School of Nursing

The inception of the School of Nursing began early in the hopes and dreams of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.  Her desire to build a school of nursing came from her experiences with her students and the racial disparities that existed in those times.  When a Black student was turned away from a hospital in Daytona Beach, Dr. Bethune opened a hospital to serve the black community.  This hospital later led to the evolution of the School of Nursing that exists today. In 1976, the School of Nursing was established as an area of Nursing within the Division of Science and Mathematics.  The first class of the School of Nursing graduated five Bachelor of Science (BSN) prepared nurses in 1981.  In December 1996, the National League for Nursing Board of Review for Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs granted initial accreditation to the baccalaureate program for five years. 

In the spring of 1997, the Board of Trustees approved divisional status and the Area of Nursing became the sixth academic Division within the college.  In 2001, the School of Nursing was reaccredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.  Since the initial accreditation in 1996, Bethune-Cookman University School of Nursing has remained in full approval and good standing with the State of Florida.  In 2005, the Division of Nursing became the School of Nursing. In 2008, the L. Gale Lemerand School of Nursing opened.  This building is approximately 33, 628 square feet in size.  It serves to facilitate learning environments for the students and faculty of the School of Nursing.  This building also houses the Odessa Chambliss Center for Health Equity.  This center serves as a hub for health literacy and community outreach for the B-CU faculty, staff and students as well as the surrounding community.  In addition it serves as a clinical site for School of Nursing students.

 

The School of Nursing defines public service as community service, clinical practice and political activism from a nursing perspective.  Within this framework, community service is aimed at fostering collaboration and sharing of nursing faculty and student expertise within the health care professionals, formal and informal groups that exists in the community.  This service includes membership or offices held on community boards, sharing professional knowledge and skills to help others solve actual or potential problems, and presentations at local, state or national professional meetings. Clinical practice focuses on providing education and nursing care to a diverse population by providing students with experience to meet the need of the local and global communities. 

Throughout the history of the School of Nursing, the mission of Bethune-Cookman University has permeated all efforts to improve the nursing program towards the goal of “Enter to Learn and Depart to Serve”.  The mission of teaching, learning, departing and serving excellently places the student at the center of its planning.  Historically, Dr. Bethune’s mission was to provide education to minority students who would not be afforded the opportunity of education.  As such, the cornerstone of this institution has been to provide the delivery of a high quality, relevant baccalaureate nursing program that remains accessible, affordable to qualified students and taught by a qualified faculty. 

The Mission, Goals and learning outcomes of the School of Nursing are congruent with those of the University and are also consistent with professional nursing standards and guidelines for preparing nursing professional. The school of nursing program utilizes the following standards to underpin the program’s mission.

The mission of the School of Nursing (SON) is congruent with the mission of the university. It is dedicated to the provision of an education to a diverse student body that will instill a desire for leadership and service to a diverse global community.  Our goal is to graduate competent, visionary Professional Nurse Leaders who are at the forefront of innovative, culturally sensitive healthcare practices that promote human flourishing.    The faculty believe that baccalaureate education is the basic preparation for professional nursing practice.  As a faculty, our purpose is to prepare Professional Nurse Leaders who are excellent health care providers, engaged with local and global communities, and who serve as advocates for health equity. We are grounded in Mary McLeod Bethune’s holistic merger of academics (Head), skills (Hand), and activism (Heart). We honor her desire that faculty strive to be true to values of the university, maintain a spirit of service, and be comprehensively prepared and effective in our discipline of Nursing. The traditional domains of Nursing: nurse, person, health, and environment, are pillars of our curriculum. Service learning is a vital strategy to prepare students as knowledgeable community leaders. These learning experiences reinforce the values of life-long learning and service.

The school of nursing endeavors to develop the Professional Nurse Leader to serve, educate and empower all citizens towards optimal personal wellness. The Professional Nurse Leader advocates for opportunities for all citizens to improve their quality of life through innovative nursing practice with the primary goal of eliminating health disparities, within our immediate and global communities.

