School	Nursing, Adult and Professional Studies
Academic Award	Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Credits Required	126 semester credits
Dean	Carl Christensen
Available at	Online

The Mark and Huldah Buntain School of Nursing at Northwest University graduates scholarly professional nurses who practice from a uniquely Christian worldview and are dedicated to helping all human beings in pursuit of holistic health. Life-long professional learning is a hallmark indicating the quality and excellence required of all nurses. It begins as the learner enters nursing, and remains a strategic force throughout the nurse’s lifetime of professional practice. The Buntain School of Nursing emphasizes life-span learning as a means to remain current and at mastery in professional nursing leadership and service.

Offering of the Online RN-BSN track is pending approval by the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission

BSN Program at Northwest University

The Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science (RN-BSN) Program is another track in the same BSN program core course content and accreditation requirements. The curriculum structure has Essential Curricular Concepts and Contextual Themes in which the learners can meet their Program Objectives, the measure of academic success in their baccalaureate level professional nursing theory and practice.

Nursing Program Objectives

Graduates are able to

1. Practice critical thinking using logical and sequential reasoning, tempered with creative, aesthetic, and intuitive processes.
2. Apply the nursing process to plan and deliver care that is holistic, compassionate, culturally competent, and client centered autonomously and collaboratively with interprofessional teams.
3. Provide nursing care in the framework of organizational leadership and systems management processes.
4. Integrate health care policies and economics to accomplish equitable access to health care and continuity of care for diverse populations.
5. Apply research methods in the investigation of clinical nursing problems and health care delivery.
6. Evaluate quality indicators, evidence, and outcomes of health care planning and implementation.
7. Design health care for diverse populations and communities considering limited resources and environmental impact.
8. Demonstrate the use of nursing informatics, patient care technologies, and interprofessional communication strategies.
9. Articulate the unique characteristics of professional nursing and the role of professional nurses in direct and indirect client care.
10. Proposes a plan for formal academic and life-long education that enhances personal and professional growth.
11. Practice professional nursing from a Christian worldview, demonstrating personal integration of faith, service, and cultural competence.

RN-BSN Online Program Design

Seamless Advancement

Total credits for the RN-BSN online program are commensurate with the pre-licensure BSN program. Transfer credits are allowed per Northwest University policies in coordination with:

• Commission on Collegiate Nurse Education (CCNE) accreditation requirements
• Council on Nursing Education in Washington State (CNEWS) (which has formulated policies to streamline navigation through advanced and higher education for professional nurses in this State) (see Fall 2014 ASSOCIATE IN NURSING DTA/MRP, Statewide Major Related Program (MRP) Agreement)
• RN graduates from Associate Degree (AD) programs can transfer up to 60 semester (90 quarter) credits of lower division (LD) credits including all of prior nursing courses. (The Direct Transfer Agreement [DTA] agreement.)
• RN graduates from diploma programs who have accredited college/university credits are evaluated separately according to their individual programs for up to 60 semester (90 quarter) LD credits; the credit transfer may or may not include nursing classes.
• All RNs educated outside of the United are required to have formal nursing and post high school level education transcripts evaluated by foreign transcript evaluation services to determine acceptable transfer credits.
• The nurse’s current state RN license attests to his/her legal right to practice and is awarded 30 credits n the DTA experiential credits catalog.
• Upper division credits required for graduation from Northwest University RN-BSN Online Program include all of the nursing courses. (Any upper division [UD] cognate/elective courses added to enhance or broaden the learner’s selected focus of interest may apply in a graduate program cognate).
• The total minimum resident credits to complete the RN-BSN Online Program at Northwest University is 30 UD credits.

Motivational Commitment

• Establish a personal Contract of Study, using self-assessment and description of why he/she is pursuing higher education in nursing, the expected outcomes by engaging in an online program at Northwest University, and possible future plans to pursue a masters’ and/or doctoral education.
• Identify support systems already in place to aid the learner through a rigorous program of professional studies, back-up plans for stressful periods of greater than anticipated course work/study, and the ultimate support systems that must be considered in personal and/or family emergencies that may require delays or stop-outs in the student’s course of studies.

Engaged-Collaborative Learning

• Actively engage throughout the Online Program via assignments, discussion boards/forums, collaborative projects and papers, and critique of class colleagues’ work.
• Exhibit a high degree of flexibility to maintain optimum involvement with mobile technology, potentially different time zones, self-prepared preceptorships and practice environments, and time-zone-specific deadlines for course assignments.
• Responsively and reliably communicate with a nursing faculty course mentor.
• Constructively collaborate with duo/triad study partners for selected assignments/projects as determined by course faculty.

Applicants’ Experiential Practice and RN Licensure Requirements

Nursing faculty will have on-going participation in assessing compliance with the following standards:

1. Minimum of 18 months clinical RN nursing practice in direct client care; officially documented by agency or employer where clinical nursing practice was performed.
2. The hours of clinical RN nursing practice are a minimum of ½ time (PT) to full time (FT).
3. The clinical RN nursing practice is current, and within the previous two (2) years of applying for the RN-BSN Online Program.
4. A current and unencumbered RN license in the USA, the State or Territory in which the license is issued, and its renewal date.

Program Practice Experience Requirements

The unique practice experience situations in the Nursing Program may require applicants to submit the following records before entering the practice experience sequence:

1. Health history and physical examination that includes immunization and vaccination documentation and titer levels, conducted and signed by a licensed medical doctor or nurse practitioner:
2. Immunizations

– DPT series and any subsequent Boosters.

• One booster after age 19 must be a Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis) vaccine.

– Hepatitis A series
– Hepatitis B series & proof of positive titer
– MMR series or proof of positive titer
– Polio series
– Varicella series or proof of positive titer

3. A two-step TB test or TB IGRA done at the time of entry into the program according to instructions provided by the School of Nursing. Documentation of an annual TB test is conducted each year to demonstrate eligibility to participate in practice experiences;
4. Current AHA provider-level CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) card;
5. A national background check is required at the applicant’s expense. A signed permission form (supplied in the application packet) allowing the Buntain School of Nursing and any clinical site to order a criminal background check, for example, Washington State Patrol Criminal Background Check. Background checks must indicate no criminal history;
6. Proof of health insurance for personal costs of health care;
7. Annual flu immunization is required each year to be eligible to participate in practice experiences; and
8. A valid driver’s license.