Baccalaureate Nursing Programs, set in colleges and universities, are designed to prepare graduates as generalists in professional nursing practice. Baccalaureate graduates are care givers, client advocates, change agents, concultants, case finders, teachers, and leaders. Bachelor`s of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates care for individuals, groups, families, and communities and are prepared to give nursing care in structured and unstructured settings. The BSN degree may be earned in a 4-year college or university with a major in nursing, or after completing an associate degree or diploma and completing the post diploma / ADN baccalaureate nursing curriculum.
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Educational Setting
Baccalaureate nursing programs are offered in senior (4-year) colleges and universities. Free-standing independent degree granting programs, usually supported by a health care agency in cooperation with a senior university, are alternative settings for the baccalaureate nursing program. These programs are affiliated with a college or university, but the degree is granted from the program itself.
Entry Requirements
a. Theory
Entry Requirements
Students entering baccalaureate nursing programs meet requirements of the college or university and the school of nursing that include high school graduation with college prepatory courses in English, chemistry, biological sciences, and mathematics. The college or university may also stipulate admissions tests such as SAT and specity a high school grade point average. Some schools of nursing admit or certify students only the upper division major. In these instances students must complete and demonstrate success in lower division prerequisites.
Educational Base
The baccalaureate curriculum is founded on a strong base of liberal arts and sciences. These courses are selected to develop a liberally educated person and include inquiry, literacy, understanding numerical data, historical consciousness, science, values, art, international and cultural experience, and study in depth. The liberal arts and sciences foundation composes approximately 60 credits of the 120 credit curriculum.
Curriculum
The two types of curricula preparing students for a BSN are the generic curriculum and the post associate or post diploma (two plus two, registered nurse baccalaureate, or second step) curriculum.
The generic curriculum builds on prerequisites in arts, sciences, and humanities. Nursing courses offered in the last 2 years of the program (with a few courses in the sophomore year) include the following :
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b. Research
c. Care of adults, children, and the child-bearing family
d. Psychiatric and mental health nursing
e. Interpersonal skills and group dynamics
f. Community health
g. Nursing management
h. Professional concepts with an emphasis on critical thinking, decision-making, and problem solving.
The most associate / diploma programs build on the associate degree (or diploma) curriculum of the registered nurse. General education courses are supplemented by selected liberal arts courses and include senior level courses in nursing leadership and management, community health, group dynamics, interpersonal skills, professional concepts, nursing theory, nursing research, and health assessment.
The graduate from a baccalaureate program in nursing is prepared to perform the following :
a. Provide professional nursing care, including health promotion and maintenance, illness care, restoration, rehabilitation, health counseling, and education based on knowledge devired from theory and research.
b. Synthesize theoretical and empirical knowledge from nursing, scientific, and humanistic disciplines with nursing practice.
c. Use the nursing process to provide nursing care for individuals, families, groups, and communities.
d. Accept responsibility and accountability for the evaluation of the effectiveness of their own nursing practice.
e. Enhance the quality of nursing and health practices within practice settings through the use of leadership skills and a knowledge of the political system.
f. Evaluate research for the applicability of its findings to nursing practice.
g. Participate with other health care providers and members of the public in promoting general health and well-being.
h. Incorporate professional values and ethical, moral, and legal aspects of nursing into nursing practice.
i. Participate in the implementation of nursing roles designed to meet emerging health needs of the general public in a changing society.
Degree Granted
The degree granted is a BN (Bachelor of Nursing), BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), or BA (Bachelor of Arts in Nursing).
License
The graduate from a baccalaureate program in nursing is eligible to write the NCLEX-RN examination. Registered nurse graduates from BSN programs have registered nurse licenses. At the fall 1988 meeting of the Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Council of the NLN, the council voted to support differentiated licensure. This would create two licensing examinations, one for a baccalaureate degree with a major in nursing, and one for nurses educated with an associate degree in nursing.
Accreditation Agencies and Professional Organizations
Baccalaureate nursing programs are accredited by the Council of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs of the NLN. Colleges and universities in which the program is based are accredited by higher education accrediting bodies. Professional organizations influential in baccalaureate nursing are ANA, NLN Council of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs, NCNIP, and the American Association of The Colleges of Nursing (AACN).
References :
Grace L. Deloughery : Issues and Trends in Nursing, Mosby Year Book, St. Louis, Missouri, 1991.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing : Integrity in the college curriculum : a report to the academic community, Washington, DC, 1985.
Coleman E : On redefining the baccalaureate degree, Nurs Health Care, 1986.
Miller C : Transforming the patterns of nursing education. In Looking beyond the entry issue : implications for education and service, New York, National League for Nursing, 1986.
Redman BK, Cassells TM, and Jackson SS : Generic baccalaureate nursing programs : survey of enrollment, administrative structure / funding, faculty teaching / practice role, and selected curriculum trends, J Prof Nurs, 1985.
National League for Nursing : Characteristics of baccalaureate education in nursing, New York, National League for Nursing, 1987.
