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New RN-BSN curriculum centered on equity, holism, and anti-racism starts Fall 2023.

Preview new curriculum on the About Us page. 

Nursing RN to BSN Program

College of Nursing and Health Sciences / Nursing
Undergraduate major / Bachelor of Science

About The Program

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences is excited to launch a new innovative curriculum for our Registered Nurse (RN) to BSN program starting in Fall 2023. Our faculty have developed a competency-based curriculum that highlights health equity and holistic care by design, in response to: the needs of predominantly working adult nurses, our desire to address equity, holism and anti-racism, and AACN’s requirement for nursing programs across the country to meet new essentials for baccalaureate nursing preparation. Through an online, part-time progression that supports student work and home/life balance, students will engage in a curriculum that is sharply focused on critical analysis, equipping graduates to address the pressing issues in nursing and healthcare.

If you are a licensed registered nurse (or soon to be) with a cumulative overall GPA of 2.5, you are eligible to join this exciting new RN to BSN program. Program eligibility requires maintaining an active unencumbered RN license to practice professional nursing in the United States throughout the duration of the program.

Coming in Fall 2023: new RN-BSN curriculum centered on equity, holism, and anti-racism. 

RN to BSN Fall 2023 Course Progression (PDF)

 

Program Highlights


The RN to BSN program is holistic in its approach, with highlights that include:

  • Program designed to provide flexibility for working adult students
  • Endorsed by the American Holistic Nursing Credentialing Corporation. Graduates waive the post-graduate practice and continuing education hours necessary to be eligible to take the holistic nursing certification exam.
  • Curriculum that equips students to question the pressing issues in nursing and healthcare
  • Courses that address equity, holism and health, anti-racist action, understanding and application of theory, evidence-based practice, community and global health and critical analysis
  • Graduates qualify for public health nursing registration in Minnesota.

 

RN to BSN Online Cohort Format

Cohorts start every fall and spring semester in an online format with the nursing major courses completed online asynchronously. NURS 456P, Community Health Practicum, completed in semester three of the cohort progression, will also be completed online or remotely, with potential for in-person opportunities located in the Twin Cities area for interested students.

  • 31 credits of nursing major coursework
  • Part-time progression, two major courses per semester
  • Five semester progression that includes summer(s)
  • Non-nursing general education and liberal studies courses may be needed to meet the baccalaureate degree requirements for graduation

Student outcomes

RN to BSN program students learn to:

  • Demonstrate application of nursing theory and transdisciplinary theories as a basis for professional nursing practice
  • Apply multiple forms of evidence, critical analysis, and reasoning in healthcare decision making
  • Demonstrate knowledge of a broad concept of holism
  • Practice holistic nursing care directed toward wellness and healing
  • Practice professional nursing leadership and advocacy that challenges systemic racism and pervasive inequities and promotes health equity

 

Ready to continue your nursing studies?


As part of an online or hybrid cohort, students in the RN to BSN program take part in a holistic degree program directed toward healing in the human health experience for diverse and vulnerable populations. A member of the Minnesota State College and University System, Metro State is an urban university that offers convenient, affordable educational programs.

 

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Nursing RN to BSN program accreditation

The baccalaureate degree in nursing at Metropolitan State University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, D.C. 20001, 202.887.6791. 

Advance Your Education

How to enroll

Current students: Declare this program

Once you’re admitted as an undergraduate student and have met any further admission requirements your chosen program may have, you may declare a major or declare an optional minor.

Future students: Apply now

Apply to Metropolitan State: Start the journey toward your Nursing RN to BSN Program now. Learn about the steps to enroll or, if you have questions about what Metropolitan State can offer you, request information, visit campus or chat with an admissions counselor.

Get started on your Nursing RN to BSN Program

Program eligibility requirements

To be eligible for acceptance to the RN to BSN major, the following must be completed:

  • Admission to Metropolitan State University.
  • Evidence of active unencumbered registered nurse licensure in the United States
  • An official transcript indicating completion of an associate degree or diploma in nursing from an accredited institution
  • A minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 and a grade of at least a C in all previous nursing courses
  • The GPA used for admission assessment is the cumulative GPA calculated from all coursework and evaluation of all transcripts
  • Students must complete an official degree plan with their academic advisor which will include discussion about placement in a RN-BSN cohort

Courses and Requirements

SKIP TO COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Pre-practicum requirements

All students must meet all pre-practicum requirements prior to starting their Practicum in Community Health and maintain such requirements throughout the program. Information must be submitted to the Department of Nursing which may include, but is not limited to, the items listed on the pre-practicum requirements page.

