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Nursing Program Overview

The nursing major is available to students who desire hands-on experiential learning grounded in the liberal arts tradition. The four-year program is an integrated curriculum pathway collaboration between Washington & Jefferson (W&J) College and the UPMC Washington School of Nursing (WSON) that leads to a Diploma in nursing with Registered Nurse (RN) from UPMC (WSON), and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree from W&J.

Program Goals

The BSN program goal is to prepare graduates to:

• Use evidence-based nursing knowledge to provide holistic nursing care that promotes healing and wellness.
• Apply critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills in the delivery of quality and safe person-centered care that is developmentally appropriate to populations across the health care continuum.
• Engage in intra- and inter-professional collaborative partnerships to optimize care and enhance the healthcare experience of individuals, families, and communities.
• Commit to personal and professional development, enact a professional identity that reflects a commitment to lifelong learning, contribute to evidence-based nursing practice through ongoing quality improvement processes, demonstrate appropriate use of communication and information technologies in care delivery, and apply leadership and management principles in the delivery of care.
• Foster a culture of ethical decision-making and transparency in health policy advocacy in the delivery of person-centered care across the lifespan of populations and communities.

Mission, Vision, Philosophy, and Core Values

Mission

The mission of the department of nursing (DoN) is congruent with the mission of the College. The mission of the DoN is to educate a diverse and highly qualified student population for professional nursing practice through innovation, service, and academic excellence.

Vision

The vision of the department of nursing (DoN) is to produce highly qualified nursing graduates dedicated to providing optimal care in complex care settings across the lifespan of the communities and populations they serve.

Philosophy

The department of nursing (DoN) philosophy is congruent with that of the College. The faculty believes that nursing is a scientific discipline that requires a combination of ethical knowing and rigorous intellectual preparation weaved through theoretical knowledge, spirit of inquiry, and personal and professional transformation.

Core Values

The department of nursing (DoN) core values are synonymous with W&J values of Excellence, Uncommon Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Inclusivity, and Caring. These core values are grounded in the arts and sciences, and they reflect the discipline of nursing through teaching, evidence-based research and rigorous inquiry, practice, and scholarship.

Courses

• Advanced Nursing Concepts
• Bioethics
• Care of Vulnerable Populations
• Career Readiness & Role Transition
• Complex Individual and Family Nursing Concepts
• English Composition
• Family-Centered End of Life Care
• Health Policy, Economics, & Informatics in Nursing
• Honors Composition
• Human Anatomy & Physiology I
• Human Anatomy & Physiology II
• Human Nutrition
• Introduction to Psychology for Nursing
• Introduction to Sociology
• Introductory Statistics
• Leadership & Management for Professional Nursing Practice
• Microbiology in Nursing & Allied Health
• NCLEX Preparation Course
• Nursing Health Assessment
• Physiological Concepts of Nursing
• Pre-Nursing Seminar I
• Pre-Nursing Seminar II
• Professional and Foundational Concepts of Nursing
• Promoting Community & Public Health
• Research & Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing
• Senior Nursing Capstone
• Transcultural Perspective in Nursing
• Transition into Nursing Practice

End of Program Student Learning Outcomes

All students completing BSN program are expected to have achieved the following end of program student learning outcomes. The EPSLO are based on The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

• Demonstrate clinical judgment founded on a broad knowledge base of the understanding of the nursing discipline and will apply theory and research-based knowledge from nursing, the arts, humanities, and other sciences in decision making for nursing practice.
• Apply evidence-based knowledge as the basis for providing person-centered, high quality safe and effective care delivery using effective and compassionate communication, active participation, engagement, and empowerment in the care of individuals, families, important others, communities and across the lifespan.
• Incorporate collaborative activities including development of interventions and policies targeting population health concepts, principles, and perspectives, across a continuum of care services to strive for health equity and improved health for individuals, families, important others, and communities.
• Demonstrate the ability to assess evidence-based research carefully and systematically in the process of improving health, health care, and health outcomes in diverse populations and across the lifespan.
• Apply evidence-based quality improvement principles, strategies, and interventions utilizing both system effectiveness and individual performance to create and maintain a physically, psychologically, secure, and just environment that contributes to a culture of promoting patient safety across the four spheres of care.
• Collaborate with interprofessional team members from multiple disciplines, patients, families, communities, and other stakeholders in the creation of highest quality of care and health outcomes of value for the patients, families, important others, and the community served.
• Utilize information on the relationship between internal and external system processes and organizational structures as they relate to system inequity, structural competencies in health equity, cost containment, performance metrics, and impact of health disparities and social determinants of health to plan care outcomes across the continuum of care.
• Use information and communication technology tools in accordance with ethical, legal, policies, professional, and regulatory standards to gather data, develop clinical evidence-based decision-making in the delivery of safe nursing care to diverse populations in a variety of settings within the four spheres of care.
• Translate the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics into professional practice and display actions that aligned with ethical behaviors, respect for life and human dignity, best nursing practices standards, integrating diversity equity and inclusion as a core to professional identity across communities, populations, and healthcare settings.
• Use personal, professional, and leadership development activities that demonstrate self-awareness, reflective practice, a spirit of inquiry, commitment to lifelong learning, and professional growth.

