Chairperson: Dr. Sibena Samuel-Harris
Location: Hunter McDaniel Building, Room 140N, Suite C
Contact Information: 804-524-5327 | ssamuel-harris@vsu.edu

Department Overview
 

The Department of Nursing at Virginia State University is committed to cultivating an optimal learning environment that promotes shared governance, leadership, scholarship, continuous discovery, and service. Our mission is to prepare graduate professional nurses to deliver culturally competent, high-quality care that addresses the unique health needs of rural communities and the broader global society.

The post-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) program is an upper level 30 credit hour program which must be completed at VSU. This program is specifically designed for registered nurses who hold an associate degree or hospital diploma and are seeking to advance their education. Offered in a flexible, part-time format, the RN to BSN program is delivered entirely online, allowing working professionals to balance their academic and professional responsibilities.

Graduates of the online baccalaureate program are prepared as generalist nurses equipped to provide comprehensive care to diverse populations across the lifespan. The curriculum emphasizes current trends in healthcare, financial management of healthcare systems, and professional development. It also lays a strong foundation for those pursuing graduate studies in nursing.

Mission Statement
 

The mission of the Department of Nursing is to deliver a liberal education that includes a foundation in the arts, science, humanities, and nursing for professional nursing practice. In alignment with fulfilling the mission of VSU, the program will prepare informed citizens, globally competitive leaders, and highly effective ethical professionals through evidence-based patient centered experiences in rural and urban settings. These settings will prepare diverse graduates with the foundation for lifelong learning as a member of an inter-professional health care delivery team.”

Degree Highlight Information
 

We are the only professional program of study at VSU with a career-focused department. All of our students have found employment in diverse nursing settings, such as the corporate sector, local government, federal government, as well as, in the non-profit sector.

Accreditation Information
 

The Department of Nursing’s baccalaureate program at Virginia State University has full approval by the Virginia Board of Nursing. Our program is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and approved by the Virginia State Board of Nursing, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This department is also an agency member of the National League for Nursing, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 

Department Goals
 

The goal of the Department of Nursing is to prepare professional nurses to provide fiscally responsible, technologically competent, and patient-centered care across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on rural health. The department is guided by four core values:

• Integrity - developing a workforce that demonstrates ethical behavior in all settings.
• Collaboration - by developing partnerships with a variety of healthcare settings and disciplines whose purpose is patient and community care.
• Diversity - working with a variety of cultures to deliver equitable health care.
• Inclusion - including all segments of the population.

Program Listings
 

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)

Ten new courses have been developed for the upper level, 30-credit hour program. This course will incorporate ten key domains with the Essentials to outline the educational framework: The program is in alignment with The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education and Quality Safety and Effective Nursing Competencies (QSEN) published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2021). The key domains include:

• Knowledge for Nursing Practice
• Person-Centered Care
• Population Health
• Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline
• Quality and Safety
• Inter-professional Partnerships
• Systems-Based Practice
• Informatics and Healthcare Technologies
• Professionalism
• Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development

QSEN Competencies include the following:

• Recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated patient-centered care based on respect for patient’s preferences, values, and needs.
• Function effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams, fostering teamwork and collaboration through open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient care.
• Integrate evidence-best practice through best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient/family preferences and values for delivery of optimal health care.
• Use data to monitor the outcomes of care processes and use quality improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems.
• Promote safety to minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
• Through informatics, use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision making.

General Education Requirements for the B.S. Degree

Total Requirements Semester Hours: 33

A single course may simultaneously fulfill a general education requirement and a departmental or major/minor requirement. A single course cannot be used to fulfill more than one general education requirement. Department or major/minor areas may opt to exceed the minimum credit hour requirements above.

No electives are required for this program.