Mission
The mission of the Southern Wesleyan University RN to BSN Nursing Program supports that of the university by creating a culture of excellence and facilitating a Christ-centered, student-focused environment where professional nurses will be prepared to practice servant leadership and ethical, evidence-informed, collaborative practice supporting individuals, families, communities, and diverse populations.
Vision
The Southern Wesleyan University RN to BSN Nursing Program aspires to be recognized as a faith-based, Christ-centered program of nursing known for helping its students to find their unique purpose in life along their individual journeys to impact the lives of others.
Philosophy
The RN to BSN Nursing philosophy supports the university’s mission statement and reflects the institution’s vision to impact the lives of others. The philosophy’s foundation is reflected in the definitions of its basic concepts of caring science and servant leadership. The program learning outcomes/graduate competencies are based on the Massachusetts Nurse of the Future competencies that are in turn informed by the Theory of Caring Science (Watson, 2008) and Servant Leadership (Greenleaf, 1070) competencies.
The philosophy focuses on developing virtuous servant leaders through emotional health, spiritual maturity, and leadership that is informed by caring science. Virtuous leadership incorporates the classical human virtues most essential to leadership - magnanimity, humility, prudence, courage, self-control and justice; including the Christian supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Virtuous leadership demonstrates how these virtues will be developed to promote personal transformation in nursing students.
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)/Graduate Competencies:
The RN to BSN graduate will be expected to demonstrate:
LO 1 Patient-Centered Care: Holistic care that recognizes an individual’s preferences, values, and needs and respects the patient or designee as a full partner in providing compassionate, coordinated, and culturally appropriate, safe, and effective care.
LO 2 Professionalism: Accountability for the delivery of standard- or evidenced-based nursing care that is consistent with moral, altruistic, legal, ethical, regulatory, and humanistic principles.
LO 3 Communication, Collaboration, and Teamwork: Will interact effectively with patients, families, and colleagues, fostering mutual respect and shared decision making, to enhance patient satisfaction and health outcomes (NOF, 2017). Will function effectively within nursing and interdisciplinary teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, shared decision making, team learning, and development (Adapted from QSEN, 2007).
LO 4 Informatics and Technology: Use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making (QSEN, 2007).
LO 5 Patent Safety and Quality Improvement using Evidenced-Based Practice within Systems Environment: Will minimize risk of harm through individual performance and system effectiveness (QSEN, 2007). Uses data to monitor the outcomes of care processes, and uses improvement methods and the best current evidence coupled with clinical expertise to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care (QSEN, 2007).
LO 6 Emotionally-healthy Servant Leadership: Will lead by example in influencing the behavior of individuals or groups of individuals within the system environment in a way that will facilitate shared meaning in a culture of mutual respect and value for each other and for the achievement of shared goals.
Note: Activities, assignments, and assessments will reflect the program’s mission, vision, philosophy, and organizing framework.
ANA Code of Ethics for Nursing
All professional nurses are expected to provide ethical care. All students should review the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses.
American Nurses Association, Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, Washington, DC: American Nurses Publishing, 2001.
ANA Standards of Nursing
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice inform the program curriculum (Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) competencies (2007) and Massachusetts Nurse of the Future (NoF) Nursing Care Competencies© (2016)). and will serve as a guideline for scholarly activities. Please bookmark the document for routine use.
Source: American Nurses Association (2010). Nursing scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.), 2010. Silver Spring, MD: Nursebooks.org
Admission Requirements
In order to be considered for Southern Wesleyan University’s RN to BSN Nursing Program, the candidate must have met the following degree and licensure requirements. Candidate must:
- have earned an Associate’s Degree in Nursing with at least 60 transferable credit hours from a regionally accredited college or university.
- have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 from all colleges and universities attended. If a candidate’s GPA is below 2.75, the student may be admitted on a conditional basis on the recommendation of the Undergraduate Admissions Committee, based on criteria set by the Dean of the RN to BSN Nursing Program. Students who are admitted with conditional status must earn a minimum 2.00 SWU GPA for their first semester of enrollment at SWU. If the minimum cumulative SWU 2.00 GPA is not attained, the student will be administratively withdrawn from the RN to BSN Nursing Program with no semester of academic probation.
- complete an application for admission.
- submit the $25 admission application fee.
- provide proof of current, unencumbered RN licensure (USA). License must be active for the duration of the student’s enrollment.
- provide official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.
Transfer Credit
Transfer credit is generally accepted from regionally accredited colleges and universities provided such transfer courses meet SWU degree requirements and transfer-quality accreditation standards. ADN graduates may earn transfer credit for up to 35 credit hours of ADN coursework with a minimum earned grade of C- for each transfer course. Acceptable transfer ADN coursework is determined by university transfer policy and the Dean of the RN to BSN Nursing Program.
Progression Requirements
Nursing students must:
- complete each nursing foundation course under the faculty at Southern Wesleyan University. RN to BSN foundation courses completed at other colleges or universities will not meet nursing foundation core or elective requirements nor will degree requirement waivers or substitutions be granted.
- complete each nursing foundation course and required nursing elective with a minimum grade of “C-” or higher. A nursing course with an earned grade of less than “C-“ must be repeated.
- maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher on nursing foundation courses and nursing electives.
- complete all nursing foundation courses prior to enrolling in NURS 4956 Baccalaureate Capstone: Synthesis & Evaluation.
- fulfill the graduation requirements as stated in the catalog for the academic year of the nursing student’s initial enrollment or academic year of re-enrollment for students who withdraw from the program for any period of time.
- provide a criminal history background check, drug testing, and immunization tracking as required by the facilities where the student chooses to complete his or her service projects and capstone course.
- carry basic medical malpractice insurance. Affordable rates and basic plans are available to nursing students through online services recommended by the Nursing Program.
Graduation Requirements
Nursing students must:
- complete the Core Curriculum.
- complete ENGL 1003 and ENGL 1013 with a minimum grade of C-.
- complete the nursing foundation courses and required nursing elective with minimum grades of “C-” and a cumulative 2.00 GPA taken under the faculty at Southern Wesleyan University.
- complete a total of 120 semester credits with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00.
- satisfactorily participate in all required School of Nursing and University assessment activities.
- be recommended by the faculty and approved by the Trustees of Southern Wesleyan University.
- complete the application for graduation. It is the student’s responsibility to meet all requirements for graduation and apply for graduation by the dates specified in the University calendar.
- pay all financial obligations.
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