2014-2015 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Program Description
For additional information about opportunities your college offers, please refer to the Kirkhof College of Nursing section in this catalog.
Associate Dean: Van Doren. Professors: Bostrom, Coviak, McCurren; Associate Professors: Bambini, Barry, Beel-Bates, Brintnall, Davis, Jensen, Mupepi, Schafer, Schoofs, Van Doren, Washburn; Assistant Professors: Burrit, Butler, Conrad, Damstra, Harrington, Hooper, Houghton-Rahrig, Mlynarczyk, Ryan, Vanden Bosch, Wallace-Renter; Affiliate Faculty: Bollman, Brown- Bayus, Carlson, Chillag, Cooper, Cunningham, Leigh, Rohn, Sanchez, Shaw, Stockdale, Zoetman; Visiting Assistant Professors: Abood, Pattison.
Website: www.gvsu.edu/kcon
The undergraduate program is designed for all qualified applicants, including high school graduates, nurses holding diplomas or associate degrees, and persons holding degrees in other fields.
Nursing majors must complete a core of courses in the humanities and the social, physical, natural, and health sciences that provides a strong scientific and humanistic foundation upon which the clinical nursing courses are based. Before graduation, students must also have completed the general education requirements of the university. (See Degree RequirementsUndergraduate, in the General Academic Regulations Section in the Grand Valley State University Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog.)
The program stresses health promotion and illness prevention as well as care of the sick. The ability to think critically, to solve problems, formulate concepts, make judgments, analyze, summarize, and form valid conclusions are emphasized. This focus provides the student with the characteristics necessary for professional development and personal enrichment in a changing society.
The baccalaureate degree in nursing prepares graduates to fulfill the professional nursing roles of providers of care, designers/managers/coordinators of care members of the profession and lays the foundation for advanced practice through graduate studies.
The outcomes of the Kirkhof College Of Nursing (KCON) undergraduate program are:
- Create and integrate a comprehensive concept of health in nursing practice covering all dynamics from self to global health.
- Provide patient-centered holistic care consistent with evidenced-based standards of nursing practice in order to maximize health care outcomes.
- Affect nursing practice through evidence-based clinical judgment.
- Demonstrate effective communication within a therapeutic relationship with patients, and a collaborative relationship with other professionals and with community systems.
- Affect the culture of quality across health care systems that bring about positive consumer, provider, and system outcomes that meet nationally recognized standards.
- Practice in a manner that reflects professional standards for the baccalaureate-prepared nurse including engagement with inter-professional aspects and upstanding external character.
- Demonstrate ethical/legal behavior consistent with the best interest of the patient and the profession.
The undergraduate program provides learning experiences in clinical sites that combine the liberal arts and basic sciences with nursing theory and clinical practice. Students are prepared to provide nursing interventions for individuals, families, and communities at a beginning generalist level. Students are scheduled for clinical practice at a variety of community hospitals and health care agencies, including home care, community centers, and other ambulatory settings. Nursing students must be prepared to meet the needs of a student schedule in a profession where work demands occur at any time of the day or time of the week.
Students should be aware that prior to beginning the clinical courses, they must complete comprehensive health compliance obligations including but not limited to a criminal background check, fingerprinting, and drug screening. Students should also be aware that all State Boards of Nursing review the records of all graduates who have completed a nursing program to determine eligibility to write the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). All State Boards of Nursing retain the right to deny a graduate permission to write the licensure examination if he or she has been convicted of a crime.