Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN

Based on The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (2008) by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing

1. Synthesize knowledge from liberal education with professional nursing

2. Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision making in the provision of high-quality nursing care, healthcare team coordination, and the oversight and accountability for care delivery in a variety of settings.

3. Integrate evidence, clinical judgment, interprofessional perspectives, and patient preferences in planning, implementing, and evaluating outcomes of care.

4. Demonstrate skills in using patient care technologies, information systems, and communication devices that support safe, effective nursing practice.

5. Explore the impact of sociocultural, economic, legal, and political factors influencing patient care quality, workplace safety, and the scope of nursing and other health professionals’ practice.

6. Incorporate effective communication skills to contribute the nursing perspective to interprofessional teams to optimize patient outcomes.

7. Collaborate with members of the interprofessional team to develop an assessment and intervention plan that takes into account determinants of health and available resources that contribute clinical prevention and population health.

8. Assume accountability for personal and professional behaviors that demonstrate the nursing standards of moral, ethical, and legal conduct.

9. Implement holistic, evidenced-based, safe patient-centered care across the health illness continuum, across the lifespan, and in all healthcare settings.

Based on The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing

1. Using the nursing process and clinical judgment, apply theory from nursing, the arts, humanities, and other sciences to deliver care to persons in a variety of practice settings.

2. Using empathy and compassion, establish a person-centered relationship, as the basis for nursing practice in a variety of settings.

3. Recognize the Social Determinants of Health that impact individuals, families, and communities to participate in the management of population health.

4. Demonstrate the ability to access, critically appraise, and describe evidence-based studies for application to practice within a variety of healthcare practice settings.

5. Apply quality improvement principles that incorporate best practices in care delivery and contribute to a culture of patient safety in a variety of healthcare practice settings

6. Collaborate with interprofessional team members, patients, families, and communities using established tools and techniques to improve health outcomes.

7. Apply knowledge of systems theory and principles of equitable health care within complex healthcare systems.

8. Use reliable information systems that facilitate safe, ethical, and equitable patient care across the lifespan.

9. Demonstrate professional and ethical behaviors in varied practice care settings aligned with policies of the institution, regulatory requirements, and the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses.

10. Demonstrate leadership behaviors during interactions with the health care team to advocate for self, patients and families, and the nursing profession.

Overview

The Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN is designed to enable individuals with a Baccalaureate Degree in another discipline the ability to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) in three consecutive full-time terms.

The Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN requires 122 credits: 31 credits from a previous degree, 36 to 38 prerequisite credits, and 54 curriculum credits. The curriculum is fast-paced and designed to build upon the individual's previous education while providing additional science and nursing content.

Upon completion of the program, graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) to become Registered Nurses (RN).

Required Prerequisite Courses

The Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN requires an applicant to complete 36 prerequisite credits. These courses may be taken at any college or university. Courses from other institutions must be evaluated as equivalent to University of Pittsburgh courses. (Coursework taken at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing prior to admission may be taken as a non-degree seeking student.)

Required prerequisites include:

*Should have been completed within the past ten years
+Should have achieved a grade of "B-" or better

Nursing - Accelerated 2nd Degree, BSN

This program has attracted students from all over the country:

Students have earned their first degrees from such prominent institutions as:

• Carnegie Mellon University
• SUNY Buffalo (University at Buffalo)
• Bloomsburg University
• Boston University
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• New York University
• Ohio State University
• Princeton University
• University of California Davis
• University of Maryland – College Park
• Vanderbilt University