Bachelor of Science-RN to BS

Description

The UCLA School of Nursing offers undergraduate study leading to the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Nursing for students who are already licensed as a Registered Nurse. The focus of the curriculum is on community-based nursing care and cultural and human diversity. The B.S. program provides a bridge for students who wish to prepare for advanced practice study at the graduate level.

A guiding premise of the baccalaureate curriculum is that a professional program of instruction contains approximately equal portions of general education and professionally specific courses. The prenursing curriculum, therefore, is comprised of specified courses in anatomy, anthropology, English, humanities, microbiology, nutrition, physics, physiology, psychology and sociology. A maximum of 74 prerequisite quarter units is transferable from the community college.

The baccalaureate program in nursing extends over a period of four quarters of full time day study and two summers. A total of 180 units is required for the B.S. degree. A minimum of 76 units must be completed in residence at UCLA. The curriculum is designed to assist registered nurses in gaining new knowledge needed for professional nursing in a changing society, and to build on their earlier associate degree or diploma education. Specifically, students are prepared to meet the need for community-based nursing care in a culturally diverse society.

Throughout the curriculum, emphasis is placed on concepts related to: (1) contributing to the viability of academic health centers through responsiveness to community needs, (2) improving care of the underserved in community clinics in inner city urban and rural settings, and (3) redesigning the role of public (community) health care through community outreach, home-based health services, and population-based health promotion.

Graduates of the UCLA B.S. degree program are able to assume responsibility for organizing, implementing, and evaluating community-based plans of nursing care for a culturally diverse society. The curriculum's focus on community-based nursing and multiculturalism has evolved from the changing health care system and the health care needs of California's demographically diverse population.

Students successfully completing the B.S. degree also acquire an educational foundation for entry into the master's program that prepares advanced practice nurses for roles as nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, clinical specialists, and administrators in primary and acute care.

After completing the B.S. program, graduates are able to:

  1. Select and apply appropriate theory and research findings (concerning biopsychosocial health promotion and disease prevention, biobehavioral and health systems, cultural and human diversity, and the environment) to the nursing process with a variety of clients, families and communities;
  2. Utilize the nursing process to promote biopsychosocial health and disease prevention and to support the resources of culturally diverse clients, families, and communities;
  3. Identify researchable problems and critique completed research on issues of importance to nursing and health care delivery within culturally diverse communities;
  4. Participate in professional and community organizations and/or interest groups relevant to health care delivery and modify nursing standards and practices in keeping with current trends;
  5. Demonstrate leadership on the health team to plan, manage, and evaluate care of individuals, families, and communities for culturally diverse populations.