Online RN to BSN Program Curriculum

In this course, students will be provided a baseline of knowledge of the fundamentals of computers and digital literacies to ensure they will be able to understand a constantly changing technology oriented landscape. In this course, students will be exposed to the fundamentals of computing technology, including computer hardware and software concepts; the Windows operating system and commands; drives, folders, and files; Google’s suite of applications; use of the Internet and growing connectivity with everyday devices; and digital literacy knowledge and skills. By mastering the fundamentals of computing technology and demonstrating digital literacy, students will have the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century workforce.

This course introduces the integration of communication skills essential for effective reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college level. In this writing intensive course, students develop composition skills to produce collegiate-level papers modeling rhetorical modes and thematic content in addition to strategies for reading complex texts; presentation skills for personal introductions, verbal summaries of readings and response writings, and peer review of papers; and basic technological skills for word processing, e-mail, and introductory-level online research.

In this course students will apply the practices for effective reading and writing introduced in ENG 114 to the distinctive language and forms of various disciplines. This course lays the foundation for academic and professional research and stresses the use of appropriate and effective information sources. Readings for a variety of academic audiences will provide students with strategies to communicate in the sciences, business and technology, psychology, liberal studies, and the social sciences. Research and documentation skills appropriate to the disciplines are stressed. In addition to leading students through the research process from start to finish, this course will examine the many ramifications of academic honesty.

Prerequisite: ENG 114

Selected readings in fiction, poetry, and drama introduce the student to literary types and techniques. These readings provide a basis for collegiate-level discussion, analysis, and the development of critical judgment. Building on the communications and research skills from earlier courses in the sequence, this course emphasizes continued practice in writing, and students complete a documented research paper using primary and secondary sources as one of the course writing assignments. Discussions and oral presentations based on assigned literature support the overall goal of the sequence: to enhance the advancement of the students, first academically and then professionally.

Prerequisite: ENG 114

This is an introduction to the basic descriptive and inferential statistics for students from all disciplines. It emphasizes the development of statistical literacy and the use of computer for analyzing data. Topics include principles of experimental design; graphical and numerical methods for summarizing, describing, exploring and analyzing data; binomial and normal probability distributions; point and interval estimates for means and proportions; hypothesis testing; and correlation and regression.

Prerequisite: MAT 104 or appropriate placement test score

Using an active learning approach, students will explore psychological perspectives and methods as explanations for human behavior and mental processes. Other topics include: neurophysiology, consciousness, learning, personality theories, and psychological disorders.

This required interdisciplinary course is designed to give all undergraduate students entering Bay Path University a common experience and foundation for lifelong learning. Students examine leadership within the larger context of our interdependent world and their own strengths, values, and aspirations. Students also examine learning styles, communication skills and technology to create a personalized action plan for success. This course lays the foundation for higher-level courses in the WELL program.

This required course for RN to BSN students builds on the foundation created in WEL 220 to deepen students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes related to career, leadership and financial development. Students’ transition from the associate’s degree graduate to the new paradigm of the professional baccalaureate prepared nurse in this course. They explore the program outcomes as their next phase in a career-long process of professional development. Students examine the key factors in society that promote a nurse’s return to school, and determine the level of professionalism, effective communication, holistic healthcare, ethics, and informatics and technology required of nursing professionals in the 21st century. Students review healthcare legal foundations, nursing theory, health promotion, patient education, and determine the level of evidence-based practice required to provide standard-based nursing care. Students assess the challenges and opportunities related to professional nursing practice and evaluate the meaning and implications of the Massachusetts professional competency standards which include the Quality and Safe Education for Nurses (QSEN) national standards generated by the Institute of Medicine recommendations for safe patient care. Through this course, students explore growth and development as nurses while understanding the opportunities to build on their purpose, passion and potential.

Prerequisite: COM 111 and ENG 124

This course combines academic study with practical application of leadership, communications and technology skills in nursing practice as a springboard for the nursing student to move forward into the future as an empowered woman. Students develop and expand their leadership abilities as they relate to their professional practice. Students examine various leadership and management theories in nursing. They analyze and evaluate nursing responsibilities related to communication, politics, conflict management, cost containment, organizational structure, staffing, evaluations, and delegation, including continuous quality improvement in healthcare systems. Students participate in simulations and scenarios to develop effective decision making strategies and to enhance teamwork, interdisciplinary collaborations, and accountability. As a culminating experience, this course also provides the platform for assessing students’ progress and proficiency.

Prerequisite: WEL 220 and WEL 331

The BS in Nursing program requires 15 credits core electives:

• Healthy Living Elective (2 credits)
• History Elective (3 credits)
• Humanities Elective (3 credits)
• Psychology/Sociology/Humanities Elective (3 credits)
• Science Elective Options (4 credits)

Learn more about which courses apply to these credits by speaking with an enrollment counselor.

