Nursing

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences offers the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree for beginning and licensed (RN and LVN) students. Upon successful completion of the BSN curriculum at the Tyler, Longview, or Palestine campus, graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Objectives

The College’s nursing graduates address the challenges of a dynamic health care delivery system by initiating resourceful solutions for health promotion, risk reduction, and disease management.

Based on the philosophy and mission statements of both the university and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the following behaviors reflect expected outcomes (terminal objectives) for the nursing program. Graduates of the baccalaureate nursing program should be able to:

  1. Integrate knowledge from the biological and behavioral sciences, and humanities to foster a commitment to life-long learning and professional development;
  2. Utilize basic organizational and system leadership to coordinate and assume accountability for quality patient care;
  3. Synthesize nursing research findings with other relevant information from the scientific and humanistic disciplines to facilitate evidence-based practice;
  4. Integrate the use of technology and information systems to facilitate delivery of comprehensive care;
  5. Demonstrate basic knowledge of healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments;
  6. Advocate for patient centered care through inter- and intra-professional collaboration to reflect human caring while providing care to diverse populations across the lifespan;
  7. Integrate health promotion and disease prevention at the individual and population level to improve health outcomes;
  8. Demonstrate professional values based on historical, moral, ethical, and legal aspects of nursing practice responding to global health needs;
  9. Synthesize skills, knowledge and attitudes required to provide holistic, evidence-based patient-centered care to diverse populations across the health care continuum.

Advisement and Counseling

Appointments with pre-nursing advisors may be scheduled by accessing the following web site for the main campus at http://www.uttyler.edu/nursing/college/undergraduate/index.php and for the distance campuses call Longview Campus 903-663-8223; and Palestine Campus 903-723-2308.

Prerequisites

All students must complete the Texas core curriculum requirements and prerequisite nursing courses with a grade of “C” or better and a minimum GPA of 2.75 (4.0 basis) in order to be considered for admission. Prerequisite courses required for all BSN tracks include:

Physical and Biological Sciences

anatomy and physiology

8 hours

chemistry with laboratory

4 hours

microbiology or bacteriology

4 hours

nutrition

3 hours

Social Sciences and Humanities

life span growth and development

3 hours

general (intro) psychology

3 hours

Mathematics

statistics

3 hours

Admission Policy

Full Admission

Students are considered for full admission to the undergraduate nursing program if all the core curriculum requirements and the nursing prerequisite courses are completed with a minimum grade point average of 2.75, and all transcripts are on file in the Admissions Office.

The student must also have a current Nursing Application on file in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and results of the TEAS entrance exam.

Conditional Admission

Students are eligible for conditional admission to the undergraduate nursing program if there are no more than five (5) outstanding prerequisite courses required to complete the core curriculum and nursing prerequisites by the deadline, have a cumulative GPA of 2.75 on the core curriculum and nursing prerequisites and a minimum GPA of 2.75 on all nursing prerequisites, a current Nursing Application and a copy of the TEAS entrance exam results.

Achievement Examinations

Achievement examinations will be administered throughout the nursing program. In addition to fulfilling the academic requirements of the university and the Nursing program, all students must take a comprehensive achievement examination in the final semester of the nursing program.

Expenses of the Nursing Program

In addition to general university tuition and fees, the student majoring in nursing assumes financial responsibility for payment of criminal background check, urine drug screen, uniforms, malpractice insurance, and clinical accessories. In the final semester of study the student is required to pay fees for the application to take the NCLEX-RN and the application for licensure. Go to www.bon.state.tx.us for information on current fee structure. The fee schedule for Pearson Vue, the testing center for the NCLEX-RN, is available at https://www.ncsbn.org/2911.htm.

Upon admission to the nursing program all students must submit evidence of the following: (1) current immunizations- MMR, hepatitis B series (3 injections), tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (2) TB screening (updated on a yearly basis) (3) American Heart Association Healthcare Provider CPR, and (4) professional liability insurance purchased through the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

The student must also provide her/his own transportation to health care agencies. Driving distances will vary; clinical assignments will be based on availability of learning experiences.