Embark on a Nursing Career with 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s B.S.N. Program
Become part of the largest and most trusted segment of the health care workforce. At 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í, our nursing instruction utilizes a variety of innovative teaching strategies, including skill-building in a state-of-the-art Simulation and Innovation Center. As a comprehensive health sciences university, we emphasize interprofessional education, so you learn to work as part of a health care team. And with the highest three-year (2021-2023) average for NCLEX-RN first-time pass rates in the state of Maine, we are confident that you will emerge from our program with the training and experience you need to start making a difference in patients’ lives.
of 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í Nursing students pass the NCLEX on the first try
Compared to the State of Maine at 91.98% and nationally at 82.21%
Why 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í for your bachelor of science in Nursing
- Our NCLEX-RN licensing exam pass rate has been above the national average since 2013
- 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í is the #1 Maine University for students getting jobs after graduation — Zippia
- Study for two years on our gorgeous coastal Biddeford Campus, and two years on our in-town Portland Campus for the Health Sciences
- Learn clinical skills in a state-of-the-art, hospital-like simulation lab
- Study abroad at 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s Morocco campus, specially designed for health professions students
- Engage in fascinating service learning opportunities in the U.S. and abroad
- Learn with students of other health disciplines, including future doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and others
- Financial Aid, including merit awards
- Already have a bachelor’s? Accelerated 12-month B.S.N. program available
What will you study? B.S. in Nursing Curriculum Overview
As a Nursing student, you will explore the domains of geriatrics, pediatrics, obstetrics, mental health, and more. The following are just some examples of the exciting courses that you will take:
- Adult Health
- Maternal/Child Nursing
- Evidenced-Based Practice
- Health Assessment
- Pharmacology
- Medical Surgical Nursing
- Mental Health Nursing
- Community Health Nursing
- Older Adult Health
- Nursing Leadership
- Transitions to Practice
The School of Nursing is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and approved by the Maine State Board of Nursing.
Curriculum
| Nor’easter Core Requirements | Credits |
|---|---|
| Total Credits | 40 |
| Program Required Courses | Credits |
|---|---|
| BIO 104/104L – General Biology w/Lab | 4 – Fulfills Scientific Method Core |
| BIO 208/208L – Intro to A&P I w/Lab | 4 |
| BIO 209/209L– Intro to A&P II w/Lab | 4 |
| BIO 242/242L – Applied Microbiology w/Lab | 4 |
| BIO 309 – Pathophysiology | 3 |
| CHE 130/130L – Principles of Chemistry w/Lab | 4 |
| MAT 120 – Statistics | 3 – Fulfills Quantitative Reasoning Core |
| NUTR 220 – Nutrition | 3 |
| NSG 103 – Essentials in Nursing Knowledge and Practice | 2 |
| NSG 202 – Introduction to Nursing | 3 |
| NSG 307 – Adult Health I/Clin | 6 |
| NSG 315 – Adult Health II/Clin | 7 |
| NSG 327 – Health Assessment | 3 |
| NSG 328 – Mental Health/Clin | 4 |
| NSG 332 – Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) I | 2 |
| NSG 342 – Pharmacology | 3 |
| NSG 351 – Integrating Experience I | 1 |
| NSG 409 – Adult Health IV | 3 |
| NSG 420 – Community and Public Health Nursing | 3 |
| NSG 424 – Maternal/Child/Clin | 8 |
| NSG 432 – Evidence-based Practice (EBP) II | 2 |
| NSG 442 – Integrating Experience III | 1 |
| NSG 445 – Leadership | 2 |
| NSG 447 – Transitions to Practice | 2 |
| NSG 456 – Adult Health III/Clin/Preceptorship | 9 |
| PSY 105 – Intro to Psychology | 3 – Fulfills Human Health Core |
| SOC 150 – Intro to Sociology | 3 – Fulfills Power Knowledge & Justice - Social Science Core |
| Total Credits | 96 |
| Minimum Total Required Credits | 120 |
|---|
Please note: While some courses can fulfill both core and program requirements, the credits earned do not count twice towards the minimum total required credits for the degree.
Graduation Requirements
A student in the four (4) year nursing major may elect to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree with a major in Health Sciences. This degree is only open to matriculated students at the 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í. Special permission from the student’s advisor, the director of Nursing, and the dean of the Westbrook College of Health Professions is required for enrollment in the B.S. in Nursing.
To learn more about the program see the Academic Catalog.
Learn about 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s Nursing Skills Lab
Career Paths for Nursing Majors
Providing a firm liberal arts foundation, 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s B.S. in Nursing will help you develop essential critical thinking and communication skills as well as theoretical, evidence-based knowledge of nursing science. And with more than 550 hours of hands-on learning, you will be well on your way to a fulfilling career in professional nursing. As a nurse, you may work in a variety of settings, including:
- Acute care (hospitals)
- Primary care
- Long-term care facilities
- Public and private schools
- Federal, state, and local health departments
- Home health care
- Accountable care organizations
Career Advising in the Nursing Program
Whether you have a specific career goal in mind or a vague idea of the field that interests you, Career Advising is here to help you plan your next step.
Nursing Careers by the Numbers
Expected rate of nursing job growth from 2016 to 2026, with 438,100 new nursing positions
Facilities
Harold Alfond Forum
The Harold Alfond Forum, which opened in 2012, includes a 105,000-square-foot athletics complex featuring: an ice hockey rink with 900 seats; a basketball court with 1,200 seats; classroom space; a fitness center; and multi-purpose indoor practice courts that can also be used for performances and other events, with a combined seating capacity of 3,000.