The Philosophy and PSLOs are congruent with the core values, mission and ISLOs of B-CU and aligned with professional standards as described in the Quality & Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies.  School of Nursing Student Learning Outcomes are presented below with the ISLO’s from which they were derived.  Students will be able to:

 

Clinical Decision and Safety: Apply the nursing process in clinical decision making for individuals, families, groups, and communities utilizing holistic care in a safe environment. (ISLO #3, #6, and #8)
Client Centered Care:  Empower clients as partners in their own care utilizing holistic approaches that respect sociocultural, geopolitical and economic factors. (ISLO #1, #2, and #4)
Informatics: Utilize health care technology and communication tools that support optimal client outcomes, drive quality improvement, and support health care policies that deliver safe and cost effective care. (ISLO #3 and #6)
Teamwork: Collaborate effectively with individuals, families, communities, populations and interdisciplinary team members to coordinate the delivery of safe, quality care. (ISLO #5 and #6)
Inquiry: Utilize principles of nursing research; evidence based practice, and quality improvement to facilitate the delivery of holistic nursing care. (ISLO #7)                                                                                   
Quality Improvement: Utilize data to monitor outcomes of healthcare interventions for individuals, families, groups, communities, and clients with complex health needs. (ISLO #8)

The success of the program will be determined upon the achievement of student learning outcomes, program outcomes, and role specific graduate competencies. This will be demonstrated through the following:

1. Performance on the NCLEX-RN:                                                                                          

2. Program Completion:  Expected level of achievement is 65%.
3. Job Placement:  80% of graduates successful on the NCLEX-RN will be employed within 6 months of graduation.
4. Graduate Program Satisfaction:  80% of graduates will be satisfied with their course of study.
5. Employer Satisfaction:  80% of employers will be satisfied with the preparation of graduates.                                                  

Bethune-Cookman University assures equal opportunity for all qualified persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or veteran’s status.  This policy is in accordance with the following:

 

Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended Executive Order 11246, as amended
Revised Order Number 4
The Vietnam Era Veteran’s Rehabilitation Act of 1974
Title VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act -Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972’-Age Discrimination of Employment Act of 1975
American’s with Disabilities Act of 1990

 

All individuals will be afforded equal opportunity for admission and progression in the Nursing Program.  For individuals with disabilities, reasonable accommodations will be made to policies, practices, or procedures as necessary to achieve course objectives, when there is no risk to client safety.  If reasonable accommodations are requested and not received, the student has the right to file a grievance with the Dean and the University if said student believes that he/she has been treated in a discriminatory manner.  The student reserves the right to refuse any offered accommodations.

A candidate for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program must possess abilities and skills in the following categories: observation, communication, motor, and behavioral modes.  The examples cited below do not constitute an exhaustive list.

Observation: A candidate must be able to observe a patient/client accurately.  Examples of observation may include listening to heart and breath sounds, visualizing the appearance of a surgical wound, detecting the presence of a foul odor, and palpating an abdomen.

A. Hearing
B. Vision
C. Tactile
D. Smell

Communication: A candidate must be able to communicate effectively with patients/clients and other members of the health care team.  The student must be able to interact with clients/patients and other members of the health care team in order to obtain information, describe patient status and perceive verbal and non-verbal communication.

A. Interpersonal abilities
B. Communication abilities

Motor: A candidate must have adequate gross and fine motor function sufficient to effectively work with nursing problems and issues, and carry out related nursing care.  Physical abilities should be such that an individual may enter, leave and move about a room without difficulty; and maneuver in small spaces.  Examples of nursing care include ambulating and positioning patients; the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation; the administration of intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous and oral medications; the application of pressure to stop bleeding; the opening of an obstructed airway; and the provision of client daily hygiene care.

 

A. Physical abilities
B. Gross motor abilities
C. Fine motor abilities

Behavioral: A candidate must possess the emotional health required for total utilization of his/her intellectual abilities.  Candidates must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively in stressful situations.  They must be capable of adapting to ever-changing environments, displaying flexibility in appropriately interacting with others, and learning to function in uncertain situations that are inherent in clinical situations involving clients.  The ability to critically think is essential.

Students will be admitted to the Nursing Program in the fall semester.  Students seeking admission must submit an application by the published deadline.

