Purpose

Critical Thinker  Someone who is able to demonstrate intellectual curiosity, rational inquiry, problem-solving skills, and creativity in framing problems.

Culturally Competent Person  Someone who can provide holistic nursing care to a variety of individuals, families, and communities.

Knowledgeable Coordinator  A coordinator of community resources who facilitates individual, family, and community access to resources necessary to meet health care needs.

Politically Aware Person  Someone who participates in the profession and the practice of nursing with a global perspective.

Conscientious Practitioner  An individual who practices within the ethical and legal framework of the nursing profession.

Effective Communicator  An effective communicator who is able to share accurate information.

Therapeutic Nursing Intervention/Competent Care Provider  A competent provider of health care who assumes the multiple role dimensions in structured and semi-structured health care settings.

Professional Role Model  A person who promotes a positive public image of nursing.

Responsible Manager  A responsible manager who balances human, fiscal, and material resources to achieve quality health care outcomes.

Students seeking admission to the nursing major must meet the following criteria:

1. Admission to Indiana University as a degree-seeking student, and the maintenance of a minimum Indiana University cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.3 on a 4.0 scale. This GPA does not include FX courses.

2. Completion of a minimum of 29 to 31 credit hours of program requirements. Required courses and credit hours needed for application may vary from IUPUI to IU Bloomington, depending on course availability and general campus requirements. Please consult academic counselor for campus specific information. Students must also demonstrate a nursing GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale in the designated required credits for the B.S.N. program. Grades earned in transfer courses accepted and applied to the required credit hours will count in the calculation of the nursing admission GPA. Initial and repeated attempts at passing courses with a grade of C or higher will also be calculated in the nursing GPA for specified required cluster courses. Completed course work must include a minimum of 8 completed credit hours in the critical/analytical cluster. It is expected that students complete anatomy as part of the required 8 credits in this cluster. (Check with the nursing academic counselor at either IUPUI or IU Bloomington for science requirements, general education requirements, course availability, and course accessibility). The remaining credit hours are to be selected from the social, communication, humanistic and cultural clusters as outlined in the academic planning sheets.

3. Students may designate which courses will meet the cluster requirements where course choice is an option. Courses designated for the nursing major may be repeated only one (1) time within the parameters of the repeat policy. Students must successfully complete all courses for the degree with a C or better by the second attempt.

4. Completion of all required course work by the established deadline. This includes independent studies, correspondence course work, and courses for which students have received an incomplete. Students wishing to transfer required course work from a university other than Indiana University must be in good academic standing in that university and have achieved a grade of C (2.0) or higher in courses for which transfer is being requested.

5. Repetition of a maximum of three required cluster courses totaling no more than 11 credit hours of the 26 to 31 program credit hours required. A student must achieve a grade of C (2.0) or higher in all program requirements. This criterion also applies to any student wishing to transfer required cluster courses from a university other than Indiana University.

6. Submission to the School of Nursing of an official credit transfer report (CTR) for all work being transferred from a university other than Indiana University.

7. Submission of program application by published date. Applications received after the published deadline will be considered at the discretion of the faculty. Students may reapply to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in a subsequent semester if they maintain eligibility.

Applicants receive priority consideration for admission if they completed the majority (51%) of their prerequisite general education course work on the IUPUI, IUPU Columbus, or IU Bloomington campus. If additional spaces are available, the next priority is given to students who completed the majority of their course work on another IU campus. Students transferring the majority of prerequisite course work from a non-IU school are accorded lowest priority for admission.

Students must formally accept or decline admission. Students who decline admission and later reapply must compete with the applicant pool existing at the time of reapplication. Students who refuse an admission invitation two times are ineligible to be considered for future admission.

A student shall be ineligible for application to the B.S.N. nursing program if a grade of C (2.0) is not achieved in each course taken to satisfy degree requirements. A pattern of course withdrawals may reduce a student’s chances of admission to the undergraduate nursing program.

Moreover, applicants accepted for admission to the B.S.N. program must enroll in nursing course work at a time designated by the School of Nursing. Failure to enroll in nursing course work in the designated semester necessitates reapplication to the program with no guarantee of admission.

