The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing, whose high-quality nursing curriculum has one of the state's highest graduation and licensure rates, is now offering an innovative distance education Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) program. The BSN Academic Partnership program will substantially expand the number of new graduate registered nurses in Texas.
Key elements of UT-Arlington's BSN Academic Partnership program include:
- Course content is delivered via a blended learning model with online, technology-enhanced courses with UT Arlington faculty supervised clinical experiences at partner hospitals throughout the state.
- The instructional format is not linked to traditional semester schedules and allows students to enter and progress through the program in an expedited manner.
- Students receive the majority of clinical experiences in the healthcare partner's facilities. This approach enhances the new graduate's readiness to practice and minimizes the time needed for new nurse orientation resulting in a significant cost savings to the health care organization.
UT Arlington College of Nursing has a long history of innovation in nursing education. UT Arlington achieves graduation and first-time National Council Licensure Examination pass rates of more than 90 percent.
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The Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies reported the state's demand for full-time registered nurses in 2008 exceeded supply by 22,000. This gap is predicted to increase to 70,000 by 2020. Despite this increasing shortage, Texas nursing schools turned away approximately 8,000 qualified applicants due to lack of funding, available faculty and clinical slots.
"UT Arlington is providing a Texas solution for a Texas problem. The gap between the demand and supply of registered nurses is a significant health and business issue for the state," said Dr. Beth Mancini, College of Nursing associate dean. "By working with hospitals and health systems, we believe this new approach to nursing education provides an effective strategy to produce competent new graduate registered nurses at our hospital partner sites across Texas."
"UT Arlington is committed to meeting the changing needs of the healthcare workforce. We are gratified by the response of our current network of over 150 hospitals and health systems to this new program and look forward to working with them to educate registered nurses in their communities," said Elizabeth Poster, dean of the College of Nursing. Less
Course Information
Students applying to the BSN program must complete 17 Prerequisite courses (67 credit hours) prior to starting the program. Prerequisite courses may be completed during the semester following application and prior to the start of the next semester. The nursing program consists of 14 required upper division nursing courses and one upper division elective for a total of 55 credit hours. The upper division elective must be completed prior to starting the upper division nursing courses. Nursing courses vary from 6 to 13 weeks in length. Students must follow the exact sequence of courses as prescribed by the College of Nursing. The upper division nursing program can be completed in as little as 15 months.
View upcoming start dates and courses being offered for Fall 2010 (.PDF)