Nursing Major, B.S.N.

P.O. Box 70664
Phone: (423) 439-4578 or 188837NURSE
Fax: (423) 439-4522
230 Roy S. Nicks Hall
Web address:www.etsu.edu/nursing
Email: nursing@etsu.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/etsunursing
Twitter: www.twitter.com/etsucon


Accredited by: AACN-American Association of Collegiate Nursing

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree is the foundation for professional nursing practice. The professional nurse practices in collaboration with other health care providers and is responsible for coordinating and practicing comprehensive nursing care for individuals, families, groups, and communities, and assuming management and leadership positions in nursing practice.

The College of Nursing offers five (5) tracks leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The Traditional BSN, LPN-BSN and Accelerated 2 nd Degree BSN offers coursework leading to initial licensure as a professional nurse. The RN-BSN option is designed for students who are already registered nurses but who are seeking a bachelors degree. The Dual Degree RN-BSN is offered with select community college partners for students enrolled in associates degree programs who are interested in simultaneously earning a bachelors degree.

A course of study that meets the degree requirements and the university’s General Education Program Requirements will be planned with the student through regular sessions with a College of Nursing professional advisor.

Admission - Admission to the university as a pre-nursing major does not assure admission to the major.

  1. Students must be in progress or have completed all ETSU General Education courses* (or equivalent from a Transfer Institution) including the 4 Nursing Pre-requisite classes: Anatomy and Physiology I and II (with labs), Intro to Microbiology (with lab), and Probability and Statistics. At least 3 of the 4 pre-requisite math/science classes must be completed prior to the application deadline.
    Students with greater than 2 unsuccessful attempts to complete all required pre-requisite math/science courses will be ineligible for admission to the College of Nursing. Grades below a “C” (C-, D+, D, and F) are considered unsuccessful attempts.

* Students with completed Bachelor’s degrees are exempt from taking General Education Requirements (by virtue of the completed degree) but must complete the four pre-requisite math/science courses or equivalents with at least 3 of the 4 completed prior to the application deadline.

*Transfer students are responsible for making sure courses taken at other institutions are equivalent to ETSU General Education courses. For further information about transfer equivalency, go to http://www.etsu.edu/articulation/equivalencies.aspx. For a list of ETSU General Education requirements go to: http://www.etsu.edu/uged/gened/StudentsandParents/requirements_10.aspx

  1. A minimum cumulative College Level GPA of 2.6 as computed by East Tennessee State University (excluding developmental coursework) is required.
  2. Students must apply to the College of Nursing using the Centralized Application System (Nursing CAS). Official Transcripts from all colleges attended (including dual enrollment during high school) must be sent to CAS. Transfer students must also apply for General Admission to ETSU. This should be done well in advance of the application deadline. Detailed instructions and information are available at: http://www.etsu.edu/nursing/undergrad/onlineapp.aspx
  3. Applicants must submit (electronically) all scores from the TEAS V standardized entrance exam. The TEAS V may be taken twice within a two year period, but not twice in the same semester. Scores are valid for two years. Information about scheduling and preparing for the TEAS can be found at http://www.atitesting.com
  4. ETSU College of Nursing does NOT require references, a personal statement or professional experience for admission.
  5. Applicants are ranked by a point system which includes 100 possible points in 4 areas: Overall GPA, Math/Science Nursing Pre-requisite GPA, Adjusted Individual Total Score, and Adjusted Individual Reading section score of the TEAS V for a total of 400 possible points. Applicants are admitted in point order.
  6. Students who are admitted to ETSU as a freshman with a high school GPA of 3.5 or above, ACT cumulative score of 25 or above, and maintain an ETSU overall GPA of 3.2 or higher will be guaranteed admission to the nursing major. Students must complete the College of Nursing Application process and meet all other established admissions criteria.

Progression - Progression in the nursing major is determined by specific criteria which is located in the BSN Student Handbook. http://www.etsu.edu/nursing/bsnhandbook.aspx


Criminal Background Checks

To progress clinically, students will be required to complete a Criminal Background Check at his or her own expense from a specified vendor. Unfavorable results may result in a student’s inability to continue in clinical courses; review of the contents of the background check and the determination for eligibility for participation at a clinical site will be conducted by affiliated clinical agencies. Although the College of Nursing does not receive the contents of the background check, documentation of completion is kept with the students Clinical Course Health Requirement file.

