Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (586P, 586)
Program Coordinator
Dawn G. Wright, dawn.garrett@wku.edu, (270) 745-3800
The graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree is prepared to be a professional nurse who is a generalist and who has the knowledge base for graduate study in nursing. The baccalaureate degree nurse is prepared to practice nursing in a variety of healthcare settings with emphasis on comprehensive nursing care including prevention of illness, health promotion, restoration, and rehabilitation. The graduate is prepared to function in the leadership roles of the professional nurse.
The Bachelor of Science in nursing program is designed to prepare the student to write the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to become a registered nurse. Entry into the BSN program is at the junior level, following completion of all general education and nursing pre-requisite courses. The upper division BSN nursing program consists of four semesters of full-time study with 57 credit hours in the major. See School of Nursing and Allied Health website for example 4-year curriculum plan. Clinical hours are scheduled to meet clinical agency needs. Therefore, to avoid scheduling issues, it is required that students complete all non-nursing courses prior to entry into the nursing program. Students must progress as a cohort once admitted to the nursing program. Part-time progression is not currently available in the BSN program.
Pre-Nursing (586P)
Prior to admission into the nursing program, students are required to meet the university Colonnade (general education) requirements and a set of prerequisite courses required of all nursing students. Students who want to declare as a nursing major prior to admission into the nursing program are designated as Pre-Nursing students (reference 586P) and are assigned an advisor in Advising and Career Development Center. Pre-Nursing students will meet with advisors to discuss their academic preparation and determine the appropriate courses for registration. Pre-Nursing students must maintain a GPA of 3.00 or above to remain in the pre-nursing program. For more details and frequently asked questions about preparation for admission into nursing and deadlines for applications, please see the School of Nursing and Allied Health (SONAH) website.
Support services for CHHS are housed in the Advising and Career Development Center and are available to students who decide to change from Pre-Nursing to another health-related career.
Admission to the nursing program is limited and based on selection of the most qualified applicants who meet all admission requirements. The program can be completed in 4 years if the student completes all prerequisite courses, is admitted to the nursing program in the junior year and successfully completes all nursing courses in sequence.
Guaranteed Nursing Admission (GNA) to the WKU BSN program is available to first-time, full-time college freshmen and is not available for transfer students. Prior to completing the GNA application, you must apply for admission to WKU, submit your ACT or SAT scores and obtain a WKU ID number. See https://www.wku.edu/atwku/admissions.php for details.
Students seeking the GNA must have an unweighted high school or WKU Freshman GPA of 3.6 or ACT composite score of 23 or SAT composite score of 1130 or above. In addition, all students seeking entry into the WKU BSN program must be able to meet all nursing admission requirements. Please see the School of Nursing and Allied Health website for details.
If awarded a GNA, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA while a full-time student in the pre-nursing program. GNA students must also initially obtain a grade of “B” or above in the following courses: CHEM 109, BIOL 131, BIOL 231, BIOL 207, NURS 102, and NURS 337. All general education courses and nursing required prerequisite courses must be completed prior to entering the nursing program.
GNA students who maintain the above standards will be guaranteed admission to the WKU BSN program in either the Fall or Spring semester on or before the third year. If the GNA student is not able to enroll in the BSN program during this timeframe for any reason, the student will forfeit the GNA status and must reapply to the nursing program with the general applicant pool to compete for a space in the BSN program.
In addition to completion of Colonnade requirements, the following prerequisite/support courses must be completed prior to entry into the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Some nursing support courses may be used for both Colonnade and nursing prerequisites.
Required Pre-Nursing Curriculum for Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 115 | Applied College Algebra | 3 |
| or MATH 116 | College Algebra | |
| BIOL 131 | Human Anatomy and Physiology | 4 |
| BIOL 231 | Advanced Human Anatomy and Physiology | 4 |
| PSY/PSYS 220 | Introduction to Lifespan Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| NURS 102 | Introduction to Professional Nursing | 3 |
| CHEM 109 | Chemistry for the Health Sciences | 4 |
| BIOL 207 | General Microbiology | 3 |
| HMD 211 | Human Nutrition | 3 |
| NURS 337 | Health Promotion and Disease Prevention | 3 |
| Select a statistics course from the following: | ||
| Statistics | ||
| Introductory Statistics | ||
| Biostatistics in the Health Sciences | ||
| Statistics in Psychology | ||
or PSYS 313 | Statistics in Psychology | |
| Social Statistics | ||
| Social Work Statistics and Data Analysis | ||
Admission Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing:
The student must also have completed all requirements for general education (WKU Colonnade Program or approved general education certification transferred to WKU) prior to entry into the upper division BSN program.
