RN-BSN Nursing Program

Katherine S. Jones, MSN, RN RN-BSN Program Director

The University of Olivet RN-BSN is an online degree program that provides flexibility for meeting adult professional learners’ needs and busy schedules, offering traditional online learning designed to offer students the opportunity for a personalized education that makes the Olivet experience so rewarding.

The curriculum, which is developed in conjunction with national standards, offers courses in a range of areas, including liberal arts, ethics and advocacy, leadership, research and evidence-based practice, community health, informatics, pharmacology and pathophysiology, and professional growth and development. The program emphasizes critical thinking and technical writing in the art and science of nursing practice. Students will gain a critical perspective on a variety of contemporary issues in nursing and healthcare that can provide an excellent foundation for professional and academic succession planning.

The RN-BSN degree program consists of 35 credits of coursework. Up to 90 credits may be transferred from a two-year or four-year institution. Students seeking a BSN degree may also earn up to 20 flex credits through completion of nursing continuing education (CE) hours. Five (5) CE hours will equate to one college credit. A combination of transfer credits and flex credits may be used to supplement the 35 credits required in the RN-BSN Program in order to meet the required 120 credits to graduate with an The University of Olivet BSN degree. As is the case with other institutions, a minimum of 30 credits must be earned at The University of Olivet in order to be awarded a bachelor’s degree from the university.

The University of Olivet RN-BSN program serves professional nurses returning to university in the completion of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. These individuals have completed their clinical nursing courses within an associate degree program and have earned their RN licensure prior to matriculating at The University of Olivet. Students who passed all full-time first year ADN courses with a grade of “C” or better and who submit a letter of recommendation are eligible to apply to enroll in any courses noted in the academic catalog as “Open to approved ADN students.” These students are eligible to apply for regular admission to the RN-BSN Program after successful completion of the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination).

The University of Olivet’s nursing students receive active advisement, mentoring, and career exploration. Students can complete their BSN in a timely and efficient manner. Graduates of the RN-BSN program will exhibit an elevated level of competence in professional nursing and service to the community. The nursing program values student learning, critical thinking, oral and written communication skills, and an understanding of a globally oriented world.

The University of Olivet has an additional location on the campus of Kellogg Community College located at 450 North Avenue, Battle Creek, Michigan 49017, for the purpose of delivering its RN-BSN Program. The nursing program office is in the Kellogg Community College “C” Classroom Building, Room 105.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program Learning Outcomes

With the completion of this degree program, the following learning outcomes can be expected:

• Liberal Arts Foundation - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will transform concepts from liberal arts to enhance professional practice of nursing and lifelong learning.
• Professional Practice and Leadership - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will integrate health care policy, finance, and application of environments to develop knowledge and skills in leadership, quality improvement, and patient safety that are necessary to provide high quality health care.
• Research and Evidence-based Practice - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will effectively employ interdisciplinary frameworks, theories, concepts, models, and current nursing evidence-based practice to maximize health outcomes for individuals, families, groups, and communities.
• Advocacy - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will develop an understanding of the influence of health care policies, including financial and regulatory, directly and indirectly on the role of nurse advocate for the professional nurse.
• Technology and Informatics - The University of Olivet nursing graduates will formulate advanced knowledge and skill in information management as well as patient care technologies critical to the delivery of quality evidence based patient care.
• Community Engagement and Social Responsibility - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will construct evidenced-based holistic disease prevention and health promotion nursing interventions and develop knowledge to improve local, state, national, and world health across the lifespan and across the continuum of healthcare environments.
• Collaboration and Inter-Professional Relationships - The University of Olivet nursing graduate will develop and apply values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice while implementing interdisciplinary collaborative relationships and communication aimed to provide high quality and safe patient care.

Program Mission

The mission of The University of Olivet’s RN-BSN Program is to provide a diverse education which will enrich lives of nursing students and the lives that the graduates touch intellectually, morally, and spiritually; essentially to go forward and do good.

Program Goals

1. Foster an environment that supports learners from diverse academic, individual and practice backgrounds to promote academic and professional excellence.
2. Prepare students in the application of professional practice and nursing leadership skills.
3. Prepare students for evidenced-based/research-driven practice.
4. Prepare students to apply a broad understanding of the liberal arts to nursing practice.
5. Prepare students for the role of patient advocate for diverse populations and a variety of healthcare settings.
6. Prepare students to provide nursing care to populations within their community as well as county, state, country and world.
7. Provide students with knowledge of patient care technologies that are critical to the delivery of quality patient care.
8. Assure students understand effective nurse-patient and inter-professional relationships.