NURSING at University of Florida

The junior/senior-level Traditional BSN program is four semesters long and provides learning experiences in a variety of clinical settings. The Accelerated BSN program prepares students with a baccalaureate degree in another field for entrance into the nursing profession with a BSN.  The RN to BSN program prepares those current Registered Nurses who have previously earned an associate degree.

The College of Nursing prepares baccalaureate nurses to care, lead and inspire. Nursing courses include classroom and laboratory activities correlated with supervised clinical experiences. Students may be required to travel outside of Gainesville for selected clinical experiences.

The curriculum is logically organized from simple to complex so that students acquire the cognitive, affective, and technical competencies of a professional nurse. Students are required to demonstrate competence at each semester in sequence to progress to more advanced concepts and skills. Knowledge from general education courses, nursing pre-professional courses, and introductory nursing courses is integrated and refined as student progress through increasingly complex theoretical nursing content and clinical application courses.

Courses in the first two semesters focus on foundational knowledge and principles of personalized nursing care. Students gain an understanding of the context of contemporary nursing practice, the meaning of professionalism, ethical and legal guidelines, professional values, and standards of professional nursing practice. Course content and concepts are aligned with clinical experiences to develop beginning clinical reasoning. Students acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to provide evidence-based, safe, cost-effective quality care to achieve optimal health outcomes.

Courses in the final two semesters build upon prior learning and are characterized by increased complexity in content and outcomes. Students enhance clinical reasoning and critical thinking through nursing practice in a variety of settings for individuals across the lifespan, families and other groups, and communities. Learning experiences are designed to enable students to demonstrate leadership, interprofessional collaboration, and advocacy skills that improve the health of diverse individuals and populations. In the final semester, students participate in a project to develop an innovative solution for a problem or issue relevant to professional nursing.