Career Advancement for Registered Nurses
In this fully online Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, you’ll build on your prior learning and gain knowledge that will prepare you for graduate study and the pursuit of lifelong learning, which is essential for practice in the nursing profession.
The general education requirements ensure the student develops college-level competence in arts and sciences areas including humanities, social science/history, and natural sciences/math. Credits may be earned through courses, UExcel examinations, or transferred from accredited, degree-granting institutions or approved examination programs. The nursing component focuses on knowledge and professional competencies expected of graduates of bachelor’s programs. It emphasizes the integration of nursing and related arts and sciences knowledge in complex situations related to nursing care of individuals, families, aggregates, and communities. The nursing component requires outstanding critical thinking skills and nursing judgment as well as commitment to academic rigor.
Throughout your educational experience, you will have access to guided learning opportunities as well as to academic advisors who will help you with program planning and to nursing faculty who will answer your questions about courses.
Meet the faculty program directors.
Learn about the RN to BS in Nursing admissions requirements.
If you are an associate in nursing graduate looking to pursue your BS in Nursing while you prepare for the NCLEX, get a jumpstart with our Provisional Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing program.
Fast Facts:
The average median salary for a registered nurse with a BS is $70,000 (Source: BLS)
A typical Bachelor of Science graduate earns $1.19 million over their working lifetime –more than twice as much as a typical high school graduate (Source: The Hamilton Project)
Hospitals with a higher percentage of nurses with a BS in Nursing had both a higher standard of patient care and a lower incidence of patient post-surgical mortality (Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
121
credit hours
121 credits are required for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
Undergraduate general education component:
Cornerstone Course
Information Literacy
Written English Requirement
Humanities:
Social Sciences:
Natural Sciences/Mathematics:
Arts and Sciences Electives
Nursing Credit for Prior Learning and Successful Completion of NCLEX-RN: 30 Credits
The Profession of Nursing: Becoming Influential
This course explores the evolution of contemporary nursing through the development of reflective practice, professional standards, values and beliefs, ways of knowing and nursing knowledge, and inter-professional communication and collaboration. Emphasis is placed on the roles of the bachelor’s-prepared professional nurse, the processes guiding nursing practice, lifelong learning, and the influence nursing has in the changing health care environment and world. Through this course, the student develops a personalized toolbox with an array of skills necessary to become an influential professional nurse.
Introduction to Informatics for Nurses
This course provides knowledge about the roles and skills in information management and the application of technology to inform nursing practice. Emphasis is placed on technological supports for patient care interventions and the use of decision-support systems to gather evidence to guide practice. The use and understanding of standardized terminologies and the role of information technology in improving patient outcomes and creating a safe environment will be included.
Holistic Health Care Across the Life Span
This course focuses on applying concepts of health promotion, as well as illness, disease, and injury prevention to health assessment across the life span. The student integrates the core concepts (critical thinking, communication, research, role development, caring, and cultural competence) into a holistic approach while functioning in the professional nursing role. Health and physical assessment data are gathered, analyzed, and synthesized by the student to develop a personal health plan for a client that promotes health and prevents disease.
Leadership and Management in Nursing
This course analyzes the interrelated relationship between leadership and decision making, and examines how wisdom, research, personal values, and theory enhance leadership and decision-making skills.
Research in Nursing
This course focuses on knowledge and skill acquisition related to research process. Evidence-based practice, critical thinking, critical reading, and the baccalaureate nurse’s role in the application of research to practice are emphasized. Course content examines the foundations of research, the research process, quantitative and qualitative research designs, as well as evaluation of a quantitative research study.
Teaching and Learning in a Diverse Society
This course focuses on the role of the nurse as educator and the ability to teach a group of adult clients with a shared learning need. Theory and research-based evidence from nursing and other disciplines are integrated with concepts of caring and cultural competence, health promotion, behavioral change, and principles of teaching and learning. Application of the education process is emphasized. In partnership with clients, the student develops, implements, and evaluates a teaching plan designed to produce a desired change in behavior.
Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Public’s Health
This course integrates evidence, theory, standards, and knowledge from nursing, public health, and other disciplines to guide population-focused nursing practice. Importance is placed on the application of the core functions of public health: assessment, policy development, and the assurance of available and necessary health services for diverse populations. Emphasis is placed in identifying determinants of health, advocating for vulnerable populations, prioritizing primary prevention, and utilizing available resources to improve the health of populations. Population-focused nursing involves assessing the health care needs of a specific population and making health care decisions for the population as a whole rather than for individuals. This course includes practice experiences in the community.
Nursing Elective (upper level)
The 3-credit elective requirement could be met with a nursing certification (see catalog). Students should consult with your academic advisor before taking a course or examination for nursing elective credit. Graduates of Excelsior College’s associate degree nursing program waive this requirement.
Nursing Capstone
This capstone course focuses on integration and synthesis of knowledge, skills, and competencies from nursing, other disciplines, and the arts and sciences. Application of specific concepts and theories, such as communication, critical thinking, and leadership, enables students to transform theory to practice within health care systems. This course includes practice experiences.
Surveys are administered to our nursing program students upon graduation and at one year post-graduation. The survey results are available here.
Excelsior College’s nursing programs are programmatically accredited by the New York State (NYS) Board of Regents, State Education Department Office of the Professions (the Regents). The U.S. Department of Education has recognized the Regents as a state agency for the approval of nursing education programs since 1969. More information about the NYS Board of Regents’ Recognized Programmatic Accreditation may be helpful for students or graduates to present to a school they are attending or to an employer seeking more information about their Excelsior College nursing degree.
The bachelor’s and master’s nursing programs at Excelsior College are accredited by the:
Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
404-975-5000
The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the bachelor’s nursing program in March 2019 is Continuing Accreditation.
The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the master’s nursing program in March 2019 is Continuing Accreditation.
View the public information disclosed by the ACEN regarding these programs at acenursing.us/accreditedprograms/programSearch.htm.
The National League for Nursing (NLN) designated Excelsior College's School of Nursing a 2016-2021 Center of Excellence in Nursing Education, in recognition of the School's sustained achievements in creating environments that promote student learning and professional development. This is the fourth consecutive designation.
Excelsior College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 1007 North Orange Street, 4th Floor, MB #166, Wilmington, DE 19801 (267-284-5011) www.msche.org. The MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
Phase: Accredited
Status: Accreditation Reaffirmed
Accreditation Granted: 1977
Last Reaffirmation: 2017
Next Self-Study Evaluation: 2021-2022
All of Excelsior College’s academic programs are registered (i.e., approved) by the New York State Education Department.
