2019-2020 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.
Website: www.gvsu.edu/kcon
The Kirkhof College of Nursing (KCON) undergraduate nursing program curricula provide educational experiences that encourage intellectual achievement, critical thinking and self-expression while maintaining emphasis on the importance of human values and cultures. KCON faculty educate their students to become nurses who promote health and wellness, share resources and knowledge in both conventional and alternative approaches to health care, promote social justice and stewardship, and diagnose and treat a wide range of human responses to actual and potential health problems while holding the highest regard for those in their care. Graduates of the baccalaureate degree program function as generalists and provide comprehensive care to individuals, families, groups, and communities.
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) degree prepares the graduate to fulfill the professional nursing roles of provider of care, designer/manager/coordinator of care, and member of the profession. It also provides the foundation for continued education in advanced practice through graduate nursing studies.
The KCON B.S.N. graduate will be prepared to:
- provide nursing care based on expanding clinical judgment within parameters of functional capacity of individuals, families, groups and communities in multiple settings that incorporate knowledge from the liberal arts and knowledge unique to nursing;
- coordinate health care with individuals, families, groups and communities across the life span, using communication skills, in collaboration with members of the health care team; and
- assume ethical, legal, and professional accountability for the development and practice of nursing in a changing health care environment.
The KCON undergraduate program provides learning experiences in a variety of settings that integrates liberal arts, humanities and sciences with nursing theory and clinical practice. Clinical sites can consist of a variety of hospital and health care agency settings in the community, with placement at varying times of the day or week. Students are prepared to provide nursing interventions at a beginning generalist level to individuals, families, and communities
Prior to beginning KCON clinical courses, students must complete comprehensive health compliance requirements including, but not limited to, a criminal background check, fingerprinting, and drug screening. Failure to complete these requirements could negatively impact a student's ability to successfully complete the clinical placement components of the program that are required for graduation. Clinical sites can refuse to accept students who have not successfully completed all of the above requirements. In addition, all State Boards of Nursing review the records of all graduates who have completed a nursing program to determine eligibility to take the National Council Licensure Examination-RN (NCLEX-RN). All State Boards of Nursing retain the right to deny a B.S.N. graduate permission to take the NCLEX-RN licensure examination, if convicted of a crime.
Nursing majors must complete core courses in the humanities and the social, physical, natural, and health sciences. These core courses provide a strong scientific and humanistic foundation fundamental to subsequently required clinical nursing courses. Before graduation, students must also complete the general education requirements of the university. (See Degree Requirements Undergraduate, in the General Academic Regulations section in the Grand Valley State University Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog.)