Nursing RN to BSN Track (BSN)

Vision Statement

The University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK), Division of Nursing envisions an environment that promotes excellence, innovation, and creativity in the educational preparation of baccalaureate nursing graduates.

Mission Statement

As an integral part of its parent institution, the Division of Nursing is committed to quality liberal arts education of nurse leaders serving rural northern Maine and beyond. Our mission is to educate caring, competent, professional nurses who participate in maintaining, promoting, and optimizing the ever-changing health and well-being of clients and communities.

Program Description

The University of Maine at Fort Kent offers an accredited baccalaureate nursing program founded upon the liberal arts and sciences. Over the course of study, students gain knowledge and skill in the social, behavioral, biological, and nursing sciences. Graduates are employed in a variety of practice settings to assist individuals, families, and communities to maintain, promote, and optimize their health and well-being. This program of study fosters the personal and professional growth of students, enhancing the creative and intellectual abilities of those who wish to pursue advanced clinical and academic studies.

Each nursing major must complete a minimum of 120 hours of credit, including the general education core, nursing prerequisites, and nursing core courses as outlined in the individual program plan. Upon successful completion of the program, the student is awarded a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in nursing and is eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Many health care agencies require criminal background checks for licensed health care providers, students, and volunteers serving in health care agencies. In response to these requirements, the UMFK Division of Nursing has established a policy requiring criminal background checks of all nursing students. Students are responsible for contacting the Director of Student Services or the Maine State Board of Nursing if they have a question about their criminal history.

In keeping with the institutional mission and divisional goals, the Division of Nursing promotes an environment of respect and support for all persons regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, creed, or abilities. Students with special needs are advised to refer to the “Students with Disabilities” section of this catalog. Additionally, students are encouraged to review the Essential Qualifications Policy available online, under the nursing major.

Program Goals

In fulfillment of its mission, the Division of Nursing will:

• Provide baccalaureate nursing education that responds to, and fosters the development of, professional nurses prepared to meet the health care needs of an ever-changing, multicultural society;
• Develop and utilize creative and innovative educational methodologies that serve the learning needs of a diverse student population;
• Prepare registered nurses as generalists who will become leaders in promoting, maintaining, and optimizing healthy communities;
• Provide a community-based liberal arts educational program using a holistic approach focused on health promotion and optimal wellness;
• Prepare registered nurses who are capable of using technology to meet the complex health care needs of the population;
• Promote the development of the skills, values, and responsiveness required by registered nurses to meet the healthcare needs of the greater community;
• Seek and utilize opportunities for faculty and students to pursue scholarly endeavors, such as teaching, practice, service, and research; and,
• Develop, foster, and maintain collaborative partnerships with the community and other institutions.

Program Outcomes

To successfully complete the nursing major, each graduate will demonstrate achievement of essential nursing student learning outcomes, which includes:

