Nursing BSN Program Specifics

Admissions Requirements and Course Requirements

Every year students must provide health services with evidence of a negative PPD test or compliance with treatment. Before beginning some clinical nursing courses, students may be expected to meet additional health requirements. All nursing students must have the following information on file with RIC's Office of Health Services:

• an admission physical exam
• 1 dose of tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap)
• 2 doses of live measles vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity*
• 2 doses of mumps vaccine (preferably MMR) or a blood titer confirming immunity*
• 1 dose of rubella vaccine or a blood titer confirming immunity*
• 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine (A hepatitis B surface antibody titer to confirm sero-conversion is recommended on-to-two months after the final dose)
• provider documented proof, including date or age, of chicken pox disease or a varicella titer confirming immunity or two doses of varicella vaccine
• an initial 2-step PPD** tuberculin skin test and yearly PPD updates (or chest x-ray if PPD positive and yearly TB assessment, which is completed at RIC's Office of Health Services)
• flu vaccine every fall semester
• complete COVID vaccination

*Health-care workers born on or before Dec. 31, 1956, are only required to have documentation of one dose each of measles, mumps and rubella or titers confirming immunity.

**2-Step PPD – two separate PPDs planted at least a week apart but not more than a year apart prior to entering into nursing clinical.

Download a Printable Copy of this Checklist

Students will not be admitted to the first class meeting of a nursing practicum course without having complied with the health requirements. Proof of immunization may be obtained from your physician, high school, previous college or university, military record and/or from blood titers.

Please Note: Religious exemptions are not accepted due to the need to meet requirements of our clinical agencies.

Nursing majors should follow the guidelines on the college immunization form or call RIC's Office of Health Services at 401-456-8055 for further information. Once all required information is complete, students may pick up their laminated identification cards at RIC's Office of Health Services.​

Here we provide information on course requirements, course descriptions, and an Academic Rhode Map, a semester-by-semester plan to help you toward graduation in four years. You can also review the Handbook for Undergraduate Students in Nursing.

Admissions Requirements and Course Requirements

Course Descriptions

Academic Rhode Map

Students must consult with their advisor each semester before registering for courses.

Freshman Fall

Freshman Spring

Sophomore Fall (Beginning)

Sophomore Spring (Beginning)

Junior Fall (Intermediate)

Junior Spring (Intermediate)

Senior Fall (Advanced)

Senior Spring (Advanced)

Total Credits for All Semesters: 120

Upon completion of this program, students will be able to:

• demonstrate clinical judgment and innovation supported by established and evolving nursing knowledge, ways of knowing, and knowledge from other disciplines
• provide person-centered care across the organization/systems for patients, communities and populations, including family or important others to promote positive health outcomes
• integrate population health concepts spanning public health prevention to disease management to promote the improvement of equitable population health outcomes at the local, regional, national, and global levels
• demonstrate the ability to synthesize and apply current evidence that guides clinical practice and patient care decisions
• demonstrate knowledge and use of established and emerging principles of safety science in care delivery
• demonstrate interprofessional person-centered care that reflects core professional values including altruism, caring, ethics, roles and responsibilities, shared accountability, diversity, equity, and inclusion
• apply knowledge of systems, fiscal impact, social determinants of health, health promotion, improved access, social justice, and systemic racism to improve the health of diverse populations
• use information and communication technologies and informatics processes to improve the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient healthcare services in accordance with professional and regulatory standards
• acquire a sustainable professional nursing identity that includes self-reflective practice, advocacy, accountability, a collaborative disposition, and ethical comportment that reflects nursing’s characteristics and values
• demonstrate a capacity for leadership that includes a commitment to activities that foster personal health, resilience and lifelong learning

In what ways is writing important to your profession?

Writing is essential to communicating as a nurse. Professional nurses write as care givers, advocates, teachers and researchers. Nurses write to provide high-quality, safe care to patients and communities; to propose improvements to health-care delivery; and to promote changes in health-care policy.

Which courses are designated as satisfying the Writing in the Discipline (WID) requirement by your department? Why these courses?

NURS 234W: Scholarly Inquiry and Informatics is the foundational WID course for the nursing major. In this course, students are introduced to the conventions of writing in nursing, APA formatting and the role of evidence-based nursing practice. All nursing courses that follow NURS 234W continue to develop students’ writing skills over time.

What forms or genres of writing will students learn and practice in your department’s WID courses? Why these genres?

The forms of writing taught in the nursing program are clinical writing (or workplace writing), academic writing and reflective writing. Through various types of clinical writing, including care plans, charting and discharge summaries, nurses describe and document patient care. Clinical writing may also include promotional materials and policies developed to serve groups and communities. Professional nurses use academic writing to disseminate new knowledge in the discipline and promote evidence-based practice. Reflective writing, such as journaling and informal responses, serve as a way to learn (“writing to learn”) and as a means to self-understanding and professional growth.

What kinds of teaching practices will students encounter in your department’s WID courses?

Some of the teaching practices students will encounter will be journaling, low-stakes and high-stakes writing assignments, peer reviews, scaffolded assignments and opportunities for revisions and incorporating feedback into later drafts.

When they’ve satisfied your department’s WID requirement, what should students know and be able to do with writing?

Upon completion of the B.S.N. program, graduates will be able to: 

• effectively communicate in writing in the various professional nursing roles
• accurately and precisely document professional practice in clinical settings
• prepare thoughtful and effective research papers in the discipline of nursing
• prepare oral and written presentations individually and collaboratively to achieve a specific purpose
• engage in reflective writing for personal professional development​​​​​​