2025-2026 UVA Wise Catalog
Department of Nursing
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Nursing
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Major: Nursing
Chair: Nancy Haugen
Faculty: Sarah Bolling, Summer Buchmeier, Miranda Cashio, Cassidy Hughes, Brandy McCarroll, Dawn L. Meade, Christine Mullins, Renee Stanley
The Department of Nursing offers a program of study leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN). This program is approved by the Virginia State Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The nursing major has two tracks: Pre-Licensure and RN to BSN. Upon completion of the Liberal Arts Core courses and the required nursing courses, the student’s in either track will have accrued a minimum of 120 hours for graduation.
The Pre-Licensure track is for students who wish to earn a BSN and take the registered nurse licensure examination, the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN®). Once admitted to the nursing major, students in the Pre-Licensure Program must enroll full-time.
The RN to BSN track is a program for registered nurses who have either a diploma or an associate degree in nursing. The RN to BSN track has been specifically designed for the working registered nurse. The theory courses in the RN-BSN track are online. The optional minor in Leadership Studies will provide the registered nurse with the skills and knowledge necessary for coordinating and managing patient care in complex health situations in health care facilities and in the community. The BSN program is designed to prepare students for graduate study.
Mission Statement
The UVA Wise nursing programs prepare caring, engaged nurse citizens with a commitment to lifelong learning and individual growth, ability for excellence in service and leadership, and the desire to innovate, improve, and transform equitable health care for diverse populations.
Philosophy
The faculty in the Department of Nursing bring distinct and diverse experiences, abilities, and beliefs to the curriculum and the classroom. The philosophy of the Department of Nursing exemplifies the beliefs that faculty and students share about health, the recipients of care, role preparation, nursing, and nursing education:
Health is a state of physical, psychosocial, interpersonal and environmental well-being based on adaptive responses to stressors. Health is viewed on a continuum from wellness to illness.
Patients, the recipients of nursing care, include individuals, families, groups, and communities. Patients and nurses collaborate in the assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of nursing and health care.
Nurses are responsible for maintaining, promoting and enhancing the health of individuals, families, groups and communities, and for contributing to improvements in the healthcare system. Nurses emphasize primary health care, promote healthy lifestyles, and recognize the importance of health promotion and disease prevention.
The role of the nurse evolves in response to changing expectations and demands in the marketplace. Nurses provide holistic health care that includes health education, advocacy, and a committed, caring relationship. They are responsible for participating in discussions and seeking solutions for health care issues locally, regionally, nationally, and globally.
The faculty are dedicated to exploring and adopting approaches to education, which enhances relationships between learners and teachers, creates a stimulating learning environment, and promotes educational excellence. The curriculum reflects characteristics and needs of students, traditional and emerging health care and nursing practice, and a community-based health care system. Communication, reasoning, analysis, research, decision-making, and technological innovations - central concepts of baccalaureate nursing education - influence the curriculum and pedagogy.
Faculty and students share responsibility for learning goals and outcomes, and participatory learning activities. Faculty facilitate and guide learning experiences consistent with student knowledge, skills, and experience. Faculty and students interact with community and health care professionals to provide disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning activities and practice opportunities.
An active, stimulating, and exciting environment encourages inquiry, curiosity, critical thinking, and insight. Students in such an environment achieve at a higher level and gain tools and aspirations for continuing education and lifelong learning.
Program Learning Outcomes
The Department of Nursing prepares graduates to meet the following goals in their entry-level practice with individuals, families, and communities:
- Integrate, translate, and apply established and evolving nursing knowledge and knowledge from other disciplines including liberal arts and natural and social sciences to form the basis for clinical judgement and innovation in nursing practice.
- Implements safe and effective person-centered care built upon a scientific body of knowledge that guides nursing practice.
- Integrate principles of population health along a continuum of prevention to disease management for the improvement of health outcomes.
- Generate, synthesize, translate, apply, and disseminate nursing knowledge to improve health and transform health care.
- Employ established and emerging principles of safety and improvement science to enhance quality and minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through system effectiveness and individual performance.
- Collaborate across professions with care team members, patients, families, communities, and other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and strengthen outcomes.
- Identify and coordinate resources effectively and proactively within complex systems of healthcare.
- Utilizes health care technologies to manage and improve the delivery of health care services using best practice, professional, and regulatory standards.
- Form and cultivate a professional nursing identity including practicing nursing in compliance with legal, ethical, and professional standards.
- Participate in activities and self-reflection that foster personal health, resilience, well-being, lifelong learning, and support the acquisition of nursing expertise and leadership practice.
Admission: Pre-Licensure Program
Applicants to the Pre-Licensure Program in Nursing should follow the application procedures outlined earlier in this Catalog. Students who are admitted to the College must also be formally admitted to the nursing major.
The Nursing Department Faculty uses a Holistic Admissions Process for the Prelicensure Program. Students are scored on their academic accomplishments, a writing sample, health care experience, community service, and work experience.
