Nursing (Pre-licensure B.S.N. in the College of Arts and Sciences)

Faculty

Nancie Bruce, Nursing Program Director
Danielle Artis, Assistant Professor
Karen Bartice, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Dahlman, Assistant Professor
Stephanie Denison, Clinical Coordinator
Janet Flynn, Assistant Professor
LaVerne Green, Assistant Professor
Denise Jarboe, Assistant Professor
Kathryn Mancusi, Assistant Professor
Denise McKain, Assistant Professor
Daphne Waite, Assistant Professor

Description

Designed for students just starting their studies in nursing, Trinity’s Pre-Licensure BSN Program combines the academic structure and clinical preparation necessary for a career in nursing. Students focus initially on liberal arts courses that provide a framework for their chosen major in nursing. The rigorous academic coursework in the nursing program then lays the foundation for a progressive mastery of the knowledge, skills, values, ethics, and abilities required of a professional nurse. Toward the end of the program, students will have ample opportunities to experience firsthand the rewards of nursing in numerous, closely supervised clinical settings. The culmination of the program is the successful completion of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, after which students are qualified to practice as licensed registered nurses.

Major Requirements

I.   CAS GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS (17 credits)

  • Critical reading (3 credits) CRS 101 Critical Reading Seminar or CRS 102 CRS: Prof & Career Success in the Health Professions
  • Written communication (3 credits or waive by assessment placement above ENGL 107 College Composition level)
  • Oral communication (3 credits) COM 110 Communication for Academic Success
  • Critical reasoning (5 credits required) NURS 117 Foundations for Professional Nursing Practice and NURS 117L Foundational Skills for Nursing Practice
  • Quantitative reasoning (3 credits) MATH 108 Finite Mathematics or higher

KNOWLEDGE AND INQUIRY (34 credits)

  • Social sciences (complete 9 credits in 3 different disciplines)
    • Economics or Political Science ECON 100 Principles of Economics, ECON 101 Introduction to Microeconomics, ECON 102 Introduction to Macroeconomics, POLS 201 Civil Rights and Liberties, POLS 211 Women and the Law, POLS 231 Introduction to Comparative Politics or POLS 241 Introduction to International Relations
    • Psychology PSYC 101 Introductory Psychology
    • Sociology SOCY 100 Introduction to Sociology
  • Sciences and mathematics (complete 7-8 credits, of which one course must be in laboratory science)
    • Biology BIOL 121 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
    • Chemistry CHEM 113 Chemistry for the Health Sciences
    • Math MATH 110 Introduction to Statistics
  • History, arts, and literature (9 credits) Complete one course in each discipline.  Two courses must be taken at the 300-400 level to meet the General Education requirement as well as the Nursing major requirement.  The 3rd course must also meet General Education requirements.
    • History: HIS 128 Creation of the Atlantic World, HIS 130 Introduction to American Civilizations, HIS 133 Travelers' Tales, HIS 135 Upheavals of War: War and Social Change or designated 300-400 level course
    • Fine Arts:  FNAR 101 Survey: History of Art I, FNAR 102 Survey: History of Art II, FNAR 145 Introduction to Music Literature, FNAR 205 Modern Art, FNAR 241 Experiencing Musical ArtFNAR 243 Blues, Jazz, Gospel, and Ragtime, FNAR 247 Women in Music History, FNAR 313 United States Art, FNAR 315 Twentieth Century Art or designated 300-400 level course
    • Literature:  ENGL 150 Writing about Literature, ENGL 220 African American Literature, ENGL 267 Multicultural United States Literature, SPAN 213 Latina VoicesENGL 370 Ethics and Social Change in Global Literature, ENGL 381 Literary Representations of Nursing or designated 300-400 level course
  • Foreign language (6-8 credits)

VALUES AND BELIEFS  (6 credits)

