The School of Nursing educates students in theoretically based nursing care with emphases on practicum competence, leadership skills, and critical evaluation. The program prepares students to be skilled clinicians who think critically and analytically as they encounter patient needs and health care issues. The school's membership in the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center allows opportunities for interprofessional experiences, research and study.
The program includes a year of foundational courses (completed as a first year or prior to transfer) followed by a sequence of nursing courses spanning six semesters. Coursework covers concepts of nursing, health, family, ethics, leadership, informatics, teaching, learning, transcultural care, global health, and research. Students develop skills during experiential learning activities that include laboratory practice and simulation, and they apply knowledge and skill from coursework to patient, family, and population-based care in practicum settings.
Coursework covers physical assessment, interpersonal communication, professional and leadership issues, research methods, and health care delivery systems. The school has contracts with a variety of agencies for use of their facilities for student practicum experiences in settings such as acute care hospitals, public health agencies, residence and long-term care facilities, clinics, child care centers, and schools. All students must complete a practicum immersion in the senior year. These practicum experiences are planned and supervised by faculty members.
To complete the BSN degree, students must complete at least 120 total credits in addition to satisfying all of the BSN major requirements and U of M liberal education requirements.
The University of Minnesota cannot guarantee that the BSN curriculum will meet requirements for licensure in all states. We are aware of additional requirements needed for the states of California, Louisiana, and New York. It is the student's responsibility to check curricular requirements for the states in which they plan to seek licensure. Advisors are available to help students locate this information and plan additional courses as needed.
In 2021, AACN released a new version of the Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, you can read more on the AACN website. The School of Nursing will be updating the BSN curriculum over the next several years for alignment with these new Essentials. Undergraduate students at the University are held to degree requirements reflecting the curriculum in place at the time of enrollment.
The BSN major is a structured, highly sequenced program; coursework is scaffolded in a way that courses must be taken in order and at specific times, with few exceptions. Students need a documented progression plan to take courses out of sequence and should speak with their Advisor if that is something they are interested in exploring.
For more information about progression, visit the Policies and Procedures page of the BSN Handbook.
The BSN Curriculum Guides outline the sequencing of coursework in the BSN program. Copies of the most recent guides can be found at the link.
Those students who have achieved a term GPA of 3.666 or higher on at least 12 A-F graded credits in a semester will be put on the Dean’s List. This achievement is noted on students' transcripts and the School of Nursing Dean’s List webpage.
Students in UHP have educational experiences both within and outside their major, including opportunities to study abroad, as well as co-curricular leadership, service and enrichment experiences. In disciplinary courses nursing honors students learn about the research process so that they are prepared to complete an honors thesis under the advisement and mentorship of a nursing faculty member. Current U of M students who are not already enrollment in the honors program can apply for admission after freshman year, there is more information on the honors website.
After completing the curricular and honors requirements, UHP students graduate with Latin honors, the level of which is determined by GPA. The minimum grade point average in upper division (i.e., after the completion of 60 semester credits) required for achievement of:
"Cum Laude" is 3.5,
"Magna Cum Laude" is 3.66.
"Summa Cum Laude" is 3.75.
Students who complete at least 60 credits at the U of M are eligible to graduate with distinction. The minimum cumulative grad point average required for achievement of:
"Distinction" is 3.75
"High Distinction" is 3.9