To progress to the courses in the major, students must successfully complete the following core requirements:
- BIO 1010 and BIO 1011 General Biology and Lab
- Enrollment in or completion of BIO 2310 /BIO 2311 and BIO 2320 /BIO 2321 , Anatomy and Physiology I and II
Note regarding science courses: All transfer courses for the sciences must transfer as UVA Wise course transfer equivalencies. Exceptions are only available from the Chair of the Nursing Department.
- Completion of English sequence, ENG 1010 and ENG 1020
- Completion of, or exemption from, SEM 1010 or SEM 1020
- Completion or in sequence to complete the following courses prior to entering the nursing program:
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale for all Liberal Arts Core requirements in the nursing major.
- Minimum science GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale for Biology, Math, and Anatomy and Physiology courses.
- No grade less than a “C-” will be accepted for any Liberal Arts Core course required for the nursing major.
- Students must submit a copy of their high school transcripts or a copy of high school equivalence certificate, and if the student is a foreign graduate, a transcript translated into English to the department of Nursing along with application.
The Nursing Department uses a two-step admission process. Students apply for admission to the nursing major during the fall semester of the sophomore year. Candidates may be awarded provisional acceptance following the fall application process. All Liberal Arts Core and prerequisite courses must be completed to receive final admission to the nursing major and prior to beginning the clinical nursing courses in the fall semester of the junior year. All general science courses must be completed by the end of spring semester of sophomore year. The student must maintain the minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 in all course work prior to beginning the junior clinical nursing courses. Science courses must be completed with a minimum GPA of 2.75 with no grade in any science course less than “C-“.
Admission: RN to BSN Program
Applicants who meet the following criteria are eligible for admission into the nursing major with junior status:
- Graduation from a state-approved nursing program from a regionally accredited community college or a diploma from a school of nursing
- Cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or above for all prior academic (non-nursing) work and a 2.3 (C+) or above for all prior nursing course work
- Licensure as a registered nurse in one or more states (must be licensed in states where clinical experiences are conducted)
- Characteristics consistent with acceptable academic study and professional practice
Applicants to the program follow regular College admission procedures. In addition, as transfer students, they must submit the following:
- Official transcripts of all academic work completed at other academic institutions they attended including hospital schools of nursing
- Registration number and expiration date of license to practice nursing
Academic Progression
Nursing majors are governed by the College continuance policies as stated in The University of Virginia’s College at Wise Catalog as well as the following Department-specific policies:
- Students are expected to successfully complete the required prerequisite Liberal Arts Core coursework prior to beginning upper-level nursing courses. To remain in good academic standing, an overall cumulative GPA of 2.75 or better is required in Liberal Arts Core courses required for the nursing major. A GPA of 2.75 is required in the science and math courses. No grade less than a “C-” in any science, math or Liberal Arts Core course required for the nursing major will be accepted.
- A grade of 80% or better in all nursing courses is required to continue in the nursing program. Students are required to pass the clinical associated with a nursing course. Failure in either the theory or clinical component requires repeating both associated courses after successfully petitioning for re-admittance to the program. For example, failure of NUR 3000 would require repeating NUR 3000 and NUR 3010 ; failure of NUR 3010 would require repeating NUR 3000 and NUR 3010 .
- To achieve a passing course grade in a didactic nursing course, both the test average and final course grade must be at least 80 percent. The test average is calculated prior to any other coursework being calculated into the final grade. If the test average is not 80 percent, a grade of “F” will be issued for the course.
- Students who achieve a final course grade of less than 80 percent in any nursing course are unable to enroll in subsequent nursing courses. Students may petition to the Nursing Department to be accepted into the failed course the next time it is scheduled, on a space available basis. Students may petition to take a non-clinical associated nursing course on space available basis (e.g., Evidence-based Nursing Practice). Sophomore students who are unsuccessful in passing NUR 2100 , NUR 3130 or NUR 3140 must reapply to the nursing major with the next applicant class.
- A nursing course may be repeated only once. Failure in any two nursing courses will result in dismissal from the nursing program.
- Students requesting or receiving a grade of Incomplete (“I”) in any nursing course(s) may not enroll in subsequent courses. Continued progression in the nursing major is contingent upon removal of the grade of “I” as described in The University of Virginia’s College at Wise Catalog.
- The Nursing prelicensure program utilizes multiple digital platforms to support student learning. Assessment Technologies Inc. (ATI) is a program that has digital activities and assigned standardized testing. The purchase of ATI is required early in the Junior and Senior year. Failure to purchase the ATI software will result in the student’s exlusion from class and result in a course failure if the student does not perform the testing and activities as required by the course faculty.
Graduation
Students in the nursing major must meet UVA Wise graduation requirements listed elsewhere in this Catalog as well as
Pre-Licensure Program
- An overall grade point average of 2.0 (“C”) or higher for all college-level work including work transferred to UVA Wise, and a 2.0 or higher on all work attempted at the College
- Completion of all required nursing courses.
RN to BSN Program
- An overall grade point average of 2.0 (“C”) or higher for all college-level work including work transferred to UVA Wise, and 2.3 (“C+”) or higher on all work attempted at the College;
- A grade point average of 2.7 (“B-“) or higher in the nursing major; and
- Completion of upper division nursing courses.
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