  • Religious Studies and Theology (3 credits) (RST 101 Religion and Human Experience, RST 265 Western Religion and the Family, RST 290 Religions of the World, RST 310 The Bible as Literature in its Historical Context, THE 121 Introduction to Catholic Theology, THE 223 Christ, Church, and Social Justice or PHIL 235 Philosophy of Religion: can also be taken at the 300-400 level in substitution for one of the two required upper-level General Education course requirement with dean’s permission
  • Philosophy (3 credits) PHIL 251 Bioethics

APPLICATIONS: TURNING KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION (6 credits)

  • Civic knowledge (3 credits) NURS 220 Health Promotion, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care
  • Leadership (3 credits) NURS 410 Leadership and Management of Health Care

 GENERAL EDUCATION CAPSTONE SEMINAR

General Education Capstone Seminar (taken in first semester of senior year in the Nursing program): NURS 330 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice (totals 3 credits)

II. ADDITIONAL COURSES FOR STUDENTS INTENDING TO DECLARE A NURSING MAJOR

  • BIOL 121 Human Anatomy and Physiology I (4 credits) (this also fulfills General Education Knowledge and Inquiry)
  • BIOL 122 Human Anatomy and Physiology II (4 credits)
  • BIOL 130 Microbiology for the Health Professions (4 credits)
  • CHEM 113 Chemistry for the Health Sciences (4 credits) (this also fulfills General Education Knowledge and Inquiry)
  • HPNU 200 Nutrition, Diet Therapy, and Health Promotion (3 credits)
  • HPNU 210 Pathophysiology (3 credits)

III. NURSING-SPECIFIC DIDACTIC AND CLINICAL COURSES

  • NURS 215 Pharmacology
  • NURS 220 Health Promotion, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care
  • NURS 330 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice
  • NURS 350 Medical-Surgical Nursing I and NURS 350C Medical-Surgical Nursing I Clinical
  • NURS 360 Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and NURS 360C Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical
  • NURS 361 Medical-Surgical Nursing II and NURS 361C Medical-Surgical Nursing II Clinical
  • NURS 410 Leadership and Management of Health Care
  • NURS 420 Community and Public Health Nursing and NURS 420C Community and Public Health Clinical
  • NURS 461 Pediatric Nursing and NURS 461C Pediatric Clinical
  • NURS 460 Maternity and Newborn Nursing and NURS 460C Maternity and Newborn Nursing Clinical
  • NURS 480 Nursing of Older Adults
  • NURS 491 Senior Clinical Seminar and NURS 491C Senior Clinical Practicum
  • NURS 492 NCLEX Preparation

IV. ADDITIONAL NURSING SKILLS-RELATED COURSES

  • NURS 117 Foundations for Professional Nursing Practice and NURS 117L Foundational Skills for Nursing Practice (this also fulfills General Education Foundational Skills Critical Reasoning)
  • NURS 262 Introduction to Health Assessment
  • NURS 362 Comprehensive Nursing Health Assessment and NURS 362L Comprehensive Health Assessment Skill Lab
  • NURS 417L Comprehensive Nursing Skills

V. DC BOARD OF NURSING-REQUIRED UPPER-LEVEL GENERAL EDUCATION ELECTIVES
(6 credits) (see General Education requirements above for ways in which this requirement can be filled.)

Program Policies

I.   Acceptance into the CAS Pre-Licensure BSN Nursing Program

A.  Acceptance Criteria:

Formal acceptance requires:

  1. Successful completion of ALL required courses with a grade of “C” or higher.
  2. Overall GPA of at least 2.5
  3. Satisfactory score on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)

Pre-licensure BSN students should direct any questions about the process for formal acceptance into the Nursing Program to their undergraduate advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

B.  Application Process for Acceptance:

  1. Students should apply early in the semester PRIOR to the semester of their projected acceptance date.
  2. Students should take the TEAS within two years of applying to the nursing program.  Students may take the TEAS up to three times.
  3. Students will be notified by the Nursing Program Director of the results of their application when all criteria for considering the application have been received and evaluated.

