Program Overview
Designed for working nurses, Rider’s online R.N. to B.S.N. program lets students gain the skills and credentials to advance while balancing their career and family life.
The experience, skills and compassion an individual brings to his or her job transforms the lives of the patients in one's care every day. But rapid changes in today’s health care environment now present nursing professionals with new challenges — and exciting opportunities. The online R.N. to B.S.N. program prepares students for these challenges while still training them to be compassionate care givers and partners.
The baccalaureate degree program in nursing/master's degree program in nursing at Rider University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.
RN to BSN Program Learning Outcomes
Rider University's Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program prepares the graduate to:
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Incorporate knowledge from arts, humanities, and sciences in the planning and provision of professional nursing care.
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Use skills of inquiry and analysis to address practice issues.
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Use written, verbal, non-verbal, and emerging technology methods to communicate effectively.
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Apply leadership skills to engage others in ethical reasoning and actions to promote advocacy, collaboration, and social justice as a socially responsible citizen.
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Apply knowledge of social and cultural factors to the care of diverse populations.
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Engage in interprofessional collaboration and communication to deliver evidenced-based, patient-centered care to improve patient safety and health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities across the lifespan.
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Discuss the implications of healthcare policy on issues of access, equity, affordability, and social justice in healthcare delivery.
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Value lifelong learning and professional engagement in the pursuit of nursing practice excellence.
Curriculum Overview
The R.N. to B.S.N. curriculum provides a seamless transition to the bachelor’s prepared professional nurse role by building on the students’ experiences as registered nurses. The curricular flexibility in distribution requirements will ensure that admitted students can readily transfer completed coursework from another academic institution into Rider University.
The program’s online delivery ensures flexibility and accessibility to a high-quality R.N. to B.S.N. program that working nurses need to complete the degree requirements. All general education and nursing courses will be available to the students through asynchronous, online format. Most courses are offered in an accelerated, seven-week format. Clinical experiences are integrated into the course learning activities. Separate, precepted clinicals are not required.
Graduates of an Associate Degree in Nursing program may transfer in 60-68 credits, depending on the credit distribution for that program. Students who graduate from a diploma nursing program are granted 34 credits for prelicensure nursing courses, and any applicable liberal arts courses eligible for transfer are accepted.
Admission Requirements
Students must meet the following requirements for admission to the program:
- Have graduated from an accredited associate's degree or diploma in nursing; students who do not meet this requirement should contact admissions before applying
- Provide official transcripts from all institutions attended with a minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA
- Hold an unencumbered and current RN license; students with licensure pending should contact admissions before applying
- Submit a personal statement on philosophy of advancing nursing education at the baccalaureate level
Degree Offered
- B.S. in Nursing
Contact
Lori Prol, Ph.D., A.P.N., F.N.P.-B.C.
Director, Nursing Programs; Assistant Professor
Bierenbaum Fisher Hall 218A
609-896-5348
lprol@rider.edu
Program Website: R.N. to B.S.N. Nursing Online
Associated College: College of Education and Human Services
Related Programs:
Nursing: Online R.N. to B.S.N. Program Requirements
(30 credits)
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing Major | ||
| NUR 400 | Professionalism and Professional Values | 3 |
| NUR 401 | Organizational and Healthcare Systems Leadership | 3 |
| NUR 402 | Scholarship in Evidence-Based Practice | 3 |
| NUR 403 | Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology | 3 |
| NUR 404 | Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Regulatory Environments | 3 |
| NUR 405 | Interprofessional Collaboration and Communication for Improving Healthcare Outcomes | 3 |
| NUR 406 | Population Health Promotion and Prevention Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| NUR 407 | Cultural Diversity in a Global Society | 3 |
| NUR 408 | Gerontological Nursing Concept | 3 |
| NUR 409 | BSN Capstone 1 | 3 |
| Total Credits | 30 | |
| 1 | The student designs the capstone project based on individual professional interests in consultation with the nursing faculty. |
Courses and Descriptions
NUR 400 Professionalism and Professional Values 3 Credits
Professionalism and the inherent values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, and social justice are fundamental to nursing. The nature and scope of professional nursing, critical thinking, professional accountability, ethical decision-making, and client education as integral parts of the nursing process are examined. Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) concepts are emphasized. This course provides a foundation for the baccalaureate nurse to have a solid understanding of the broader professional standards of moral, ethical, and legal conduct in the nursing profession and to facilitate the role of the nurse as a change agent.
NUR 401 Organizational and Healthcare Systems Leadership 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of principles of leadership based on contemporary needs for qualified nursing leaders who can function and manage in complex healthcare delivery environments. Learning activities and assignments will focus on strategies for self-assessment and self-reflection of one’s own leadership skills, knowledge, and attitudes that foster and promote nursing leadership in diverse healthcare delivery settings, and strategies for best practice in nursing leadership in the 21st century.