In this course students will apply the practices for effective reading and writing introduced in ENG 114 to the distinctive language and forms of various disciplines. This course lays the foundation for academic and professional research and stresses the use of appropriate and effective information sources. Readings for a variety of academic audiences will provide students with strategies to communicate in the sciences, business and technology, psychology, liberal studies, and the social sciences. Research and documentation skills appropriate to the disciplines are stressed. In addition to leading students through the research process from start to finish, this course will examine the many ramifications of academic honesty.

Prerequisite: ENG 114

In this course, students will be provided a baseline of knowledge of the fundamentals of computers and digital literacies to ensure they will be able to understand a constantly changing technology oriented landscape. In this course, students will be exposed to the fundamentals of computing technology, including computer hardware and software concepts; the Windows operating system and commands; drives, folders, and files; Google’s suite of applications; use of the Internet and growing connectivity with everyday devices; and digital literacy knowledge and skills. By mastering the fundamentals of computing technology and demonstrating digital literacy, students will have the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century workforce.

Students transition to an expanded level of practice in the context of health assessment in this course. They learn and demonstrate a conceptual approach to an evidence-based health evaluation of culturally diverse clients throughout the lifespan. Assignments include the analysis and evaluation of clinical case students to help students develop and refine their clinical skills. Students elicit, record, and document a comprehensive health systems interview in order to obtain subjective data and perform and document a complete physical examination on a client of their choice.

Prerequisite: ENG 124, COM 111

Students expand their practice in the area of national and global healthcare policies and diversity in this course. Students prepare for the nurse’s role in preserving and promoting health among vulnerable and diverse populations. Additionally, principles of epidemiology, culturally competent care, social determinants of health (SDOH), population health, and resource allocation through value based care are evaluated. The course introduces analysis, planning, organization, and delivery of services for vulnerable and diverse populations in diverse settings, including illness prevention, disaster preparedness, and environmental health.

Students expand their knowledge of community health as an important component of professional practice in this course. They explore the connections among and between individuals, families, and groups to community healthcare in the context of prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation. Students analyze and evaluate the settings of community based nursing, the characteristics of a healthy community, and applying the nursing process focused on safety and evidence-based practice in the community. Students conduct and submit a community assessment and lead discussions of their findings related to course content.

Prerequisite: BSN 380 and BSN 410

This course provides an overview of information technology, communication, technologies, and management of healthcare information to impact patient outcomes positively. Health information technology is required for person-centered service across the continuum and requires consistency in user input, proper process, and improved delivery of safe and quality care management. Additionally, informatics, communication technologies, and Information management in healthcare settings change how people, processes, and policies interact. This course teaches students that nursing informatics synthesizes nursing science, information science, and computer science through health applications to support decision-making in dynamic healthcare environment.

Students learn to identify, analyze, and apply evidence-based healthcare and nursing research to their professional practice in this practice. They outline the differences in approach and compare the strengths and weaknesses in quantitative and qualitative nursing research. Students review healthcare research problems, questions, hypotheses, literature reviews, theoretical frameworks, and ethical behavior in current healthcare research, methodology, and findings. Students critique research articles and reports, becoming discriminating professional consumers of research. They demonstrate how they will use this evidence-based research in their nursing practice, and how they will participate in interdisciplinary research while protecting the rights of research subjects.

Prerequisite: BSN 340, MAT 120, and WEL 331

This course combines academic study with practical application of leadership, communications and technology skills in nursing practice as a springboard for the nursing student to move forward into the future as an empowered woman. Students develop and expand their leadership abilities as they relate to their professional practice. Students examine various leadership and management theories in nursing. They analyze and evaluate nursing responsibilities related to communication, politics, conflict management, cost containment, organizational structure, staffing, evaluations, and delegation, including continuous quality improvement in healthcare systems. Students participate in simulations and scenarios to develop effective decision making strategies and to enhance teamwork, interdisciplinary collaborations, and accountability. As a culminating experience, this course also provides the platform for assessing students’ progress and proficiency.

Prerequisite: WEL 220 and WEL 331

Students synthesize and apply their education as a baccalaureate prepared registered nurse in the first of two capstone courses. In Capstone I, with the assistance of the professor, the student develops and implements a plan for investigating an area of clinical or healthcare at an institution or organization at which they might like to work or advance. Students use this experience to synthesize and apply the nursing and university knowledge developed in the program. As they progress through both capstone courses, the student will submit weekly descriptions and evaluation of her experiences and participate in weekly discussions to assist in making sense of experiences and gaining insight from the Bay Path learning community on the challenges faced.

Prerequisite: BSN 400, BSN 410, BSN 420, and WEL 441

Students complete their final, and extensive, experience in this course and reflect on their learning in the program and their future. As part of this final experience, the students prepare and present a presentation and paper that clearly outlines the level to which their experience in the program and capstone has met the BSN program learning outcomes, their plan for their career and future, and their recommendations for strengthening the program. Students complete the Senior Exit Interview in this course.

Prerequisite: BSN 440

The BS in Nursing program requires 45 credits of major electives:

• Nursing/Science Electives (12 credits)
• General Electives (33 credits)

Learn more about which courses apply to these credits by speaking with an enrollment counselor.