Nursing

Professor T. Kessler; Associate Professors Brandy, Buckenmeyer, Cavinder (Assistant Dean of Graduate Nursing Programs), Kurtz, Z. Li; Assistant Professors Munden, Ostrowski-Winkler, Rayman (Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Nursing Programs), Samis-Smith, Spain; Clinical Associate Professor Kost; Clinical Assistant Professors Bump, Hernes, Migler, Sheets, Zart.

Purpose

The purpose of the nursing programs is to prepare beginning and advanced professionals of nursing and to provide an educational base for graduate study based on professional standards.

Objectives

The BSN graduate will:

Enter the profession as a critically inquiring competent professional nurse who uses the processes of critical thinking, communication, change, and lifelong learning.
Engage in the role components of provider of care, teacher, manager, and research consumer wherever persons live, work, play, and/or worship.
Appreciate how the environmental influences of culture, economics, ethics, law, policy, politics, society, and technology impact a person’s health.
Promote the health of persons in dynamic health care environments using primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies.

In accordance with the philosophy of Valparaiso University, the faculty of the nursing program believes its responsibility is to foster intellectual, emotional, and spiritual growth of the student as an educated person and as a competent professional nurse. The curriculum, therefore, includes a wide variety of foundational courses in the natural and social sciences and the liberal arts as well as courses related to the principles and practice of nursing. Permeating the curriculum is cultivation of the spirit of the University’s Christian tradition in the student’s quest for excellence in all areas of personal and professional life.

Requirements for Admission to the Nursing Program

Freshman transfer students and registered nurses who want to earn a baccalaureate degree, who have declared nursing as a major, will be admitted directly into the nursing program. Registered nurses, accelerated, and transfer students may complete the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in less than four years.

The minimum criteria for admission into the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing option is a cumulative 3.000 grade point average in previous college course work, completion of all science prerequisite courses, and a minimum of 76 transfer credits.

Associate degree and diploma graduates are eligible for admission to the R.N.-BSN degree program if they are licensed as a registered nurse in Indiana. Registered nurses are eligible for admission to the R.N.-MSN option if they have a 3.000 grade point average and specific prerequisite course work.

Progression

Beginning in NUR 203 , students are required to present evidence of a criminal background check, current immunizations, and rubella titer. Additionally, the following requirements must be updated annually: physical examination, TB test, influenza vaccine, Covid vaccine, CPR certification or recertification, and a negative drug screen. Drug screening can be requested randomly. The College of Nursing and Health Professions does not make arrangements for meeting these requirements.

Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.500 in all course work. In addition, students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.500 in the required nursing and interprofessional education courses in the nursing major to remain in the nursing program. Students must earn a grade of C (2.000) or better in courses designated with an asterisk (*) as indicated in the above table of graduation requirements.

Dismissal from the nursing program occurs when a student earns two infractions. Infractions include: a grade of less than C (2.000) in any required course with a nursing number, interprofessional education number, BIO 151 , BIO 152 , BIO 210 , and CHEM 111 /CHEM 121 /CHEM 131 ; a cumulative grade point average less than 2.500; or a grade point average of required nursing and interprofessional education courses less than 2.500.

All nursing students are required to take a series of evaluative achievement tests throughout their nursing coursework. The fee is currently $1210, payable when registered for NUR 201 , but is subject to change.

Minor

A nursing student may declare a minor in another college provided that no more than six credit hours of courses required for the nursing major are used in fulfilling requirements of the minor. The minor is noted on the student’s academic record.

Course Intensification

A student in the nursing program may propose a special project for earning one extra credit in one nursing course in which they are enrolled in a given semester. Only 6 credits of nursing courses count toward the required 9 elective credits for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

The following regulations pertain to this option for a student:

Student must have a nursing GPA of 2.700 or above.
The course must be offered in the College of Nursing and Health Professions for 3 or more credits.
Student must meet with the academic advisor to determine if course intensification is appropriate. The initiative and responsibility for developing a satisfactory proposal lie with the student.
Student must submit a one-page proposal for the intensification project and the petition online. It will be forwarded to the advisor, the instructor of the course, and the dean for approval.

Student Nurses Association

All student nurses are invited to join the Student Nurses Association.

Sigma Theta Tau International

Students who have completed at least one-half of the required nursing courses and who have demonstrated superior scholastic achievement and evidence of professional leadership potential may be elected to membership in this international honor society of nursing. The Zeta Epsilon Chapter was installed at Valparaiso University in 1982.

Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Valparaiso University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC, 20001; Tel: 202.887.6791; www.ccneaccreditation.org).