NUR 402 Scholarship in Evidence-Based Practice 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of evidence-based research principles to translate evidence into practice and how research informs professional nursing practice to improve patient safety and outcomes. Learning activities and assignments will focus on strategies for learning how to assess scientific merit of data-driven research, apply evidence-based practice in appropriate ways, monitor and evaluate the impact of evidence-based practice on informed nursing practice and outcomes of care as well as collaborate with interprofessional health care teams to improve patient safety and outcomes in a variety of healthcare delivery settings.
NUR 403 Information Management and Application of Patient Care Technology 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of information management and application of patient care technology to enhance and improve patient safety and outcomes by examining linkages between information management systems and patient care technologies that support and are linked to safe nursing practice. The course examines how technology is used to inform nursing practice and enhance patient safety by applying safeguards and decision making support tools embedded in the technologies. Students are exposed to effective clinical information systems (CIS) to document nursing care, examine the ethical components of protecting patient information, challenges with data security, regulatory requirements, confidentiality and rights to privacy as well as examine the role of the professional nurse in updating and garnering information management resources and applying them in patient care settings.
NUR 404 Healthcare Policy, Finance, and Regulatory Environments 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of U.S. healthcare policy, including financial and regulatory policies, as well as the nature and functioning of the U.S. healthcare delivery system. There is emphasis on policy processes at the organizational, local, state, national, and global levels. Learning activities and assignments focus on strategies for learning how to assess the role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in policy formation and reformation at all levels, demonstrating understanding of the political process at all levels, developing effective advocacy strategies for vulnerable populations, how to identify and influence key stakeholders in the policy process, the importance of effective communication of key healthcare issues, and how to influence change in the political process at all levels when there is social injustice.
NUR 405 Interprofessional Collaboration and Communication for Improving Healthcare Outcomes 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of key concepts essential to promotion of effective interprofessional collaboration and communication for improving healthcare outcomes and patient safety. There is emphasis in the course on examination of the roles and perspectives of scope of practice for selected healthcare disciplines in intra-and interprofessional healthcare teams to improve healthcare outcomes and promote patient safety, and on effective strategies for advocacy and communication patterns in healthcare delivery settings as healthcare professionals develop trust and respect for all members of the healthcare team while recognizing unique differences and contributions of roles to patient safety and outcomes.
NUR 406 Population Health Promotion and Prevention Across the Lifespan 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of key concepts essential to population-focused nursing, the aggregate, community or population as the unit of care. The focus of the course is on health promotion/disease prevention with emphasis on the professional nurse role in clinical prevention of disease and care of populations applying concepts of primary, secondary, and tertiary health promotion across the lifespan, identifying determinates of health, prioritizing primary prevention across the lifespan, actively identifying and targeting populations benefitting from evidence-based preventive initiatives and clinical preventive guidelines, assessment strategies for individuals and populations, applying evidence-based practice to health promotion/risk reduction, and being an advocate for vulnerable and disenfranchised populations without resources or a voice.
NUR 407 Cultural Diversity in a Global Society 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of key concepts essential to nursing care and professional nursing leadership in assessment, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they must have as leaders of healthcare delivery focusing on improved system safety and effectiveness. There is particular emphasis on the nursing leadership role at the baccalaureate level for nursing to recognize, interrupt, evaluate, and correct healthcare errors and to implement safety principles and work with others to create a safe, caring environment for every healthcare delivery encounter as they provide care themselves, are acting in a leadership capacity, or are overseeing and delegating to other non-licensed assistive personnel. The course content focuses on identification, assessment, planning, design, and evaluation of evidence-based practice change to improve patient safety and outcomes.
NUR 408 Gerontological Nursing Concept 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of key concepts essential to care of an aging population in a complex society. Given the diverse health status of the aging population, professional nurses must be able to develop competencies to provide high quality care to aging adults and their families or significant others. Specifically the course focuses on increased diversity and complexity of an aging society and selected health care needs, life transitions of aging adults, normal body system changes occurring with the aging process, the professional nurse role in principled care provided to a vulnerable population, and the role of the professional nurse as advocate and caregiver promoting the concepts of quality end-of-life care for aging adults, including pain and symptom management honoring the autonomy and self- wish of the aging client.
NUR 409 BSN Capstone 3 Credits
This course provides a foundation of key concepts essential to nursing care and professional nursing leadership in assessment, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they must have as leaders of healthcare delivery focusing on improved system safety and effectiveness. There is particular emphasis on the nursing leadership role at the baccalaureate level for nursing to recognize, interrupt, evaluate, and correct healthcare errors and to implement safety principles and work with others to create a safe, caring environment for every healthcare delivery encounter as they provide care themselves, are acting in a leadership capacity or are overseeing and delegating to other non-licensed assistive personnel. The course content focuses on identification, assessment, planning, design, and evaluation of evidence-based practice change to improve patient safety and outcomes.