The University of Providence’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (accelerated BSN) degree path offers an accelerated option for students with a previous bachelor’s degree, seeking initial licensure as a registered nurse. Offered as a comprehensive 12-month degree program, the accelerated BSN degree path combines online and in-person learning with inclusive skill labs and specialized clinical placements designed to set you on a path of success.
In addition to being a regionally and nationally accredited program, the accelerated BSN degree path offers dynamic course offerings centered around the core foundations of nursing practice, the roots and applications of nursing leadership, and the delivery of compassionate care across patient populations. Graduates of UP’s accelerated BSN pathway are qualified, lifelong learners ready to meet the rigorous demands of the rapidly evolving, high-demand field of nursing practice.
Explore what exactly sets the accelerated BSN degree path apart.
Program Application & Eligibility
As an accelerated program, the accelerated BSN pathway follows different enrollment, application, and eligibility guidelines than the Traditional BSN program or Online RN-BSN pathway program. Updated application and enrollment information can be found on the accelerated BSN program page, or the undergraduate admissions page on the university website.
The accelerated BSN pathway currently accepts students by region, specific to their skill lab location, with one skill lab offered in Lewistown, Montana, and the other in Anchorage, Alaska. Both regional intakes run in unison, with application reviews and acceptance taking place between April 1st and June 15th of each year. Each regional intake starts in January of the following year and concludes in December of that same year – delivered over three consecutive semesters.
Accelerated Course Offerings
Once admitted into the accelerated nursing program, students begin a full-time, 12-month academic journey to becoming a registered nurse. Throughout the program, students are immersed in a series of didactic nursing lessons, clinical skill labs, specialized nursing skill labs, and a required clinical placement. Following successful completion of all course offerings, students will be eligible to sit for the National Council’s Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
Carefully crafted and refined by dedicated and experienced nursing faculty and leadership, each course offered as part of the accelerated nursing degree path is designed to provide an omnibus understanding of nursing practice. Administered through online didactic courses, students are presented with a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the curriculum, explore concepts and ideas beyond the textbook, and engage meaningfully with classmates and faculty.
Cohort Learning Model
While the online didactic learning elements of the program may seem independent, students learn to rely on and trust in their classmates as part of the accelerated BSN degree paths cohort-style learning model. Cohort learning is a group learning style that paces a group of students on the same completion track as their classmates. Cohort programs advance each student through the program at the same rate as every other – taking the same courses, learning the same skills, and completing the program at the same time. It is through cohesion that cohort-model programs provide for better learning outcomes, higher rates of communication, and enhanced understanding.
The accelerated BSN degree path’s cohort learning not only provides the opportunity for students to make lifelong friends in the program alongside those with similar career goals with the added benefit of instilling external motivation to help propel students deeper into their studies. In addition to external motivation and accountability, students learn the value of teamwork while fostering a sense of community among their classmates – skills used by every nurse throughout their practice.
Skill Labs & Clinical Placements
Offered alongside didactic online coursework, skill lab immersions, and clinical placements provide students in the accelerated BSN degree path with the unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience through faculty and instructor-guided sessions. Both skill labs and clinical immersions are required for completion of the program while providing an enhanced understanding of the everyday skills, procedures, and experiences registered nurses will face as graduates.
Throughout the accelerated BSN program students will complete multiple skill labs addressing a series of foundational and specialized nursing skills. Skill labs are completed alongside fellow students and certified, experienced clinical nursing instructors and faculty who employ a series of high-tech training materials and modalities to best enhance the learning experience and provide students with the closest opportunity to job-ready practice.
Skill lab competencies include but aren’t limited to proper wound care, inserting and removing an IV, patient rooming procedures, and lifesaving practice.
Clinical immersions, which take place toward the end of the pathway, are a requirement for all BSN students. Clinicals offer students the opportunity to apply both didactic learning and skills lab training together in a single, multi-week, immersive application experience inside a real healthcare environment. During clinicals’, students work alongside a supervising nurse to apply skills, interact with patients, and gain practical experience in a real-world nursing environment.
Career Advancement & Development
Once a student graduates from the accelerated BSN degree path program, they will be required to sit for the National Council’s Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN), the final step to becoming a registered nurse. Once certified through NCLEX, graduates can pursue a multitude of nursing career options. The doors to additional nursing certifications, specializations, professional certificates, or post-bachelor degree opportunities such as graduate school.
One of the many benefits of becoming a registered nurse is the multitude of specialization opportunities nurses can pursue. In many cases, recent graduates choose to work as a general RN to explore different paths and specializations before pursuing certification or returning to graduate school. In other cases, nurses who possess a strong calling to one specialization or another may capitalize immediately and begin climbing the ranks within that department or specialty. With so many options to choose from, there is no shortage of opportunities for graduates.
If you have a bachelor’s degree and are interested in transitioning to a career in nursing, the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program can help you reach your goal.
