Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)

Change Your Life. Change The World.

Nursing is an exciting profession with countless opportunities, and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is the doorway into the profession. For 19 years in a row, nursing has been voted the most trusted profession in the United States, and nursing employment is expected by grow by 7% over the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Nursing is recognized as the best BSN program in the state on two lists that measure quality. The college has the highest-ranked BSN program in Tennessee on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of undergraduate nursing programs in its Best Colleges 2022 list. And the “Nursing Schools Almanac” ranked UTHSC as No. 1 in Tennessee on its list of Best Prelicensure BSN programs based on the college's pass rate on the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

The college offers two pathways to the BSN. Our Accelerated 2nd-Degree BSN Program is a 12-month degree program designed for students who have earned a bachelor's degree (non-nursing) prior to acceptance and who are interested in becoming registered nurses. Our Traditional BSN program is a four-semester program designed for students who have earned prerequisites and wish to complete their nursing degree in our dynamic health science center. Both programs are concept-based and prepare graduates for the NCLEX-RN. Nursing graduates provide care throughout the lifespan including the planning, management, and coordination of care across environments. Due to the rigorous nature of the accelerated program, outside employment is strongly discouraged.

 

 

BSN Program Outcomes 

The graduate of the BSN Program will be able to:

1. Engage in clinical reasoning to make decisions regarding patient care.
2. Deliver safe, evidence-based, compassionate, holistic patient and family-centered care across the health and illness continuum.
3. Advocate for individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.
4. Implement population-focused wellness promotion and illness prevention strategies that consider determinants of health and available resources.
5. Use effective communication and collaborative skills for professional practice.
6. Demonstrate accountability for personal and professional standards of moral, ethical, and legal conduct.
7. Evaluate quality improvement processes to optimize safe health care outcomes for individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.
8. Employ leadership principles to improve patient outcomes across healthcare systems.
9. Exhibit a commitment to continuous self-evaluation and lifelong learning.

General Education Competencies

General education competencies for the BSN program are:

• Critical Thinking
  Students will demonstrate their ability to solve problems, construct and present cogent arguments in support of their views, and understand and evaluate arguments presented by others. (NSG 414 Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice)
• Communication
  Students will demonstrate appropriate skills in planning, preparing, and presenting effective oral and written presentations. (NSG 410 Professional Issues & NSG 415 Health of Populations )
• Interprofessionalism
  Students will be able to explain interprofessional practice to patients, clients, families, and/or other professionals, describe the areas of practice of other health professions, and express professional pinions competently, confidently, and respectfully while avoiding discipline specific language. (NSG 419 Internship)

General education competencies will be measured via student performance on oral presentations written critiques of research papers, and papers written in capstone courses in the above italicized courses.

Technical and Performance Standards

All students admitted to the BSN program must meet the following core performance standards for admission and progression.

 

Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree in nursing program at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791, http://www.ccneaccreditation.org. 

The BSN Program is accredited by CCNE through June 30, 2030, and approved by the Tennessee Board of Nursing.

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White Coat Pledge

When students receive their White Coats and begin clinical education, they make a pledge that says, in part: "I will promote, advocate for, and strive to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient."

Concept-based curriculum
in the BSN program

Concept-based curriculum (CBC) and teaching facilitates the development of high level thinking skills such as clinical reasoning, which is essential to effective nursing practice and the growth of the profession. 

Concepts enable the joining together of isolated facts. A few examples of concepts include safety, ethics, caring, informatics/technology, professionalism, and leadership The concepts are taught through the use of exemplars, which are sample cases of the concept that the nurse may experience in practice.

The baccalaureate nursing program is organized around key concepts. These concepts are categorized in three domains:

• Healthcare Recipient
• Health and Illness
• Professional Nursing and Healthcare