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Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN)

In-person classes will be held on the Wenatchee Campus

The RN-to-BSN adds a fourth year of courses for those students who have already graduated with their associate degree in nursing (ADN). The ADN includes one year of prerequisites and two years of required nursing courses. The goal of the program is to provide opportunities for area nurses to finish their last year of education and get the bachelor’s degree that is becoming an industry standard. The industry aims for 80 percent of the nursing work force to have a bachelor’s degree or higher by 2020.

WVC will accept 25 students into the RN-to-BSN program each year. 

The program will be 80 percent online and 20 percent face-to-face instruction. Students will attend classes on the Wenatchee campus only three times a quarter so that they can continue to work while completing their bachelor’s degree. To be accepted, students will need to have an ADN as well as a current, unencumbered RN license. The program will take one year, or four quarters, to complete full time.

For additional information about the RN-to-BSN program, call Jenny Capelo at 509.682.6662.

Program Learning Outcomes

By the end of the RN to BSN program, successful graduate will be able to:

  1. Provide patient centered care for diverse populations to promote health and wellness.
  2. Utilize organizational leadership skills to collaborate with health care teams in a community and/or health care agency to promote safe and effective quality care.
  3. Utilize reliable evidence to inform and support clinical decisions which shape health care delivery and policy.
  4. Manage information and technology to promote communication, access research and other reliable evidence, and mitigate error in a variety of health care systems.
  5. Apply quality improvement processes to effectively implement patient safety initiatives and affect health system change.
  6. Demonstrate professional core values and behaviors that reflect baccalaureate nursing practice.

Graduates will demonstrate accomplishment of the program learning outcomes by successful completion of all course requirements, which will measure competencies in each learning area.

Curriculum Framework

The RN to BSN curriculum is guided by six student centered program outcomes that reflect professional standards and the relevant knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes necessary for success as a professional nurse in today’s complex health care environment.

 Outcomes are leveled by quarter so students may have a clear understanding of expectations and their progress through the program. Upon completion of the program students will have met the program outcomes, the AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate practice competencies, and the competencies set forth by the Quality and Safety for Nurses (QSEN) initiative.

 The organizing framework of Wenatchee Valley College RN to BSN program is based on significant core concepts which are integrated throughout the curriculum. These concepts are:

Professional nurses support patient-centered care that recognizes and respects the differences, values, preferences, and needs of diverse people. Advocacy and health promotion assist the patient or designee in making informed clinical decisions. The baccalaureate –prepared nurse will formulate plans of care which provide culturally sensitive, non-discriminatory care to individuals, groups, and communities in today’s global environment.
Effective communication, teamwork, and collaboration are essential to provide patient-centered care. Professional nurses function as members of nursing and interdisciplinary health care teams while recognizing their own autonomy, core values, and scope of practice. To successfully lead teams in a variety of complex health care systems, nurses need knowledge and skills in organizational leadership and management.
Baccalaureate-prepared nurses engage in scholarship and a spirit of inquiry by asking questions in need of study, critiquing published research and other types of evidence, and using reliable evidence to support clinical reasoning and nursing judgment. In collaboration with other health care team members, nurses participate in documenting and interpreting evidence for achieving optimal health care outcomes.
As a member of the health team, baccalaureate nurses use quality improvement concepts, processes, and outcome measures to change or enhance current practice. Quality improvement methods are necessary to effectively implement patient safety initiatives and influence health policy on a local, state, national, and global level. Professional nurses minimize patient harm and mitigate error within a community or health care system by helping to create a culture of safety and promote quality outcomes of care for diverse populations.
Professional values and behaviors are foundational to the practice of nursing. Baccalaureate education promotes core values that are associated with the caring and ethical professional nurse. These values include, but are not limited to, integrity, social justice, human dignity, autonomy, and altruism. The baccalaureate-prepared nurse also values lifelong learning to ensure currency in providing quality health care.

Accreditation

 

Washington State Nursing Commission

310 Israel Road SE

Tumwater, WA 98501

(360) 236-4700

www.doh.wa

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

8060 165th Ave NE, Suite 100

Redmond, WA 98502

(425) 558-4224

www.nwccu.org

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Wenatchee Valley College is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).