Be admitted to Western Kentucky University.
- Complete all designated prerequisite courses.
- Have an overall grade point average of 3.00 or above for college level courses.
- Have attained a minimum of a “C” in NURS 102, NURS 337, BIOL 131 / BIOL 231, BIOL 207, CHEM 109, MATH 115 or MATH 116, HMD 211, PSY 220 / PSYS 220, and the selected Statistics course (ECON 206, MATH 183, PH 383, PSY 313 / PSYS 313, SOCL 300 or SWRK 344). Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 must have been completed no more than 5 years prior to application to the nursing program and from the same institution. Students who have obtained a minimum grade of “C” in Anatomy and Physiology more than 5 years prior to application to the nursing program must either retake the courses, or demonstrate current competency by scoring a 77% or better on the Anatomy & Physiology section of the entrance exam prior to application to the nursing program.
- Applicant must have completed three of the four pre-requisite science courses (BIOL 131, BIOL 231, BIOL 207, CHEM 109) at the time of application to the program.
- Applicant must be enrolled in the last semester of pre-requisite courses by application deadline date. Pre-requisite courses may be completed during the summer or winter term. Students must show proof of registration in these courses to be offered their seat.
- Submit application to the School of Nursing and Allied Health by posted deadline on the website.
- Students may be asked to participate in a preadmission interview and/or standardized testing. Please see the School of Nursing and Allied Health website for details.
Program Requirements (57 hours)
A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 120 unduplicated semester hours. More information can be found at www.wku.edu/registrar/degree_certification.php.
Students who began WKU in the Fall 2014 and thereafter should review the Colonnade requirements located at: https://www.wku.edu/colonnade/colonnaderequirements.php.
Students are required to take the following 57 hours and earn a grade of “C” or higher in each course:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 324 | Pathophysiology for Nursing | 3 |
| NURS 329 | Concepts in Pharmacology I | 2 |
| NURS 333 | Fundamentals of Nursing | 3 |
| NURS 334 | Clinical: Fundamentals of Nursing | 2 |
| NURS 335 | Health Assessment | 3 |
| NURS 336 | Health Assessment Lab | 1 |
| NURS 341 | Medical-Surgical Nursing I | 3 |
| NURS 342 | Clinical: Medical Surgical Nursing I | 3 |
| NURS 343 | Mental Health Nursing | 3 |
| NURS 344 | Clinical: Mental Health Nursing | 1 |
| NURS 403 | Nursing Leadership, Management, and Professional Issues | 4 |
| NURS 413 | Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice | 3 |
| NURS 421 | High Acuity Nursing | 3 |
| NURS 422 | Senior Practicum | 4 |
| NURS 429 | Concepts in Pharmacology II | 2 |
| NURS 432 | Medical-Surgical Nursing II | 3 |
| NURS 433 | Clinical: Medical-Surgical Nursing II | 3 |
| NURS 440 | Maternal Newborn Nursing | 2 |
| NURS 441 | Clinical: Maternal Newborn Nursing | 1 |
| NURS 442 | Pediatric Nursing | 2 |
| NURS 443 | Clinical: Pediatric Nursing | 1 |
| NURS 448 | Community Health Nursing | 3 |
| NURS 449 | Clinical: Community Health Nursing | 2 |
| Total Hours | 57 | |
Required Pre-Nursing Curriculum and Admission Requirements for Second Degree Baccalaureate Students Concurrently Pursuing the Combined Undergraduate Master Entry to Professional Program (MEPN) in Nursing:
Required Pre-Nursing Curriculum and Admission Requirements for Second Degree Baccalaureate students concurrently pursuing the Combined Undergraduate Master's Program in Nursing (MEPN) are BIOL 131, BIOL 231, and HMD 211. The student must have completed all prerequisite requirements prior to enrolling in upper division BSN coursework. Nine credit hours earned from NURS 535, NURS 621, and NURS 624 courses will count toward both the BSN (50 hours) and MSN (31 hours) degrees for a total of 72 credit hours in the combined MEPN program. If, after admission, a student does not wish to complete the Combined Master Entry to Professional Nursing (MEPN) program, but wishes to continue in the BSN prelicensure program, the student must complete NURS 324 Pathophysiology or other approved Pathophysiology (NURS 624 would meet this requirement) to continue in the BSN program, and complete all 57 hours of undergraduate nursing coursework. BSN and MSN learning outcomes are met in this combined (MEPN) program as stated in the BSN and MSN Program Outcomes Course Map: https://www.wku.edu/nursing/mepn.php
- Be admitted to Western Kentucky University
- Bachelor's degree in any discipline other than nursing with a 3.0 or greater GPA.
