2015-2016 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 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 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.)
KCON undergraduate nursing programs emphasize health promotion and illness prevention as well as care of the sick. Student ability to think critically, solve problems, formulate concepts, make clinical judgments, analyze and summarize information, and form valid conclusions are integral to learning. 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 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 undergraduate program outcomes:
- 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 myriad settings that combine the liberal arts and basic sciences with nursing theory and clinical practice. Students are prepared to provide nursing interventions at a beginning generalist level to individuals, families, and communities . Students are scheduled for clinical practice at a variety of hospitals and health care agencies, including home care, community centers, and ambulatory settings. KCON 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 week.
Prior to beginning KCON clinical courses, students must complete comprehensive health compliance obligations including, but not limited to, a criminal background check, fingerprinting, and drug screening. Please note: 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-RN (NCLEX). All State Boards of Nursing retain the right to deny a Bachelor of Science in nursing (B.S.N.) graduate permission to write the licensure examination if he or she has been convicted of a crime.