Degree Program
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)
Vision, Mission and Curriculum Overview
Mission
The Georgetown University School of Nursing, an inclusive, diverse academic community, excels in innovative and values-based education, leadership, practice, research, scholarship, and service. In the Jesuit tradition, we are committed to the formation of ethical, empathetic, and transformational nursing leaders who are committed to lifelong learning, shared decision-making, and individual and community self-determination. Within this just culture of reciprocal accountability, trust, and respect, the school advances health and health equity in partnership with individuals, families, and communities.
Vision
Georgetown University School of Nursing will be nationally recognized as a leading educational institution in nursing that creates and develops nurses to advance social justice, dismantle oppressive conditions, promote health equity for all, and shape the future of nursing. This will be achieved through the pursuit of excellence, innovation, critical consciousness and leadership in education, practice, research, scholarship, and service.
Values
Georgetown University School of Nursing (GUSON) commits to Jesuit values which guide our approach in all that we do. Our values bind us culturally and permeate our strategic initiatives. They are the defining traits of the Georgetown University community.
Contemplation in Action
Action-oriented introspection and reflection guide our self-understanding relative to our mission, choices, intellectual inquiry, and engagement with the world.
Cura Personalis
Caring for the whole person, a cornerstone of the Jesuit tradition, centers giving personalized attention to individuals’ unique needs and circumstances, including spirituality, as well as, a celebration of the special talents they contribute to communities.
Diversity
Representation which draws upon unique perspectives that actively support an environment where commonalities and differences contribute to its distinctiveness.
Excellence
Strive to promote the highest quality in everything we do with a commitment to integrity.
Respect
Recognize the range of perspectives and talents among students, faculty, staff, and the broader community. GUSON promotes positive, productive, and professional interactions, and encourages individuals to voice differing viewpoints in a way that assumes the best intention.
Social Justice
Create a more just society through support of intellectual growth and professional aspirations of individuals from all backgrounds and the creation and dissemination of knowledge that promotes equity in health with a focus on the social determinants of health and human rights.
Value of the Common Good
Alignment around a unified goal of collective responsibility that promotes maximum health and human flourishing for all with a special emphasis on those who are marginalized, disinvested in, and subjugated.
The terminal objectives of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program state required BSN graduate outcomes. The terminal objectives, derived from the Mission and Core Values of the Georgetown University School of Nursing, require that the BSN graduate is prepared to:
1. Practice professional nursing informed by the Jesuit Pedagogical Paradigm and the Georgetown University School of Nursing Mission and Core Values.
2. Demonstrate the use of critical thinking and clinical judgment in clinical decision-making.
3. Formulate a personal and professional ethical framework to guide conduct and decision-making in professional nursing practice.
4. Conduct evidence-based nursing practice, evaluate this practice, and communicate the outcomes to improve professional nursing practice.
5. Demonstrate excellence as a nurse generalist in nursing care across the lifespan in disease prevention, health promotion, acute and chronic disease care, restorative care, and hospice/supportive care.
6. Evaluate appropriateness of leadership and management theories before implementation into nursing practice.
7. Demonstrate patient safety and quality in assessment and delivery of healthcare.
8. Evaluate the health policy process to improve health care for all.
9. Demonstrate a commitment to personal and professional development through participation in continuing education and professional organizations.
10. Demonstrate a commitment to humanitarian service delivered appropriately in a culturally diverse society as a component of professional nursing practice.
11. Communicate and collaborate effectively in planning, conducting, and evaluating patient-centric care through including the patient, the health care team, significant others, and community to improve the quality of health care delivery.
The traditional four-year BSN program is designed for high school graduates who wish to combine core requirements in the arts, sciences and humanities with preparation for a career in professional nursing. The curriculum includes a core of knowledge in the humanities and the behavioral, physical, and biological sciences, as well as the theory and practice of professional nursing. Coursework in bioethics and leadership prepares graduates to take their place in the current and future health care delivery system.
The nursing component of the curriculum provides for development of clinical skills as well as a strong theoretical base. Nursing coursework and experiential learning will begin in the first year. The senior clinical practicum provides one-on-one clinical practice in an area of the student’s interest to expand their knowledge and leadership skills in preparation for professional nursing practice.
After completion of the baccalaureate program, graduates are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN examination for licensure to practice as professional nurses.
The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the District of Columbia Board of Nursing.
The School of Nursing is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Nursing Association.
Clinical experiences are arranged within the surrounding metropolitan area including the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Students are responsible for their transportation to these clinical sites.
Safety and Quality
The BSN Program aligns with the Quality Safety Education for Nurses project (QSEN) and prepares their graduate nurses with the knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems within which they work.
Commitment to Wellness
An animation of the Jesuit value of ‘cura personalis’ is the BSN program’s formal and informal instruction and provision of opportunities for creating healthy self care behaviors that promote wellness and resiliency. Furthermore, this intention addresses the known impact of positive wellness and mindfulness behaviors on professional clinical nurses as a lifelong practice.
