Nursing, B.S.

Course Requirements

A Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing is awarded to students who complete four years of academic study on campus (a minimum of 124 credits and completion of all course requirements). This includes 75 NUR nursing major credits, 28 non-NUR nursing major credits, and 24 other required credits. The nineteen core courses required in this major are outlined below. Note: Additional General Education requirements that are specific to Nursing majors can be found in the Nursing Student Handbook linked in the Requirements for the B.S. in Nursing section below.

• NUR 1001 - Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice Credits: 2
• NUR 1200 - Health Assessment Credits: 4

• NUR2100 Fundamentals of Nursing Credits: 5

• NUR2200 Pathophysiology Credits: 4

• NUR2300 Pharmacology Credits: 4

• NUR 2550 - Nursing Care of the Adult I Credits: 6
• NUR 3000 - Nursing Care of the Adult II Credits: 8

• NUR3100 Informatics for Healthcare Systems Credits: 2

• NUR 3500 - Pediatric Nursing Credits: 4
• NUR 3550 - Family and Newborn Nursing Credits: 4
• NUR 3600 - Community and Population Health Nursing Credits: 4
• NUR 3655 - Mental Health Nursing Care Credits: 4
• NUR 3700 - Nursing Scholarship and Evidenced Based Practice Credits: 4
• NUR 4000 - Critical Care Nursing Credits: 5

• NUR4100 Personal, Professional and Leadership Development Credits: 4

• NUR 4500 - Capstone Synthesis Credits: 4
• NUR 4550 - Capstone Preceptorship Credits: 6
• CHM 2037 - Nursing Biochemistry Credits: 4
• HSC 1122 - Anatomy and Physiology I Credits: 4
• HSC 1123 - Anatomy and Physiology II Credits: 4
• HSC 3320 - Microbiology for Health Professions Credits: 4

• Humanities Course (Ethics Course Options RTS2829, or PHL3060, or THR3560)

Nursing Program Outcomes

Upon completion of the nursing program, students will:

1. Engage in socially valued work and health care leadership through the acquisition of a liberal arts education with a focus on the arts and sciences that fosters the basis for clinical reasoning. (1. Knowledge for Nursing Practice)

2. Use clinical judgment to provide holistic, compassionate person-centered care that reflects equitable and ethical values. (2. Patient Centered Care)

3. Appraise the equity of healthcare policies and management of populations through healthcare and community-based partnerships. (3. Population Health)

4. Engage in scholarly inquiry to integrate scientific evidence into nursing practice. (4. Scholarship for Nursing Discipline)

5. Demonstrate effective use of strategies to mitigate errors and reduce the risk of harm to patients, self and others in healthcare, home and community settings. (5. Quality & Safety)

6. Provide equitable, high quality patient care through the application of organizational and systems-based practices to optimize patient outcomes. (7. Systems-Based Practice, 5. Quality & Safety)

7. Collaborate with all members of the health care team, patients, families and communities to provide person-centered outcomes. (6.  Interprofessional Partnerships)

8. Integrate informatics and patient care technologies to assist in the delivery of equitable, high quality, safe patient care for individuals and communities. (8. Informatics & Healthcare Technology)

9. Integrate professional values such as caring, humanity, advocacy, social justice and accountability into practice that upholds established regulatory, legal and ethical principles while providing equitable high-quality nursing care. (9. Professionalism)

10. Demonstrate commitment to reflective practice and self-care to cultivate personal health and well-being and foster resiliency for lifelong learning, professional practice and the capacity for leadership in nursing practice. (10. Person, Professional and Leadership Development)

Additional information on admission and progression requirements for the nursing program can be found in the Nursing Student Handbook

Requirements for the B.S. in Nursing

Admission Requirements for the B.S. in Nursing:

• Official copies of all secondary school transcripts, including first term senior grades
  • Satisfactory evidence of secondary school graduation or its equivalent will be required by all candidates.
• Letter of recommendation from a school counselor and from a teacher (preferably a science or math teacher).
• High school subject requirements (expressed in terms of secondary units where 1 unit = 1 academic year of study)
  • English, 4
  • History, Government and Social Sciences, 2-3
  • Mathematics, 4
  • Science (with lab), 3
  • Foreign Language, 2-4
• High School GPA of 3.0 or higher; C or better in all science grades

The most competitive students will:

• Have taken Biology, Chemistry, and/or Anatomy and Physiology in high school;
• Received a B or higher in all math and sciences courses;
• Have a compelling recommendation from a math or science instructor and school counselor/administrator; and
• Have completed community service or other activities that demonstrate commitment, compassion, and leadership.

Nursing Good Moral Character Statement:

All prospective nursing students should familiarize themselves with the statutory requirements of licensure in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts prior to matriculation in the nursing program. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing Licensure Policy 00-01, Determination of Good Moral Character includes the following:

• It identifies specific criminal convictions, which will permanently exclude an individual from initial nurse licensure in Massachusetts, due to the horrific nature of the crime;
• Requires initial nurse licensure applicants to be conviction-free, for a minimum of five years, before the submission of an application for licensure;
• Requires the disposition of any criminal conviction to be closed, for a minimum of one year, before the submission of a nurse licensure application; and
• Requires all criminal cases to be closed at the time of application.

