Nursing (ADN), Associate Degree

Program Location	Miami
Program Credits	67 Credits
Program Length	4 Semesters, 80 Instructional Weeks
Time to Complete	20 Months

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code: 29-1141.00

Associate degree nursing education provides the basic education necessary to become a registered nurse. Graduates are eligible to sit for NCLEX-RN licensing examination and, if licensed, may practice in structured care settings, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics, and offices. Associate degree nursing education incorporates nursing knowledge, knowledge of key biological and social sciences, and study of the humanities. The length of the program is 20 months and 67 total credits.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Provide safe, evidence-based patient-centered nursing care by utilizing standards of practice and incorporating concepts and theories from nursing, biological, physical, and social sciences.
2. Utilize critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and the nursing process in the delivery of holistic care for a diverse patient population in common and emerging healthcare setting.
3. Communicate effectively with the interprofessional team, the patient and members of their support systems using a patient-centered approach.
4. Respect the patient preferences, values, and needs in the delivery and management of care.
5. Advocate and collaborate effectively within nursing and the interprofessional team to ensure safe, quality, and cost-effective, and age-appropriate patient-centered care.
6. Incorporate strategies of health promotion, health maintenance, disease prevention, and healing to diverse patients throughout the lifespan.
7. Enhance self-care engagement by considering patient’s preferences, culture, spiritual beliefs, educational, and developmental stages in patient instruction or education.
8. Use informatics to communicate, monitor and evaluate patient’s data to provide safe care.
9. Demonstrates novice level competencies of best practices of leadership and management skills to coordinate, manage, delegate, supervise, and evaluate care.
10. Assume responsibility and accountability for lifelong professional growth and development.

Clinical requirements

1. In the clinical setting, critical competencies include Therapeutic Nursing, Skills/Safety, the Nursing Process, Accountability and Responsibility, Communication and Collaboration, and Professional Growth and Development. The curriculum includes 14 semester credits of clinical course work totaling 630 hours of clinical practice.
2. Students must pass both theory and the concurrent clinical with at least a 76 percent to progress to the next term.
3. Clinical competencies are written that define and describe the level of competency for the beginning, intermediate and advanced level of nursing student.
4. The curriculum offers a progressive level of theoretical instruction and supervised clinical practice, which ranges from common to complex, and ensures coverage of critical concepts that directly reflect the mission, philosophy, and objectives of the nursing program.

ADN Transfer Credit Evaluation (LPN to ADN Pathway)

Applicants with an LPN License will receive be awarded 3 credits of General Education requirements and 9 credits of Nursing Core requirements for a total of 12 credits towards the ADN program. An additional 17 transfer credits may be awarded for General Education requirements. All General Education credits must fall into one of the general education category areas below. Students may request to satisfy general education credit requirements through the standard transfer credit evaluation process.

Applicants with an LPN License are not required to submit an earned science baccalaureate degree or higher but must provide proof of an unencumbered Practical Nurse license in the state of Florida as well as official transcripts from a completed LPN Program.

• The standard transfer credit evaluation process will be followed for coursework from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, as referenced below.
• Coursework from a non-accredited institution must proceed through the process for Approval of Non-Accredited Institutions. If approved, the standard transfer credit evaluation process will be followed. If an institution is not approved, no transfer credits may be awarded from that institution.

The University does not require programmatic accreditation of a pre-licensure nursing program for transfer credit evaluation if the institution holds institutional accreditation or if the programmatic accreditation is not required by the state where the program was offered.

Official transcripts are required for a transfer credit evaluation to be completed and final credits to be awarded. In addition to official transcripts, copies of course descriptions, school catalogs, and course syllabi may be requested for transfer credit evaluation purposes. Transfer credit evaluations are final and not subject to appeal.

A grade of C- (1.7) or better is required in any general education course in order for transfer credit to be evaluated. Applicants who fail to demonstrate competencies through transcript review are required to complete equivalent course(s) during their program enrollment to meet the graduation requirements. However, where transfer credit is required as part of the admission requirements, a student who is unable to transfer in the required credits will not meet admissions requirements and not be eligible for the program.

Students are advised that not all transfer credit evaluations result in the awarding of the same number of credits, either nursing or general education credits. Transfer credit is in the sole discretion of the receiving institution. All determinations must be made prior to the end of the add drop period, and a lack of determination will also result in the withdrawal of the student. If an institution is not approved, the student will be withdrawn from enrollment. Withdrawals associated with non-approved programs will result in a full refund of all tuition and fees and a cancellation of the enrollment agreement.

Applicants submitting non-U.S. or non-English transcripts should refer to the International Admissions section of the catalog for policies governing translation and evaluation of foreign credentials.

All determinations must be made prior to the start of the term or an evaluation resulting in a non-approved institution result in inadmissibility into the program and a cancellation of the enrollment agreement.

This curriculum applies to students matriculating or reentering after April 1, 2023.

General Education Requirements

All science courses must have been taken within the last five calendar years, unless the student possesses a degree or advanced degree in the specific field of study for which the student is seeking transfer credit.  Additional information regarding transfer credit is located in the university's catalog under Transfer Credit policy or below.

Category and Requirements	WCU Course Requirements	Transferable / Options
Foundational Course	FHE 100 (3):  Foundations of Higher Education (Starting Spring II 2023)	Non-transferable (not required for students taking part in LPN to ADN Pathway) starting Spring II 2024
A.  Written Communications (3 Semester Credits Minimum)	*ENGL 140 (3):  Written Communication I	Equivalent to ENGL 140
D. Quantitative Literacy (3 Semester Credits)	MATH 108 (3):  College Mathematics I	Equivalent to MATH 108
E. Social and Behavioral Sciences Awareness (3 Semester Credits Minimum)	PSYC 290 (3): Life Span Psychology	Equivalent to PSYC 290
G. Scientific Reasoning (12 Semester Credits Minimum)	ANAT 260 (4):  Human Anatomy PHYS 261 (4):  Human Physiology MICR 290 (4):  General Microbiology	Equivalent to ANAT 26 Equivalent to PHYS 261 Equivalent to MICR 290
A minimum of 24 credits is required for graduation.

^*As of April 2019, this course will be delivered online, asynchronously, through the institution's Learning Management System except where otherwise authorized by the Program Dean/Director.

General Education within Area of Study

PATH 370 Pathophysiology

Total Credit Hours: 3

 

NURS 103	Fundamentals of Nursing	3
NURS 104L	Fundamentals of Nursing Skills Lab	2
NURS 122	Introduction to Medical Surgical Nursing	3
NURS 123L	Introduction to Medical Surgical Nursing Practicum	3
NURS 181	Pharmacology	3
NURS 191	Physical Assessment	2
NURS 208	Medical Surgical Nursing Older Adult	3
NURS 223	Mental Health/Older Adult Nursing	3
NURS 224L	Medical Surgical & Mental Health Nursing Care of the Older Adult Practicum	3
NURS 308	Expanding and Developing Family	4
NURS 318L	Expanding and Developing Family Practicum	3
NURS 482	Advanced Medical Surgical Nursing	3
NURS 483L	Advanced Medical Surgical Nursing Practicum	3
NURS 485	Capstone	2
Total Credit Hours:		40.0

 

Program Credit Distribution

General Education Semester Credits	27.0
Core Nursing Credits	40.0
Total Program Semester Credits	67.0

ADN Program Costs

For program costs, please see the Undergraduate Tuition and Fees section.