University of San Francisco

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Undergraduate School of Nursing

Vision

The School of Nursing at the University of San Francisco advances the mission of the university by preparing professional nurses who provide a moral compass to transform health care in order to promote equity and positively influence quality, delivery, and access to care.

Mission

The mission of the School of Nursing is to advance nursing education within the context of the Jesuit tradition. The school uses dynamic and innovative approaches in undergraduate and graduate nursing education to prepare professionals for current and future practice domains. The goal is to effectively link classroom and clinical experiences with expectations for competence, compassion, and justice in health care within the context of the highest academic standards.

Values

Congruent with the core values of the university, the values of the School of Nursing are to:

Degrees

The School of Nursing offers three degrees:

*pending WASC approval

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is a four-year baccalaureate degree.

The Master of Science in Nursing program prepares graduates as Clinical Nurse Leaders (CNL). The CNL manages and coordinates the care of patients, implementing best practices to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

The School offers dual degrees combining the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Public Administration (MSN/MPA) and the Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Information Systems (MSN/MSIS). In addition, the School sponsors a number of continuing education programs throughout the year.

The nursing programs are accredited by the California Board of Registered Nursing and by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Roles of the Professional Nurse

  1. Professional nurses make informed and responsible choices that help shape the future of the nursing profession and the future of society (leader); they are the advocates for their clients and for their right to self-determination (advocate); at the baccalaureate level, they are first-level managers who supervise direct providers of patient care (manager).
  2. Research is the basis of and the process for validating and improving care; the professional nurse evaluates and uses research findings and the research process to plan and provide care (consumer of research).
  3. Professional nurses provide, coordinate, and/or direct the care of individuals, groups, families, and other aggregates of the community (case manager); they provide a unique service that takes the form of a helping relationship whereby the helper and the helped evolve through a facilitative process of self-exploration, better understanding, commitment to change, and appropriate action (communicator).
  4. Caring, compassion, responsiveness to human and system needs, and adherence to legal and ethical principles are essential elements of professional nursing practice (caregiver).
  5. Teaching is a major role of the professional nurse (teacher).
  6. The nurse engages in joint decision-making regarding actions towards the prevention and/or resolution of client health problems and promotion of optimum health. The collaboration always includes the client and significant others as well as all appropriate health care providers (collaborator).
  7. The nurse engages in actions toward limiting the incapacitation caused by health problems and toward the prevention of recurrences of health problems (rehabilitator).

Admission

Students who are admitted to the university as nursing majors are admitted into the school. No separate application or admission process exists. A student is admitted on the basis of the University of San Francisco's Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination policy, which states:

The university is an equal opportunity institution of higher education. As a matter of policy, the university does not discriminate in employment, educational services, and academic programs on the basis of an individual's race, color, religion, religious creed, ancestry, national origin, age (except minors), sex, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition (cancer related) and disability, and otherwise as required or permitted by the law. The university reasonably accommodates qualified individuals with disabilities under the law.

Transfer Applicants

Acceptance as a transfer student in the School of Nursing is based on academic achievement, available clinical placement, and individual advising. Admission is highly competitive.

Students may transfer up to 70 units from a community college or a four-year academic institution, into USF. Completion of all requirements in the IGETC (Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum), either UC or CSU version, will permit the student to transfer from a California Community College to USF without need, after transfer, to take most of USF's core curriculum requirements. In addition, students desiring a career in Nursing may take courses such as Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology plus labs for each, and General Psychology, prior to application to USF. These courses may by transferred into the Nursing program providing the student has earned a grade of "C" or better in each course. If the student completes these courses, the course of study at USF for a BSN could be as little as six semesters. If, however, a student earns below a "C" in any one of these courses, the student must earn a "B" or better when the course is repeated. Students who earn less than a "C" in any two (2) of these courses, or have less than a 3.0 transferable GPA will not be considered for admission to the School of Nursing.

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University of San Francisco
http://www.usfca.edu
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

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