1. Be unconditionally admitted to Bethune Cookman University.
2. Submitted a completed application to the Nursing Program by the deadline date.
3. Declared pre-nursing as a designation.
4. Completed at least 12 credit hours at Bethune-Cookman University.
5. Completed all required pre-requisite courses with a grade of “C” or above.
6. Have an overall grade point average of 2.8 or above.
7. Achieve a score of 64 or higher on the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS).  Achieving the prescribed TEAS Score does not guarantee your acceptance into BCU School of Nursing Program.
8. Provide current contact information

If the number of eligible students applying to the nursing program exceeds the number of available positions in the program, students with the highest overall TEAS Scores will be selected. If GPA’s and TEAS Exam scores are identical, then the person completing more hours at BCU will be selected. No waiting list will be maintained.

Other Criteria:

1. Students must complete at least 12 credit hours at BCU before applying for acceptance into the nursing program.
2. Persons previously enrolled in a nursing program at another school or university and were not successful, dismissed from the program, or not in good standing are not eligible to apply at BCU SON for two (2) years after  leaving the last nursing program.
3. Students who were dismissed for academic reasons from BCU SON are not eligible to re-apply until two (2) years or 4 regular semesters (spring/fall) after the semester of the last enrollment in the Nursing Program.
4. Persons applying to enter the Nursing Program who have been arrested, charged with, convicted of, plead guilty or nolo contender (No Contest) to, or been sentenced for any criminal offenses in any state or foreign country, will be required to submit appropriate documentation.
5. Persons applying to the Nursing Program who have or held licensure in any other discipline, and were subjected to disciplinary action, will be required to submit appropriate documentation.

Students admitted to the nursing program will be expected to:

1. Have access to a reliable vehicle for transportation to and from the clinical site.
2. Assume the cost of travel to and from the clinical site.    
3. Assume any liability associated with travel to and from the clinical site.

In accordance with University policy, students who have been enrolled at another institution must report official transcripts from each college or university previously attended.  The Registrar of Bethune-Cookman University will evaluate all previous work done by the student at other institutions.  Transfer credit may be given for those courses taken at accredited institutions provided that the courses fall within the scope of approved curriculum.

Transfer students requesting admission into the nursing program:

Transfer credit WILL NOT be awarded for nursing courses.                                                                       
A student may challenge the Nutrition Course.  In order to do so, the student must have achieved a grade of “C” or better at the previous institution and MUST achieve a score of 900 or better on the HESI Nutrition Exam. Students will be responsible for the cost of the exam.
Students who have been placed on probation or dismissed for academic or professional reasons from another institution are not eligible for admission to the nursing program until after two years from the last enrollment in the former nursing program; and my not challenge the Nutrition course.
Students must complete at least 12 credit hours at BCU before applying for acceptance into the nursing program.

The Bethune Cookman University School of Nursing, as a condition of admission, requires a two (2) part background check/ fingerprinting, drug screening and submission of medical documentation to Certified Background online data management software. The results of the background check are posted to the certifiedprofile.com website in a secure, tamper-proof environment, where the students as well as the School of Nursing, can view results.

The drug policy of the School of Nursing is consistent with that of Bethune Cookman University. (See   B-CU Student Handbook).

1. Upon admission to the School of Nursing, a mandatory drug screening will be required.  Annual screenings will be required each academic year (fall). 

2. Students who demonstrate a reasonable suspicion that they are substance impaired may be required to complete a 12-panel drug screen at the student’s expense.

Students are required to upload copies of a current CPR certification, two (2) step PPD (Tuberculosis) screening (or chest X-ray), Flu (Influenza) vaccination and Affidavit of Good Moral Conduct to the Medical Documents Manager via certifiedprofile.com.

At the beginning of each academic school year, all students must submit an updated background check and drug screening no more than 30 days before the beginning of the school year. A notarized Affidavit of Good Moral Conduct statement will be required each semester (fall, spring).

 

The costs of screening components, and fee for the notarization of the Affidavit of Good Moral Conduct are the responsibility of the applicants and/or current students.