1. Professionalism: (demonstrates accountability as a life-long learner for the delivery of evidence-based nursing care. Evaluates own practice that is consistent with ethical, moral, altruistic, humanistic, legal, and regulatory principles, and utilizes self-care to practice in a mindful manner)
   • Understanding the professional standards of practice, the evaluation of that practice, and the responsibility and accountability for the outcome of practice
   • Showing commitment to provision of high quality, safe, and effective patient care
   • Implementing a plan of care within legal, ethical, and regulatory framework of nursing practice
   • Participating in life-long learning
   • Enlisting system resources and participating in efforts to resolve ethical issues in daily practice
2. Leadership: (demonstrates leadership in the professional practice setting through accountability, influence, change management, and collaboration with others in a way that will facilitate the establishment and achievement of shared goals)
   • Explaining the importance, necessity, and process of change
   • Understanding the principles of accountability and delegation
   • Implementing change to improve patient care
   • Demonstrating purposeful, informed, outcome-oriented thinking
   • Modeling effective communication and promoting cooperative behaviors
3. Patient-Centered Care: (enters into a holistic, compassionate, respectful partnership with the patient and family that facilitates shared decision-making, recognizing consumer preferences, values, and needs in providing age and culturally appropriate, coordinated, safe, and effective care)
   • Understanding that care and services are delivered in a variety of settings along a continuum of care that can be accessed at any point
   • Respecting and encouraging individual expression of patient values, preferences, and needs
   • Understanding how health and illness are affected by socioeconomics, culture, race, spiritual beliefs, gender, lifestyle, and age
   • Valuing the inherent worth and uniqueness of individuals and populations
   • Supporting patient-centered care for individuals and groups whose values differ from their own
4. Evidence-Based Practice (EBP): (identifies, integrates, and evaluates current evidence and research findings coupled with clinical expertise and consideration of consumers’ preferences, experience, and values to make practice decisions for quality outcomes)
   • Describing the concept of evidence-based practice (EBP), including the components of research evidence, clinical expertise, and patient/family values
   • Participating in data collection and other research activities
   • Basing individualized care on best current evidence, patient values, and clinical expertise
   • Facilitating integration of new evidence into standards of practice, policies, and nursing practice guidelines
   • Valuing the need for continuous improvement in clinical practice based on new knowledge
5. Teamwork and Collaboration: (practices effectively with the healthcare consumer, family, and inter-professional team(s), to build relationships and foster open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making)
   • Appreciating the importance of collaboration
   • Functioning competently within own scope of practice as a member of the health care team
   • Understanding the impact of effective team functioning on safety and quality of care
   • Valuing the creation of system-solutions in achieving quality of care
   • Contributing to effective team functioning
6. Communication: (communicates effectively, fostering mutual respect and shared decision making to enhance knowledge, experience, and health outcomes)
   • Understanding the principles of effective communication through various means, including verbal, written, and electronic methods
   • Understanding the physiological, psychosocial, developmental, spiritual, and cultural influences on effective communication
   • Identifying preferences for visual, auditory, or tactile communication
   • Making appropriate adaptations in own communication based on patient and family assessment
   • Interpreting differences in communication styles among patients and families, nurses, and other members of the health team
7. Systems-Based Practice: (is knowledgeable and responsive to the changing healthcare system and demonstrates the ability to access resources in a safe, effective, and financially responsible manner to provide value based care)
   • Understanding interrelationships among nursing, the nursing work unit, and organizational goals
   • Planning, organizing, and delivering patient care in the context of the work unit
   • Understanding the concept of patient care delivery models
   • Valuing the need to remain informed of how legal, political, regulatory, and economic factors impact professional nursing practice
   • Valuing effective communication and information sharing across disciplines and throughout transitions in care
8. Informatics and Technology: (demonstrates proficiency in the use of technology and information systems to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and to support decision making for safe practice)
   • Defining the impact of computerized information management on the role of the nurse
   • Extracting selected electronic resources and integrating them into a professional knowledge base
   • Evaluating information and its sources critically and incorporating selected information into his or her own professional knowledge base
   • Applying technology and information management tools to support safe processes of care and evaluate impact on patient outcomes
   • Using and evaluating information management technologies for patient education
9. Safety: (utilizes clinical reasoning and critical thinking that drives a culture of safety to prevent risk of harm to healthcare consumers, families, colleagues, and the environment)
   • Describing factors that create a culture of safety
   • Recognizing that both individuals and systems are accountable for a culture of safety
   • Demonstrating effective use of strategies at the individual and systems levels to reduce risk of harm to self and others
   • Valuing system benchmarks that arise from established safety initiatives
   • Participating in analyzing errors and designing systems-improvements
10. Quality Improvement: (contributes to evidence-based nursing practice by participating in improvement strategies/processes including the use of data to design, implement and evaluate outcomes to improve the quality and safety of healthcare systems)
    • Recognizing that quality improvement is an essential part of nursing and health care delivery
    • Actively seeking information about quality improvement in the care setting from relevant institutional, regulatory and local/national sources
    • Describing approaches for improving processes and outcomes of care
    • Participating in the use of quality improvement tools to assess performance and identify gaps between local and best practices
    • Participating in the use of quality indicators and core measures to evaluate the effect of changes in the delivery of care
11. Geriatrics: (values the unique psychosocial, physical, and cultural attributes of the older adult in order to promote healthy aging and provide safe and effective care)
    • Acknowledges the older adult’s independence and ability to self-direct
    • Identifies nursing role in advocating for older adults
    • Identifies barriers to communication with older adults
    • Assesses symptoms related to geriatric syndromes and common illnesses of older adults
    • Recognizes the importance of the interdisciplinary team in helping an older adult and/or their caregiver(s) make healthcare decisions

Adopted from Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Nursing Initiative (2010), Nurse of the Future: Nursing Core Competencies and Maine Partners in Nursing (2013): Maine Nursing Core Competencies

Accreditation

The nursing program at UMFK is approved by the Maine State Board of Nursing, 161 Capitol Street, 158 Statehouse Station, Augusta, Maine, 04333-0158, and accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC, 20036-1120.