- Have attained a minimum of a "B" in HMD 211 (or approved equivalent)
- Have attained a minimum of a "B" in BIOL 131 & BIOL 231 (or approved equivalent)
- Have attained a minimum comprehensive score of 80 on the HESI entrance exam.
- Submit applications to the School of Nursing for (a) BSN admission and (b) MEPN application for admission by posted deadlines on website.
Students in the Combined Master Entry to Professional Nursing Program (MEPN) must maintain a 3.0 GPA in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MEPN Second Degree Undergraduate Coursework | 50 | |
| Pathophysiology for the Master Entry Professional Nurse | ||
| Fundamentals of Nursing | ||
| Clinical: Fundamentals of Nursing | ||
| Health Assessment for the Master Entry Professional Nurse | ||
| Health Assessment Lab | ||
| Concepts in Pharmacology I | ||
| Medical-Surgical Nursing I | ||
| Clinical: Medical Surgical Nursing I | ||
| Mental Health Nursing | ||
| Clinical: Mental Health Nursing | ||
| Concepts in Pharmacology II | ||
| Medical-Surgical Nursing II | ||
| Clinical: Medical-Surgical Nursing II | ||
| High Acuity Nursing for the Master Entry Professional Nurse | ||
| Senior Practicum | ||
| Maternal Newborn Nursing | ||
| Clinical: Maternal Newborn Nursing | ||
| Pediatric Nursing | ||
| Clinical: Pediatric Nursing | ||
| Community Health Nursing | ||
| Clinical: Community Health Nursing | ||
| Additional MEPN Graduate Coursework | 22 | |
| Total Hours | 72 | |
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENG 100 | 3 | ENG 200 | 3 |
| BIOL 207 | 3 | NURS 102 | 3 |
| MATH 115 or MATH 116 | 3 | CHEM 109 | 4 |
| PSY 220 | 3 | COMM 145 | 3 |
| General Elective - AH/HIM 290 highly suggested | 2 | HIST 101 or HIST 102 | 3 |
| General Elective | 1 | ||
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENG 300 | 3 | NURS 337 | 3 |
| HMD 211 | 3 | BIOL 231 | 4 |
| BIOL 131 | 4 | Social & Cultural Connection (NURS 415 suggested) | 3 |
| Arts & Humanities (E-AH) | 3 | Local to Global Connection course | 3 |
| General Elective or World Language (if needed) | 3 | Statistics (MATH 183 OR ECON 203 OR SWRK 344 OR SOCL 300 OR PSY 313 | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| NURS 335 | 3 | NURS 329 | 2 |
| NURS 336 | 1 | NURS 341 | 3 |
| NURS 333 | 3 | NURS 342 | 3 |
| NURS 334 | 2 | NURS 343 | 3 |
| NURS 324 | 3 | NURS 344 | 1 |
| NURS 413 | 3 | ||
| 12 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| NURS 429 | 2 | NURS 403 | 4 |
| NURS 432 | 3 | NURS 421 | 3 |
| NURS 433 | 3 | NURS 422 | 4 |
| NURS 440 | 2 | NURS 448 | 3 |
| NURS 441 | 1 | NURS 449 | 2 |
| NURS 442 | 2 | ||
| NURS 443 | 1 | ||
| 14 | 16 | ||
| Total Hours 120 | |||
- A minimum grade of “C” is required in all nursing courses
- Students must pass both the class and clinical portion of each linked clinical nursing class in order to progress in the program. If one part is not passed, both parts must be repeated. Failure of both parts of a linked course will count as ONE course failure.