Questions regarding the application process, acceptance criteria, or TEAS should be directed to the Nursing Program Office (202.885.9670) or to the student’s undergraduate advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

II.    Health Requirements*

  • Current physical examination
  • Current immunizations
    • Tetanus/diptheria (TD booster within 10 years)
    • MMR – (two vaccines or a positive titer)
    • Varicella – (Chicken pox) – (two vaccines or a positive titer)
    • Hepatitis (series of 3 vaccines given with a 6 month period.  All 3 vaccines must be completed before students can participate in the clinicl portion of the program.)
    • PPD (Tuberculosis skin test given within the last 6 months with followup chest X-ray if the skin test result is positive.  A new skin TB test must be completed annually once a student is accepted into the nursing program.)
    • Influenza (Annual)
  • Current major medical health insurance

NOTE: No student will be allowed to participate in clinical experiences unless and until these health requirements have been satisfied.

III.    Other Requirements

  • Satisfactory results of a criminal background check – including all aliases and nationwide sexual offenders index with a set of fingerprints.  (Criminal background check is at the students’ expense and must be completed prior to the start of the clinical portion of the nursing program.)
  • Negative results on a drug screening test. (Drug screening test is at the students’ expense and must be completed prior to the start of the clinical portion of the nursing program.)
  • BLS/CPR certification for the Health Care Provider
  • Clinical agencies may have additional health or safety requirements which students are required to meet prior to receiving access to the clinical placement site

NOTE:  No student will be allowed to participate in clinical experiences unless and until these other requirements have been satisfied.

IV.    Transfer Policy

Students transferring to Trinity in or after Fall 2002 from another appropriately accredited institution of higher learning for a bachelor’s degree must earn a minimum of 45 of their final 60 credits through course work at Trinity, excluding credits for experiential learning.  Therefore, students may transfer up to 83 credits to fulfill the pre-licensure BSN degree requirements of 128 credits.

V.    Grades in Major Courses

Students are required to earn a grade of “C” (2.0) or better in all courses counted to fulfill requirements for the major.

VI.    Pass/No Pass

The pass/no pass grading option is not accepted in courses to be applied for the major.

VII.    Transportation

Students are required to provide their own transportation to and from clinical sites.  Trinity’s free shuttle service connects the Main campus with the Brookland metro station.

Course Descriptions

NOTE:  Students must be formally accepted into the CAS Pre-Licensure Nursing Program before taking any course designated as a NURS course.

BIOL 121 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
BIOL 122 Human Anatomy and Physiology II
BIOL 130 Microbiology for the Health Professions
CHEM 113 Chemistry for the Health Sciences
CRS 101 Critical Reading Seminar or CRS 102 CRS: Prof & Career Success in the Health Professions
HPNU 200 Nutrition, Diet Therapy, and Health Promotion
HPNU 210 Pathophysiology
MATH 108 Finite Mathematics
MATH 110 Introduction to Statistics
PHIL 251 Bioethics
PSYC 101 Introductory Psychology
SOCY 100 Introduction to Sociology
NURS 117 Foundations for Professional Nursing Practice and NURS 117L Foundational Skills for Nursing Practice
NURS 215 Pharmacology
NURS 220 Health Promotion, Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care
NURS 262 Introduction to Health Assessment
NURS 330 Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice
NURS 350 Medical-Surgical Nursing I
NURS 350C Medical-Surgical Nursing I Clinical
NURS 360 Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
NURS 360C Psychiatric and Mental Health Clinical
NURS 361 Medical-Surgical Nursing II
NURS 361C Medical-Surgical Nursing II Clinical
NURS 362 Comprehensive Nursing Health Assessment
NURS 362L Comprehensive Health Assessment Skill Lab
NURS 410 Leadership and Management of Health Care
NURS 417L Comprehensive Nursing Skills
NURS 420 Community and Public Health Nursing and NURS 420C Community and Public Health Clinical
NURS 460 Maternity and Newborn Nursing and NURS 460C Maternity and Newborn Nursing Clinical
NURS 461 Pediatric Nursing and NURS 461C Pediatric Clinical
NURS 480 Nursing of Older Adults
NURS 491 Senior Clinical Seminar
NURS 491C Senior Clinical Practicum
NURS 492 NCLEX Preparation