Accreditation is an external process affirming established standards of excellence for baccalaureate nursing education. Accreditation also assures students of transferability of state licensure and of eligibility for admission to graduate school. Further information about the accreditation of the program can be obtained from any of the aforementioned accrediting bodies.

BSN Program Options

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree is available to students in one of three options: a traditional BSN entry-level track, an accelerated BSN track, and an RN-to-BSN track. This latter option is available through distance education for students who already possess an active license to practice as Registered Nurses.

Graduation Requirements

To be awarded a BSN degree, graduates must:

1. Complete a minimum of 120 semester hours of credit;
2. Maintain a minimum, cumulative grade point average of 2.5;
3. Complete General Education Requirements with a grade of C or better;
4. Complete the support courses for the Nursing Major with a grade of C or better; and
5. Complete the nursing core courses (NUR/HLT) for the selected track with a grade of C+ or better.

Assessment Techniques

Students in the traditional and accelerated tracks are required to take nationally-normed specialty examinations in the subject areas of pharmacology, maternity, pediatric, psychiatric, and medical-surgical nursing. In the last semester of the curriculum, traditional and accelerated students are required to take a nationally-normed comprehensive examination and to achieve a satisfactory score as outlined in the course syllabus prior to taking the NCLEX-RN examination. Students are responsible for all costs incurred with such testing.

Curricular assessment techniques are achieved through various means, including: clinical self-evaluations, formative and summative evaluations, and exit, graduate, employer, and alumni surveys. A cumulative, professional portfolio also is submitted for evaluation.

This option is for those who already are licensed Registered Nurses. Graduates of state-approved diploma and associate degree programs in nursing are eligible to apply for admission to the baccalaureate program in the online RN to BSN track. This program is designed to be as flexible and responsive to individual student needs as possible within the constraints of curriculum, university and accreditation requirements, and quality educational theory. The length of the program is dependent upon the amount of acceptable transfer credit; success in completion of CLEP, proficiency, and nursing examinations; and part-time or full-time status. In most instances a minimum of two years should be anticipated for completion.

Students may be eligible to be granted credit for prior learning, for example, credit for experiential learning, certificates, or through a process of challenge examinations. A total of up to 6 credits will be awarded for prior learning and/or certifications. Successful completion of the challenge exam, for a course that traditionally has a laboratory component, for example, microbiology, will equate to a waiver of the laboratory requirement. (4 credits total for didactic and laboratory).

Admission Requirements

Admission to the online RN-to-BSN option requires:

1. Completion of application to nursing major, including official transcripts from all post-secondary programs submitted to admissions office;
2. A cumulative GPA of 2.5; and,
3. An active RN license.

Transfer Credits

Any courses identified as “nursing” on post-secondary school transcripts that apply to the degree plan for the RN-to-BSN major, will be assessed on an individual basis. Upon determination of eligibility, a block of 29 credits will be awarded in lieu of previous core nursing courses. Eligibility is determined on the basis of the student providing an official transcript giving evidence of graduation from an accredited school of nursing. Graduates of nursing programs whereby the biology or chemistry courses integrated the laboratory components within the didactic portion of the course will be accepted as equivalent to a course with a separate didactic and laboratory component. This allows a 3 or 4 credit course to meet this requirement.

Articulation Agreements

Students who graduated from Central Maine Community College (CMCC), Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC), Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC), Northern Maine Community College (NMCC), Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), and University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) are awarded 39 credits, inclusive of nutrition, pharmacology, and health assessment, and in some cases, pathophysiology. For transferability, such credits must be approved by the Registrar’s Office and be completed with at least a grade of “C” or better. Please refer to the transfer credit policies in this catalog for complete information, or contact the Registrar’ Office. Further information about any of these options may be obtained from the RN-to-BSN advisor or Administrative Assistant of the Division of Nursing.

General Education Requirements

In accordance with University policy, all baccalaureate candidates must complete the general education requirements. Transfer credits are considered on an individual basis. All general education courses must be completed with a minimum grade of “C”.