Coursework

First Year Courses

Fall Semester

• FYS 199: First Year Seminar (4 credits)
• ENG 111 or 112: Composition (4 credits)
• BIO 103: Human Anatomy & Physiology I (4 credits)
• PSY 103: Introduction to Psychology for Nursing (4 credits)
• NUR 050: Pre-Nursing Seminar I (1 credit)
• PHA: Physical Activity (2 credits)

Spring Semester

• BIO 104: Human Anatomy & Physiology II (4 credits)
• BIO 115: Microbiology in Nursing and Allied Health (4 credits)
• PSY 263: Lifespan Developmental Psychology (4 credits)
• SPN course or elective course: Students in nursing will complete the Foundations requirement for world language in Spanish (4 credits)
• NUR 051: Pre-Nursing Seminar II (1 credit)

Second Year Courses

Fall Semester

• Nursing 110: Professional and Foundational Concepts of Nursing (12 credits)
• SPN course or elective course: Students in nursing will complete the Foundations requirement for world language in Spanish (4 credits)

Spring Semester

• Nursing 201: Physiological Concepts of Nursing (10 credits)
• SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology (4 credits)

Third Year Courses

Fall Semester

• Nursing 301: Complex Individual and Family Nursing Concepts (11 credits)
• BIO 112: Human Nutrition (3 credits)

Spring Semester

• Nursing 320: Advanced Nursing Concepts (7.5 credits)
• Nursing 340: Transition into Nursing Practice (5.5 credits)
• Nursing 360: NCLEX Preparation Course (2 credits)
• PHL 232: Bioethics (4 credits)

Fourth Year Courses

Fall Semester

• NUR 420: Nursing Health Assessment (4 credits)
• NUR 421: Promoting Community and Public Health (4 credits)
• ARTIS: Artistic Designated Course (4 credits)
• NUR 430: Research and Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing (3 credits)

Spring Semester

• NUR 431: Leadership & Management for Professional Nursing Practice (3 credits)
• NUR 440: Health Policy, Economics, & Informatics for Nurses (3 credits)
• NUR 441: Care of Vulnerable Populations (2 credits)
• NUR 450: Transcultural Perspectives in Nursing (2 credits)
• MTH 125: Introductory Statistics (4 credits)
• NUR 451: Family Centered End of Life Care (2 credits)
• NUR 499: Senior Nursing Capstone (2 credits)

Clinical & Experiential Learning

The integrated curriculum pathway leading to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program is designed to prepare students for a full immersion in experiential learning early in the academic studies.

Research & Senior Capstone

All students in the senior year will complete a community and public health practicum experience under the supervision of W&J faculty. Students will complete the senior nursing capstone course requirement of a research project on an identified relevant and current clinical practice problem.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree in nursing program at Washington & Jefferson College is pursuing initial accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Applying for accreditation does not guarantee that accreditation will be granted.

Nursing Faculty

• Sean Coyne, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor of Psychology
• Linda Edwards, Ph.D., MN, BSN, RN: Chair & Professor, Nursing
• Kyle Emerson, Ph.D.: Assistant Professor
• Regina Leckie, Ph.D.: Visiting Assistant Professor

Nursing News

• W&J's New BSN Program Takes Major Step Toward Accreditation (April 1, 2025)