Samuel Merritt University’s RN to BSN program is designed to help working RNs gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to change the way we deliver health care. As an RN to BSN scholar, you will start the program with a meditation course to help enrich your self-care practices. You will deepen your knowledge of the evidence and science that supports expert nursing care. You will hone your communication and teamwork skills. Because great swaths of our health care system are designed for the industry rather than patients, we will build your confidence and leadership skills to transform “delivery systems” into healing environments. It is a tall order, but the system won’t change without the leadership of registered nurses like you! You are the future of of our profession.
Program Purposes—to help working RNs
- Discover a vision
- Find your voice (and join the conversations on health care in this country)
- Tell your stories
- Own your professional practice
Cohorts of colleagues
- Small groups of RNs from 3-4 agencies in the same geographical area
- Extend professional networks and develop teams that lead change
Program length and class structure
- 20 months, a little less than half-time study with 6 credits each semester; 15-week semesters
- Face-to-face classes are four hours each week plus one Saturday each semester
- Labs are about 3 hours per week in semesters 2 & 3
Why earn your BSN?
- IOM (2010) goal of 80% BSNs by 2020 because more BSNs associated with:
- Decreased odds of patient mortality (Aiken, 2003; Yakusheva, 2014)
- Lower readmission rates & shorter lengths of stay (Yakusheva, 2014)
- Higher job satisfaction
- Career mobility—preparation for health care system of the future
Why earn your BSN at SMU?
- Focus on deepening compassion for colleagues, patients, and others in your life
- Focus on strengthening self-care through meditation, centering, and therapeutic presence
- Face-to-face class days and times are the same throughout the program
- Conveniently located—cohorts accepted based on interest in geographical area
Curriculum
RN-BSN Program Overview |
||||||||
Trimester ONE |
Trimester TWO |
Trimester THREE |
||||||
Course # |
Course Title |
Units |
Course # |
Course Title |
Units |
Course # |
Course Title |
Units |
GENED 410 |
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction |
2 |
GENED 432 |
Applied Research & Statistics II |
1 |
GENED 433 |
Applied Research & Statistics III |
1 |
GENED 431 |
Applied Research & Statistics I |
1 |
NURSG 470/ 470L |
Community/ Public Health Nursing I |
2 |
NURSG 472/ 472L |
Community/ Public Health Nursing II |
2 |
NURSG 460 |
Quality, Safety & Leadership I |
2 |
GENED 456 |
Genetics & Genomics |
2 |
NURSG 450 |
Nursing Science I |
1 |
GENED 440 |
Health Policy I |
1 |
GENED 442 |
Health Policy II |
1 |
NURSG 464 |
Quality, Safety & Leadership II |
2 |
Total Trimester One |
6 |
Total Trimester Two |
6 |
Total Trimester Three |
6 |
|||
Trimester FOUR |
Trimester FIVE |
|||||||
Course # |
Course Title |
Units |
Course # |
Course Title |
Units |
|||
NURSG 434 |
Applied Research & Statistics IV |
2 |
NURSG 454/ 454L |
Nursing Science III |
2 |
|||
NURSG 452 |
Nursing Science II |
2 |
GENED 490 |
Humanities in Health & Illness |
2 |
|||
NURSG 466 |
Quality, Safety & Leadership III |
2 |
NURSG 468 |
Quality, Safety & Leadership IV |
2 |
|||
Total Trimester Four |
6 |
Total Trimester Five |
6 |
Program highlights:
- 30-hour mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) course developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, University of Massachusetts Medical School
(See Howland & Bauer-Wu, 2015) - Our integrated research and statistics series will teach RNs to quickly find, read, and evaluate research findings. No statistics prerequisite.
- Join public conversations on health policy and discover favorite op-ed writers
- Extend the mission and reach of community-based organizations in the provision of care and services to diverse and vulnerable populations in our community/ public health series.
- Hone communication and teamwork skills in our quality, safety and leadership series
- Deepen knowledge of genetics, genomics, pathophyiosiology, pharmacology, and health assessment in our science for nursing series
- Deepen understanding of caring practices through study of art, film, and literature
RN-BSN Degree Plan
120 semester units are required for a BSN from Samuel Merritt University. The RN to BSN coursework provides 30 of those units. Up to 90 units of undergraduate coursework may be transferred to reach the 120 required for graduation. Registered nurses with fewer than 90 transfer units will be awarded up to 20 additional units of university credit toward the BSN degree. For example, if you have 75 units of transfer coursework, Samuel Merritt will award an additional 15 units of coursework towards your BSN for holding an RN license.
*70-90 units | Most students completed at least 70 units in their ADN program. We accept up to 90 units in transfer from any degree program(s) at community colleges, four-year colleges, or universities |
20 units | If you have 70 credits to transfer, you will be awarded 20 units of upper division nursing based on a valid California RN license. See table below. Please send transcripts of all college work so that your baccalaureate degree transcript will reflect your actual work |
30 units | The program’s 30 units meet residency & graduation requirements |
120 units | For Samuel Merritt University BSN |
Transfer credits, RN license credits, and required program credits
Transfer Units from Associate Degree & other programs |
Units awarded for RN License |
SMU Program Units |
Total to Graduate |
90 |
0 |
30 |
120 |
87 |
3 |
30 |
120 |
84 |
6 |
30 |
120 |
81 |
9 |
30 |
120 |
78 |
12 |
30 |
120 |
75 |
15 |
32 |
120 |
72 |
18 |
30 |
120 |
70 |
20 |
30 |
120 |
|
*Students with fewer than 70 transferable credits may take electives at any college or university and transfer them into the program at any point prior to graduation.
References
Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Cheung, R. B., Sloane, D. M., & Silber, J. H. (2003). Educational levels of hospital nurses
and surgical patient mortality. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(12), 1617-1623.
Howland, L. C. & Bauer-Wu, S. (2015). The mindful nurse. American nurse today 10(9). Retrieved
from http://www.americannursetoday.com/mindful-nurse/
Institute of Medicine. (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=R1
Yakusheva, O, Lindrooth, R., & Weiss, M. (2014). Economic evaluation of the 80% baccalaureate nurse workforce
recommendation: A patient-level analysis. Medical Care, 52(10), 864-869.