It also houses the Athletic Training and Applied Exercise Science programs, which have custom-designed teaching and laboratory spaces.
The Interprofessional Simulation and Innovation Center
The Interprofessional Simulation and Innovation Center has a presence on 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í's Portland and Biddeford campuses. In Portland, it occupies two floors in the Blewett Science Building, adjacent to skills laboratories and classrooms. In Biddeford, it has dedicated space in the Harold Alfond Forum. The center offers three simulation labs with adjoining fully-equipped control rooms, a task training lab, and a debriefing classroom. The center also has dedicated space for staff offices, welcoming visitors, and storage. All of the labs are flexible and fully equipped for audiovisual recording, presentations, and debriefing.
Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice
911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í is one of a handful of private universities with a comprehensive health education mission that includes medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine, nursing, and an array of allied health profession programs. In 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s social work program, you will take part in interprofessional education initiatives that prepare you to work with other aspiring health professionals to practice comprehensive and collaborative team-based care. Through service-learning and field experiences, you benefit from exercises that also include students from other 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í health discipline programs.
WCHP Office of Service Learning
Service-learning initiatives connect students, faculty, and professional staff with opportunities to engage in meaningful and mutually beneficial service activities within a variety of community settings. Service-learning instills for students a lifelong commitment towards helping others, while positively impacting individual, family, and community health outcomes among populations served. Examples of service-learning include working with the homeless population, implementing health fairs, and developing age-appropriate recreational activities at a local Boys and Girls Club.
Experiential Learning in Nursing
Whether you’re practicing basic skills on fellow nursing students, learning emergency medical techniques with life-like simulation mannequins, or caring for patients in clinical practice settings, in 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s B.S. in Nursing program, you’re always learning by doing.
Service Learning
Our Service Learning Program enables you to care for vulnerable populations in our community. You may work with a variety of agencies and nonprofits, including:
- Homeless Health Outreach
- Partners for World Health
- Cumberland County Jail
- Boys and Girls Clubs
- Southern Maine Area Agency on Aging
- Maine Access Immigrant Network
Interprofessional Education
- Prepare for modern, team-based care in 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í’s Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice.
- Work with students in a wide range of different health professions programs to provide quality, patient-centered care.
- Reap the personal and professional benefits of graduating from one of only a handful of private universities with a comprehensive health care mission.
Cross Cultural Health Immersion
- Take our travel course to Ghana, Africa and learn how to integrate western health practices with folk medicine.
- Broaden your worldview and begin the process of becoming a culturally sensitive health professional.
- Evaluate health education curricula relevant to the population need.
- Connect with 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í students from other health professions programs.
Clinical Simulation Program
The Clinical Simulation Program uses high fidelity patient simulators and patient actors to create a wide variety of learning opportunities in realistic settings. You learn to function as an individual and also as a member of an interdisciplinary health care team through these exercises. You face rarely seen cases, hard-to-diagnose cases, and other challenges of the nursing profession in the simulation labs so that when you face them in the field, you will know how to respond.
Watch: 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í Students in Ghana
Clinical Experiences
As a student in our traditional B.S.N. program, during your last four semesters you are deeply immersed in not only nursing coursework but clinical experiences that emphasize clinical judgment, health and human functioning, care and therapeutics, person and environment, and health care resources.
Typically, you spend one or two days per week in one of the area's leading hospitals or in a community setting. The different settings serve diverse populations and allow you to actualize the process of integrating theory and practice. Our clinical partners include New England Rehabilitation Hospital, Maine Medical Center, Southern Maine Medical Center, Midcoast Hospital, and York Hospital. At these locations, you work under the direct supervision of a clinical faculty member in clinical experiences that include medical surgical nursing, gerontology, maternity, pediatrics, and other specialized areas of care.
Global Education in Nursing
See The World
Unlike other nursing programs, we make it possible for you to spend a semester abroad — in fact, we encourage it. Choose from our programs in Morocco or Spain. Both offer lab sciences courses that will keep you on track for your nursing degree. Other short-term immersion experiences are available, including faculty-led trips to places such as Mexico, Italy, Iceland, Cuba, and Kenya; medical mission trips organized by the (IMM)911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í Club; and the unique Health Care Immersion Experience in Ghana.
Interested in studying abroad? Make a plan with your advisor.
Tuition Assistance for Nursing Students
911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í is committed to educating students with a range of tuition support needs. The dedication of generous donors allows 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í to offer robust financial aid packages that are distributed upon enrollment in our nursing programs. Scholarships are made possible in part by individuals and organizations in our community who understand the importance of adequate access to quality healthcare in our region.
- Allan H. Saunders Endowed Scholarship
- Barbara J. Kamm, M.S.W., '91 Endowed Scholarship
- Elizabeth Burns Cope '44 Endowed Scholarship
- Joann B. Thomas '81 and '84 B.S.N. Scholarship
- Mabel I. Lalumiere, RN Memorial Scholarship
- McCulloch Family Fund Scholarship
- Nathan M. Desjardins Memorial Scholarship Fund
In addition, 911±¬ÁÏÍøºìÁì½í has individual scholarships for nursing students that have unique criteria and application processes. These include:
- Barbara J. Kamm, M.S.W., '91 Ghana Health Immersion Scholarship
- The Helene Fuld Health Trust Scholarship for A.B.S.N. students