Department of Foundational Practice and Community-Based Care

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

The College of Nursing offers two pre-professional baccalaureate programs. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) pre-licensure undergraduate program is open to students beginning a nursing career. Students in this program complete approximately four academic years of full-time study.  The RN-BSN undergraduate program is open to registered nurses who completed an Associate Degree in nursing and who wish to obtain a bachelor's degree in nursing. Students in this program complete approximately one year of full-time study.

The program of study for both types of students leads to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Undergraduate nursing programs at WSU are approved by the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission and nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

BSN Students

Students with no previous preparation in nursing may complete pre-nursing course work (first and sophomore years) at Washington State University (Pullman or Tri-Cities campus locations), Eastern Washington University, Whitworth University, or another college or university. Pre-nursing coursework provides the student with a foundation in the natural and social sciences and the humanities. To apply for admission to the college, students must have at least 60 semester hours and all courses prerequisite to nursing completed the term prior to enrollment in the upper division.

The 300-400-level courses in the nursing major (junior and senior years) are offered at the College of Nursing in Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Yakima. These courses provide professional preparation in nursing, balancing course work with supervised clinical practice experiences in hospitals, healthcare organizations, and community settings.  Upon successful completion of the BSN program, graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX®) to become eligible for licensure as Registered Nurses.

RN – BSN Students

Students who are Registered Nurses may apply to the RN – BSN  program at any time following the completion of their basic Registered Nursing education. The RN – BSN  is offered at Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, and Yakima WSU campuses.  The program builds on pre-licensure RN competencies and is focused on additional pre-professional nursing competencies that include, research, leadership, patient care quality and safety, informatics, and population health. The program is flexible, offering hybrid course delivery. A current, unencumbered Washington State RN License or eligibility for licensure is required. Applicants must be at junior standing (60 semester hours/90 quarter hours), have completed College of Nursing prerequisite courses and WSU’s University Common Requirements (UCORE) or equivalent course work.  To apply for admission, consultation with a nursing academic advisor is required.

Transfer Students

All students who plan to transfer to nursing at Washington State University from other institutions should discuss their plans early with their academic advisor so that the pre-transfer program of study will be appropriate to nursing degree requirements. The College of Nursing offers pre-enrollment advising at campus locations in Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, and Yakima for Registered Nurses who plan to obtain the BSN from Washington State University.

Student Learning Outcomes

Program outcomes for our BSN students are: 1) Formulate nursing practice decisions using the foundation of a liberal education and evolving knowledge from nursing science, the biological and behavioral sciences, and the humanities. 2) Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision-making in the provision of high-quality nursing care, healthcare team coordination, and the oversight and accountability for safe care delivery in a variety of settings. 3) Integrate reliable evidence from multiple credible sources of knowledge including basic and health sciences to inform practice and make clinical judgments. 4) Demonstrate skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and communication devices that support safety and quality nursing practice. 5) Demonstrate basic understanding of the role of nurses in advocating for patients, communities and populations in discussions related to healthcare policy, finance, and regulations. 6) Use inter-and intra-professional communication and collaborative skills to advocate for safe, evidence-based, high quality patient-centered care. 7) Demonstrate basic understanding of the role of health promotion, and disease/injury prevention in improving population health across the lifespan. 8) Demonstrate the values central to nursing practice including altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, advocacy, social justice and life-long learning. 9) Provide safe, competent, compassionate, ethical, culturally sensitive, and evidence based nursing care to individuals, families, groups, communities and populations through promotion, maintenance and restoration of health; prevention of illness, and physical, emotional, and spiritual support throughout the life span including end of life, and across the continuum of health care environments.