Nursing, BSN

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Special Academic Progression Policies

Lower Division Policies

Nursing prerequisites and electives may be repeated only once following either a grade of less than ‘C’ or withdrawal. The repeat attempt requires written permission from the school dean or dean’s designee on the “Repetition of Course” form. If, on the repeat attempt, the student does not complete the course with a minimal grade of C or withdraws from the course, the student will be dismissed from the School of Nursing BSN program.
BIOL 121 and BIOL 122 or corresponding transfer courses must be successfully completed not more than five years prior to entry to upper division (junior year).
Students enrolled at Widener in a major other than nursing who wish to be considered for the school of nursing BSN program must fulfill the following requirements: (1) successfully complete CHEM 105 and CHEM 106 with a grade of C or higher, (2) earn a grade of C or higher in any courses that are part of the required nursing curriculum, and (3) achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.75 in their present major (see “Change in Curriculum ” section of current catalog). A cumulative GPA of 3.0 must be attained for entry into junior level nursing courses. Students with a GPA of less than 2.90 at the end of the fall semester sophomore year may not progress to the spring semester nursing courses NURS 205 /NURS 206 and NURS 261 /NURS 262 .
Matriculated students may take a maximum of nine semester credits off campus. The associate dean of academic affairs or the assistant dean of students approval nust be acquired for all courses taken off campur prior to the start of the class. A “Course Transfer Authorization” must be completed for all courses taken off campus. See Undergraduate Student Handbook for more details.
NURS 205 /NURS 206 and NURS 261 /NURS 262 must be completed in the semester immediately preceding the start of the junior year. Sophomore students who do not progress but who have taken NURS 205 /NURS 206 or NURS 261 /NURS 262 are required to repeat those courses in the semester immediately preceding the junior year.

Progression to Upper Division

Students must achieve a Widener University cumulative GPA of 3.0 and a grade of ‘C’ or higher on all lower division prerequisite courses listed for the freshman and sophomore years, including those courses meeting elective requirements in the nursing curriculum. Students must demonstrate compliance with all clinical requirements as specified in the School of Nursing Undergraduate Student Handbook.

Nursing Progression Policies

Theory grades are calculated per the course syllabus and reported as a letter grade. Students are required to earn a grade of C or higher in the theory component of all nursing courses, including clinical and non-clinical required courses. The minimum numeric score required to earn a grade of C in any nursing course is 75.
Laboratory or clinical grades are evaluated per the course syllabus and reported as “pass” or “fail.” A grade of “pass” in the clinical/laboratory component of a course is required to successfully complete, or pass, the course.
Students who fail or withdraw from an upper division nursing course must repeat the course in the same semester it is offered in the following year. Students may not move forward to subsequent courses until all prior courses from the semester the student is enrolled is complete. If the course withdraw or failure occurs in the spring semester, senior year, the student must also repeat NURS 475 with the failed or withdrawn course.
Students failing either the classroom or clinical component of a nursing course must repeat the course in its entirety, including classroom and clinical components.
Students who withdraw from a nursing course with corequisite requirements before midterm must withdraw from the corequisite courses as well. For progression purposes, withdrawal from one course and its corequisites will be considered as one withdrawal.
Students are permitted only one unsuccessful attempt to complete a nursing course throughout the program. Both withdrawals and failures count as an attempt.
- A grade of less than C in the same nursing course twice will result in dismissal from the nursing program.
- A withdrawal from a nursing course and a grade of less than C on a subsequent attempt after a previous withdrawal from the same course will result in dismissal.
- A grade of less than C in any nursing course with subsequent withdrawal from the same course on the second attempt will result in dismissal from the nursing program.
- A grade of less than C in any two nursing courses will result in dismissal from the nursing program.
- A withdrawal from a nursing course followed by a subsequent withdrawal from any other nursing course will result in dismissal from the nursing program.
- A withdrawal from a nursing course, followed by a subsequent failure of any nursing course will result in dismissal form the nursing program.
Students who are dismissed from the School of Nursing will follow the policy as outlined in the School of Nursing Undergraduate Handbook, available online.