BSN Curriculum Overview
University Core Requirements
- Writing: Writing and Culture Seminar and Integrated Writing Course in the Major — two courses
- HALC — One course
- Engaging Diversity: one course, domestic; one course, global
- Philosophy — Two courses: PHIL 1500 and NURS 2254
- Theology and Religious Studies— Two courses
- Natural Science — One course (fulfilled within the major courses: HSCI 1030/1040)
Required Courses for the Major
- ANTH 1001 or SOCI 1001 — One course
- PSYC 1000
- Probability and Statistics (MATH 1040)
- Free electives, in any discipline, to total 126 total credits (classes of 2024-2026) or 123 credits (class of 2027)
First Year
- First Year Colloquium
- Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice
- Human Biology I and II
- Biochemistry and Human Functioning
- Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
- Health Assessment*
*The class of 2027 will take Health Assessment in the spring of their Sophomore year.
Second Year
- Health Assessment
- Nutrition and Disease Prevention
- Pathophysiology
- Genomics*
- Fundamental Nursing Interventions
- Human Growth and Development
- Health Promotion and Disease Prevention**
- Pharmacology
*The classes of 2024 and 2025 are required to take Genomics whereas it is an elective for the classes of 2026 and 2027.
**The class of 2027 will have the opportunity to take NURS-2002 in their First Year. Transfer students may possibly take this course as juniors.
Third Year
- Introduction to Nursing Research
- Integration Seminar
- Care of Adults
- Health Care of Women
- Microbiology
- Care of Children
- Mental Health Nursing
- Health Care Delivery Systems
Fourth Year
- Public Health Nursing
- Complex Nursing Problems Across Care Cont
- Intro to Health Care Ethics
- Care of the Older Adult
- Vulnerable Populations
- Transitions to Professional Practice
- Senior Capstone Clinical
- Scholarly Project in Nursing
Minors
Georgetown University Nursing students are eligible to complete a variety of minors in both the SOH and the College. Due to the lockstep nature of the nursing curriculum and limited elective opportunities, students pursuing a minor should meet with their Academic Advising Dean early on to discuss their interest and impact on the BSN degree progression plan.
The minor in Public Health approaches health from an interdisciplinary perspective to
promote the health and well being of all individuals. The minor draws from the expertise
of faculty in the School of Health (human science, global health, and health
management and policy) as well as the School of Nursing. The objectives of this minor
support the efforts of the Institute of Medicine, the Association of American Colleges
and Universities, and Healthy People 2030 to educate undergraduates on public health
issues. The minor provides a core of knowledge that will prepare the student for further
study and scholarship in the field.
The public health minor requires students to successfully complete 18 credits of
coursework. Please note that courses required by a major as part of the course of study
may not be used toward the minor. Students interested in pursuing the minor should first
contact SOH Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Sarah Shohet. Students must
declare the minor with their Academic Dean.
Requirements of the Minor
- Population Health Concepts and Contemporary Issues, 3 credits
- Epidemiological Approaches to Population Health, 3 credits or
Introduction to Epidemiology, 3 credits - Population Health Capstone, 3 credits
- Three additional electives are required
- The culmination of the minor is the Population Health Capstone, 3 credits.
To provide students with an opportunity to integrate diverse experiences and knowledge
about public health, this final capstone seminar will serve as a forum for students to
learn from one another and will expose students to the work of selected organizations in
the Washington metropolitan area concerned with public health. Students will attend a
weekly seminar and will complete an experiential learning project component.
Sigma Theta Tau
The BSN Program participates in Sigma Theta Tau, the International Nursing Honor Society. Sigma Theta Tau honors practitioners and students of nursing who exemplify outstanding qualities of leadership, scholarship, and service to the profession of nursing. Tau Chapter was founded at the Georgetown University School of Nursing in 1960. Students who are in the top 35% of their class in their senior year are invited to join.
Georgetown Students Nurses Association
The Georgetown Student Nurses’ Association (GSNA) mentors the professional role development of future registered nurses and facilitates development of standards, ethics and competencies that students will need as responsible and accountable leaders and members of the nursing profession. This mission is accomplished by chapter-led and nationwide programs that provide educational resources, leadership opportunities, and career guidance. All undergraduate nursing students at Georgetown are eligible to join. Members are expected to adhere to the National Student Nurses Association Code of Academic and Clinical Conduct.
Student Professional Responsibility
Students are responsible for reviewing, understanding and abiding by the regulations, procedures and requirements as described in all official publications of Georgetown University and of the School of Nursing. These are found specifically in the Undergraduate Bulletin as well as the Current Students Resources section of the SON website. In addition, students are required to adhere to regulations and guidelines from Health Care Settings (in use as clinical sites), Professional Licensing Boards, Federal, State and Local Health Care Authorities and Professional Nursing Organizations, including the American Nurses Association “Code of Ethics for Nurses”.
Clinical Clearances
All student nurses are expected to meet and maintain certain health requirements. All of the clinical clearance requirements can be found in the BSN Handbook. Failure to meet any of the requirements will jeopardize the ability to attend clinical courses.