General Program Information

To earn a degree from ETSU, there are specific course requirements established by ETSU, by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), by each college, and by each department. All students must meet the degree requirements at each of these levels outlined in the following list:

University-level Degree and Graduation Requirements

Total Credit Hours for Degree: 120

TBR General Education Requirements: 41 Credit Hours

Listed below are the categories and courses specified under TBR General Education Requirements. Note that certain courses are required for this degree, specific to this major. Thus, these courses will satisfy both a TBR General Education requirement AND a requirement of this major. (Other majors may require different General Education courses.) Where specific courses are required for this major, only those courses are listed under the category. If there are no specific major requirements for a category, all course options appear.

Communication

9 credits, consisting of 6 credits of written composition and 3 credits of oral communication.

Written Composition

Complete both of the following:

Students required to complete learning support in writing must enroll in a learning support-designated section (L01-L99) of ENGL 1010 during their first 15 hours at ETSU (not including summer) unless they are also required to complete learning support in reading. Students needing learning support in both reading and writing should enroll in ENGL 1010-Lxx immediately upon completing learning support in reading. Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport.

Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in ENGL 1010 and ENGL 1020.

Oral Communication

Complete one of the following:

Humanities and Fine Arts

9 credits, consisting of 3 credits of literature, 3 credits of fine arts, and 3 credits of humanities electives.

Literature

Complete one of the following:

Fine Arts

Complete one of the following:

Humanities Electives

Complete one of the following:

Social and Behavioral Sciences

6 credits, consisting of two of the following:

History

6 credits, consisting of both of the following:

Note: HIST 2030 History of Tennessee (3 credits) may be substituted for 3 credits of United States History.

Natural Sciences

8 credits, consisting of the following lectures and labs.

Mathematics

Students will enroll in the appropriate general education math course during their first calendar year of enrollment at ETSU. Students required to complete learning support in mathematics must enroll in a learning support-designated section (L01-L99) of MATH 1530 during their first 15 hours at ETSU (not including summer) unless they are also required to complete learning support in reading or writing. Students needing learning support in reading or writing in addition to learning support in math should enroll in MATH 1530-Lxx immediately upon completing their other learning support requirements. Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport/

Additional Major Requirement Required for Admission

Nursing Major

Admissions Requirements and Curricula by Program Track

Traditional BSN, LPN-BSN, and Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN Admissions Requirements

Admissions Criteria and Selection Process
www.etsu.edu/nursing/bsncriteria.aspx

Curricula
www.etsu.edu/nursing/bsncurriula.aspx

Nursing Course Requirements for Traditional and LPN-BSN Program (75 credit hours)

Nursing Course Requirements for Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN (72 credit hours)

Required Prerequisite Classes (Pre-Nursing):

Equivalent courses can be considered for prerequisite credit, such as a statistics course for Social Science, Human Anatomy and Human Physiology and General Microbiology. Minimum acceptable grade in above courses is a 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

First Semester (Summer Term)

Semester Total: 13 credits

Second Semester (Fall Term)

Semester Total: 14 credits

Third Semester (Spring Term)

Semester Total: 15 credits

Fourth Semester (Summer Term)

Semester Total: 16 credits

Fifth Semester (Fall Term)

Semester Total: 14 credits

RN-BSN Admissions Requirements and Criteria

Admissions Criteria, Selection Process, and Additional Program Requirements
www.etsu.edu/nursing/rncriteria.aspx

Nursing Course Requirements for RN-BSN (32 credit hours)

Dual Degree RN-BSN Admission Requirements and Curricula

Curricula
Curriculum for this program is tailored to the needs of students at our community college partnering institutions and thus varies by institution. Please refer to the College of Nursing website for more detailed information.

Minor: no minor required

Additional Information

Click here to view Nursing Major Suggested Course Sequence, LPN to BSN Suggested Course Sequence, and Accelerated Second Degree BSN Curriculum.