Curriculum Sequence

Curriculum Sequence

Freshman

Fall (14.5 Credits)

ENGL 101 - Reading, Thinking and Writing 3 Credit(s) **
PSY 105 - Introduction to Psychology 3 Credit(s) (F/S)
Freshman Seminar 1 Credit(s)
CHEM 105 - General, Organic, and Biochemistry 3 Credit(s) *
CHEM 106 - General, Organic, and Biochemistry Laboratory 1 Credit(s) *
Humanities Elective (F/S) 3 Credit(s)
FRS 101 - First Year Seminar 1 Credit(s)
Physical Education Elective 0.5 Credit(s) ⁺

Spring (16.5 Credits)

ENGL 102 - Literature and Critical Writing (W) 3 Credit(s)
SOC 105 - Introduction to Sociology 3 Credit(s) (F/S)
BIOL 121 - Anatomy and Physiology I 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 123 - Anatomy & Physiology I (Includes Lab) 4 Credit(s)
NURS 125 - Introduction to Nursing (W) 3 Credit(s) (W, S)
Social Science Elective (F/S) 3 Credit(s)
Physical Education Elective 0.5 Credits ⁺

Sophomore

Fall (16 Credits)

BIOL 122 - Anatomy and Physiology II 4 Credit(s)
BIOL 124 - Anatomy & Physiology II (Includes Lab) 4 Credit(s)
Sociology or Psychology 200-Level Elective (F/S) 3 Credit(s)
PHIL 350 - Ethics 3 Credit(s) (F/S)
NURS 202 - Introduction to Gerontological Nursing 3 Credit(s) (S)
Humanities Elective (F/S) 3 Credit(s)

Spring (16 Credits)

BIOL 219 - Microbiology 3 Credit(s)
BIOL 220 - Microbiology Laboratory 1 Credit(s)
NURS 261 - Health Assessment 3 Credit(s) (L)
NURS 262 - Health Assessment Lab 0 Credit(s) (L)
NURS 205 - Pharmacokinetics and Medication Administration 3 Credit(s) (L)
NURS 206 - Pharmacokinetics and Medication Administration Lab 0 Credit(s) (L)
UALH 390 - Statistics for Health Care Professionals 3 Credit(s) (F/S)
NURS 216 - Nutrition in Health Care 3 Credit(s) (F/S)

Junior

Fall (14 Credits)

NURS 330 - Medical/Surgical Nursing Interventions: Approaches to the Care of the Adult I 5 Credit(s) (C)
NURS 333 - Family Focused Maternal Newborn Care 5 Credit(s) (C, F/S)
NURS 374 - Knowledge Synthesis I 1 Credit(s)
NURS 305 - Pathopharmacology I 2 Credit(s)
NURS 302 - Introduction to Informatics 1 Credit(s)

Spring (17 Credits)

NURS 331 - Medical/Surgical Nursing Interventions: Approaches to the Care of the Adult II 5 Credit(s) (C)
NURS 334 - Family Focused Care of Children 5 Credit(s) (C, F/S)
NURS 371 - Research, Design and Evidence-Based Nursing Practice (W) 4 Credit(s) (WE)
NURS 375 - Knowledge Synthesis II 1 Credit(s)
NURS 306 - Pathopharmacology II 2 Credit(s)

Senior

Fall (16 Credits)

NURS 432 - Medical/Surgical Nursing Interventions: Approaches to Care of the Adult III 5 Credit(s) (C)
NURS 465 - Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing 5 Credit(s) (C, F/S)
NURS 480 - Senior Nursing Elective (W)(S) 3 Credit(s)
NURS 474 - Knowledge Synthesis III 1 Credit(s)
Nursing Elective (W, S, F/S) 3 Credit(s)
NURS 405 - Pathopharmacology III 2 Credit(s)

Spring (13 Credits)

NURS 445 - Nursing Leadership 5 Credit(s) (C)
NURS 485 - Population Health 5 Credit(s) (C, F/S)
NURS 475 - Knowledge Synthesis IV 3 Credit(s)

Total Credits: 123

All freshman and sophomore year courses must be completed by the end of sophomore year summer in order to enter the junior year courses. Students must have a minimum cumulative average of 3.0 or higher and earn a C or higher in all required and elective courses; a C- is not acceptable.

*MATH 101 is a prerequisite for chemistry—or a SAT score of 530 or higher, ACT score of 19 or higher, or math placement score of 3 or higher.

**Students in the university’s Honors Program take ENGL 103 plus one additional elective in lieu of ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 .

+Veterans, incoming transfer students, freshmen 21 or older, students transferring with sophomore or above status, and students with verifiable excuses are exempt from physical education requirements. They may graduate with 122 or 123 credits. Incoming transfer students may be exempt from the Freshman Seminar.

(C) = a clinical course and (L) = a nursing laboratory course, with both classroom and clinical/laboratory experiences. Each credit is equivalent to one hour of class each week, or 2 hours of laboratory and 3 hours of clinical.

(W) = writing enriched. (S) = service learning. (F/S) = can be taken in fall or spring.

***Minor in a foreign language or social work.

Note: Note: The School of Nursing, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Human Service Professions have developed curricular plans to provide students the opportunity to complete a minor while obtaining a nursing degree. Contact the assistant dean of student services in the School of Nursing for more information.