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing publishes an information sheet on good moral character. Copies are available on-line at: http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/dph/quality/boards/good-moral-info.pdf. 

Note Regarding Applying for Licensure

Prospective nursing students who intend to apply for licensure in states other than Massachusetts are encouraged to contact the appropriate authority in those states to ensure that they will meet the requirements for licensure application in those states. Please contact the Undergraduate Nursing Program Director for any questions about this policy and how it may affect your ability to be licensed as a registered nurse in Massachusetts.

For all other Nursing Major Requirements and Policies, please refer to the Merrimack College Nursing Student Handbook on this page of the website: https://www.merrimack.edu/academics/health-sciences/majors/nursing/nursing-major/.

Transferring in to the B.S. in Nursing

Transfer Credits Policy

The MC Traditional BS in Nursing Program allows for potential transfer credits for the following nursing courses: NUR1001 Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice, NUR1200 Health Assessment, NUR2200 - Pathophysiology, NUR3100 Informatics for Healthcare Systems, and NUR3700 Nursing Research & Evidence Based Practice/Nursing Scholarship & Evidence Based Practice. Other non-nursing courses may be transferred in for credit. Refer to the Transfer Credits of the College catalog for the process required to transfer in credits from other accredited institutions of higher learning.  

Transferring into the Undergraduate Nursing Program Policy

Definitions:

Admitted Nursing Student: all first year students admitted into the nursing major during the fall of each new academic year and all transfer students admitted to nursing during this same academic year are considered to be an admitted nursing student.

Matriculated Nursing Student: Students who meet the requirements for NUR1200: Health Assessment, either as a first year college student or as an internal/external transfer student, are considered to be officially matriculated in the nursing program once registered. 

• Transfer students will have the ability to be admitted as a nursing student at Merrimack College and take missing prerequisites in the semester(s) before taking NUR1200: Health Assessment.

• While our program is a fall start only, transfer nursing students are able to enroll in NUR1001: Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice during the winter intersession or summer term and NUR1200: Health Assessment during the spring or summer provided they have completed their prerequisite requirements.

• Students will then be enrolled in the following fall semester, sophomore cohort of the nursing program, once all prerequisite courses and requirements are met. If a student does not meet all prerequisites/requirements prior to the beginning of the fall semester, they will not be able to enroll in NUR2100: Fundamentals of Nursing.

Pre-Licensure Transfer Requirements for enrollment in NUR1200: Health Assessment

• Transferring into the Traditional BS in Nursing Program may require additional semester(s)of course work depending on what courses the student has completed prior to transfer. 

• A minimum of 16 credits of college-level work completed

• A minimum college level GPA of 3.0 

• The following prerequisite courses must be completed prior to being formally registered in NUR1200: Health Assessment (unless being taken concurrently as noted)

  • Anatomy & Physiology I

  • Anatomy & Physiology II (must be a co-requisite for NUR1200 if not previously taken)

  • Human Growth & Development (must be a co-requisite for NUR1200 if not previously taken)

  • Basic Statistics 

  • NUR1001: Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice (this NUR course may be transferred in or taken concurrently)

• Satisfactory evidence of graduating from high school or having earned a GED or HiSET certificate to validate the Merrimack College admission requirements.

• Official transcripts of all colleges or universities attended

• The following nursing courses will be considered for transfer : NUR1001 Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice, NUR1200 Health Assessment, NUR2200 - Pathophysiology, NUR3100 Informatics for Healthcare Systems, and NUR3700 Nursing Research & Evidence Based Practice/Nursing Scholarship & Evidence Based Practice. The course description, course content, lab/clinical components, and syllabi for the course must be equivalent to the Merrimack College course. All other nursing courses must be taken at Merrimack College.  

• If transferring in any nursing (NUR) or non-nursing course required for the nursing major (A&P I -4 credits with lab, A&P II-4 credits with lab , Microbiology -4 credits with lab , Nursing Biochemistry -4 credits with lab, Basic Statistics, a type of Medical/Healthcare Ethics, and/or Human Growth & Development), the following criteria must be met:

  • Course must have been completed at a regionally accredited College or University

  • The course description, course content, lab/clinical components, and syllabi for the course must be equivalent to the Merrimack College courses.

  • The minimum acceptable grade for any NUR course and the following prerequisite and science courses (Anatomy & Physiology I, Anatomy & Physiology II, Microbiology, Nursing Biochemistry, Human Growth & Development, and Bioethics) is a “C”.

  • To be accepted for transfer, the NUR courses, science and mathematics course grades cannot be older than 5 years.

• Students who have been excluded or dismissed from another nursing program are not eligible for enrollment in the Merrimack College pre-licensure BS in nursing program.

• If transferring from another nursing program, a letter is required from the Director/Dean of the Nursing Program stating the student left that program in good standing. 

• All transfer applicants to the nursing program must provide evidence of adherence to the MA. Department of Public Health Immunization and nursing program clinical requirements.

• All transfer applicants are required to take part in an advising session with the UNPD.