Student licensure

Graduates of the Bachelor of Science in nursing program are eligible for registration as a Public Health Nurse in the state of Minnesota.

Note: Course Requirements that follow are for students who were placed in a Nursing cohort prior to Fall 2023. For the revised curriculum requirements starting Fall 2023, view the Course Sequence document located at the bottom of this page.

Requirements (37 total credits)

Is it ever right to try to hasten a patient's death? Should people ever be given medical treatment against their will? How should we decide who will get access to scarce medical resources (like organ transplants)? Do people have a right to get the care they need, even if they can't pay for it? This course will use ethical theories and theories of justice to explore these questions and others like them. It is intended to be helpful not only to (present or future) health care practitioners, but also to anyone who wants to think about these issues, which confront us in our roles as patients and as citizens whose voices can contribute to the shaping of health care policies.

Full course description for Medical Ethics

This course examines the theoretical foundation for the practice of professional nursing with emphasis on the values and theoretical perspectives that support practice. A holistic framework is introduced with emphasis on the application of Modeling and Role-Modeling theory. The concepts of nurturing, facilitating, healing, and transformational self-care are emphasized.

Full course description for Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice

This course expands on foundational knowledge of nursing informatics with emphasis on how technology can be used as a tool to improve client care in a variety of settings. The role of the baccalaureate prepared nurse in evaluating information systems in a variety of practice settings is examined. The issues of ethics, ergonomics, and nursing workflow as they relate to nursing informatics are explored.

Full course description for Nursing Informatics

This course focuses on evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing to improve the lives of people, including the components of patient/family preferences and values, clinician experience, and best available scientific evidence. Students will engage in critical analysis of the historical development of nursing research and theory in practice. Ethical issues surrounding the use of human subjects in research and the history of racism embedded in research and EBP are explored. Emphasis is placed on critically evaluating multiple methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, indigenous knowledge systems, participative action research, and applying this evidence into nursing practice. Sources from social sciences, humanities, biomedicine, and social justice are used to explore holism, the human response to illness, and co-creating conditions of health. Competency Statement: Understands evidence-based nursing practice well enough to apply research to nursing care.

Full course description for Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice

This course focuses on holistic nursing care of diverse and contemporary families across the lifespan. Major theoretical foundations relevant to families are presented and applied. Use of current evidence-based resources will direct the clinical decision-making skills of assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation are applied to families experiencing a transition or a chronic health problem. A culturally sensitive approach will be utilized to understand the interactions and relationships to enhance family well-being.

Full course description for Family Health Nursing

This course focuses on holistic nursing care of clients experiencing transitions related to aging and alterations in health across the lifespan. Cultural and social conceptualizations of health and illness, and their impact on the planning and delivery of nursing care, will be explored. Emphasis will be placed on the role that poverty, racism, and trauma play in health and chronic illness. Ethical issues related to advocacy and the utilization of culturally responsive ethical approaches are addressed.

Full course description for Lifespan Transitions: Aging and Health

This course focuses on foundational aspects of integrative nursing care to promote holistic health and wellness. A theoretical basis for integrative care is explored. The inter-relationships of important concepts are utilized to identify methods for creating optimal healing environments for clients. Students evaluate evidence related to integrative therapies and explore strategies for implementing appropriate integrative approaches to clinical practice and self-care.

Full course description for Integrative Nursing Care

This course focuses on the origins and trends in community and public health nursing, conceptual models for practice, and contemporary public health problems and issues. Students synthesize knowledge from nursing, public health and the social sciences to provide holistic care with community as client. Emphasis is on primary prevention, health promotion, and risk reduction, as well as prevalent population-based health issues; focusing on racism and inequities in delivery of health care within populations.

Full course description for Community Health Nursing

This course focuses on the origins and trends in community and public health nursing, conceptual models for practice, and contemporary public health problems and issues. Students synthesize knowledge from nursing, public health and the social sciences to provide holistic care with community as client. Emphasis is on primary prevention, health promotion, and risk reduction, as well as prevalent population-based health issues; focusing on racism and inequities in delivery of health care within populations.

Full course description for Community Health Nursing Practicum

This course examines global health issues that influence population health outcomes, including the interaction between domestic and global health. Students study frameworks such as vital statistics, Millennium Development Goals, and human rights principles and apply these frameworks to the definition, prevention, or mitigation of identified global health issues or concerns with particular attention given to the health of infants, children, and women in low and middle income countries. The course concludes with a study of cooperative efforts designed to mitigate or prevent global health problems.

Full course description for Global Health Issues

Course sequence