After admission to the B.S.N. program, placement in nursing courses for the academic year is based on the following priority ranking:

1. Full-time, regular progression students.

2. Part-time, regular progression students.

3. Students who have interrupted their studies but are in good academic standing.

4. Students who have withdrawn from one or more nursing courses.

5. Students who have failed and successfully repeated a nursing or required general education course.

6. Students who need to repeat either a nursing course or a general education prerequisite or corequisite.

7. Students who have been dismissed and reinstated.

8. Intercampus transfer students.

9. Transfer students from other A.S.N. or B.S.N. programs according to admission, progression, and graduation guidelines.

Dismissal and Reinstatement

Dismissal

1. Failure to attain a 2.0 semester GPA in any two consecutive semesters.

2. Failure to attain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 at the completion of any two semesters of course work.

3. Need to repeat more than 15 credit hours of general education courses to achieve a grade of C (2.0). Students may repeat no more than 11 credit hours of the 15 total hours, prior to admission to the nursing major.

4. Failure to attain a minimum grade of C (2.0) upon repeating a didactic nursing course or to attain a grade of S upon repeating a practicum nursing course (i.e., two unsatisfactory grades in the same course).

5. Failure to obtain a minimum grade of C (2.0) in any required general education course for the degree.

6. Failure to attain a minimum grade of C (2.0) (didactic course) or a grade of S (practicum course) in two nursing courses (i.e., unsatisfactory grades in two separate courses).

7. Failure to meet the School of Nursing’s Essential Abilities with or without specified accommodations.

8. Inability to conduct oneself in a professional fashion consistent with the American Nurses’ Association Code of Nurses or IUPUI’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct. In particular, falsification of records and reports, plagiarism, or cheating on an examination, quiz, or any other assignment is cause for dismissal.

9. Failure to demonstrate personal integrity or conduct befitting the profession of nursing.

Reinstatement

All candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Satisfactory completion of a minimum of 124 credit hours that apply to the degree (credit hour requirements may vary slightly among IUPUI, IU Bloomington, and IUPU Columbus campuses). Credits earned in remedial learning skill courses and courses that are repeated do not apply toward the degree.

2. Achievement of a minimum cumulative grade point average of C (2.0).

3. Achievement of a grade of C (2.0) or higher in each required course or equivalent.

4. Removal of all incompletes, deferred grades, and special credit course grades in nursing courses by three weeks prior to the end of the student’s last semester before graduation.

5. Completion of all course work within six years after enrollment in nursing courses in the nursing major.

6. Completion of a minimum of 51 percent of courses in the nursing major on the IU campus that grants the degree.

7. Application for the degree at the beginning of the final semester.

8. Completion of the NCLEX Readiness Examination and NCLEX Review.

Honors Option

School Requirements

Sample Curriculum Plan

R.N. to B.S.N. Mobility Option

This program option is offered on the campuses of IUPUI and IUPU Columbus. Registered nurses seeking admission to the Indiana University School of Nursing must apply to the IUPUI Office of Admissions. Students who have previously attended an IU campus or who are graduates of the associate program at IU should contact the nursing academic counselor. Unless otherwise specified, all School of Nursing policies pertinent to B.S.N. program majors also apply to registered nurse undergraduate students.

Students who have attended another college or university must forward an official transcript to the IUPUI Office of Admissions. The Office of Admissions will then generate a credit transfer report (CTR) listing transferable credit. Upon receipt of the CTR, the student should contact the nursing academic counselor at IUPUI who will review the CTR, identify course work to be completed, and explain the process for achieving advanced standing with credit. Credit will be awarded for relevant courses completed at other accredited institutions of higher learning. Students are eligible to enroll in courses upon:

1. receiving notification from the Office of Admissions that they have been admitted,
2. verification of a registered nurse license in Indiana, and
3. attainment of a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale in all work attempted.

Placement of registered nurse students in nursing courses is based upon space availability, credit hours completed toward the degree, and GPA. It is particularly important for registered nurses to take courses as they become available. Failure to do so may seriously affect progression through the program. Many courses are offered to R.N. students using nontraditional class methods to facilitate ease of mobility. Most R.N. to B.S.N. courses are available on the Web.

Advanced Placement

Nursing elective credit for K490/K492 (Clinical Experience in Nursing/Independent Study in Nursing) may be awarded to registered nurses holding valid specialty certification from a nationally recognized nursing organization in an appropriate area of nursing. A total of 2 credit hours may be awarded.

Sample Curriculum Plan

Students must have satisfactorily demonstrated completion of the following courses. (Completion may be demonstrated by course transfer, course validation, or course enrollment.)