon successful program completion. This intensive program builds upon the student's previous education.