Explore how your faith fits your practice as a nurse. Northwestern’s distinctive faith-based BSN curriculum focuses on promoting individual, family and community health, wholeness and peace, as well as advocating for social justice and healthy environments in leadership roles.
It's the Northwestern difference.
Northwestern grants up to 66 credits to working nurses with confirmation of 7 years RN experience along with an ADN degree or hospital diploma. Requesting a free transfer review will show you how many courses you have left to complete your BSN.
Take one online 8-week class at a time, completing two classes each semester, and you'll finish your BSN in 2 years or less and be eligible for financial aid.
Your BSN clinical requirements will be tailored to your schedule. Most can be completed at your workplace and enable you to explore other areas of nursing and leadership. Practicum hours are integrated into courses through digital simulation.
Students in the RN-BSN program will take courses that build on what you know and help you grow as a nurse and leader. The RN-BSN core courses (22) and nursing cognates (20 credits) are listed below. Only the last 30 credits need to be completed at Northwestern.
RN-BSN nursing courses (22 credits)
NUR 310A - Shalom and Nursing Science (bridge course)
(4 credits) Designed as a bridge course to orient the BSN-Completion option
student
to baccalaureate-level study, this course based in a Christian worldview
investigates the theological, scientific, and ethical foundation of
nursing as a human science, performing art and healing ministry,
specifically as an approach to promote shalom (health, peace and
wholeness from a Biblical perspective) and social justice. The program's
mission, philosophy, conceptual framework and program outcomes are
examined, and nursing as a human science and nursing theories are
evaluated in the context of the theory-practice relationship. Specific
concepts relevant to professional nursing practice are considered and
applied in analysis of both practice and education issues.
Service-learning experiences, faith reflection and the creation of an
electronic portfolio are integrated in meeting course outcomes.
NUR 280A - Lifespan Health Assessment
Based on a Christian worldview, this course provides an opportunity for
students to develop their understanding and use of the nursing process, with
a focus on the relationship development and assessment phases. Informed by a
Christian worldview, emphasis is placed on performing holistic assessment of
pediatric and adult clients including the physiological, psychological,
sociocultural, spiritual and moral/ethical dimensions. Laboratory practice
precedes clinical application in a variety of health care and community
settings. In the clinical component, students develop aptitudes in
relationship development and holistic assessment of pediatric and adult
individual clients to develop clinical judgment and promote shalom. Prerequisite: NUR310A. (3 credits, 2:1) (A fee is associated with this course.
NUR 350A - Promoting Shalom with Cross Cultural Populations
Based on a Christian worldview, this 1-credit seminar examines transcultural
nursing theory from a theoretical, scientific and ethical perspective,
dimensions of global health care and social justice. Emphasis is placed on
cultural values, beliefs, norms and practices and their influence on the
lived experience of health and illness. Within a context that honors nursing
as a human science, performing art and healing ministry to promote shalom
with diverse clients in acute care and/or community-based settings, the
course provides students opportunities to explore another culture and the
nursing and health care delivery system. Learning experiences include faith
and program outcome reflections. Prerequisite: Admission to the BSN program
or NUR310A. (1 credit)
NUR 420A - Nursing Science and Informatics
Based on a Christian worldview, this course examines the
epistemological (theoretical, scientific and ethical) foundation of nursing
as a human science, specifically as an approach to promote shalom and social
justice. It surveys the types, methods and uses of research and informatics
to enhance client outcomes and to deliver holistic nursing care for all
clients and at all levels of prevention. The course emphasizes the knowledge
and aptitudes needed by professional nurses to manage and utilize health
care information and related technologies, critically evaluate research
studies and integrate evidence in all phases of the nursing process. In the
practicum, students analyze a variety of health care technologies and
present an evidence-based practice project. Prerequisites: NUR310A;
MAT208QR. (3 credits, 2:1)
NUR 440A - Promoting Shalom with Diverse Populations
Based on a Christian worldview, this course examines the theoretical and
scientific basis for the application of the nursing process with diverse
families and groups in the community. All levels of prevention are
considered, focusing on health promotion and maintenance. Grounded in a
synthesis of public health and nursing science and arts, the course
emphasizes nursing as a healing ministry, human science and performing art
to promote shalom and enhance the health of the population as a whole. The
clinical component provides an opportunity for nursing practice in the
community, assisting students to integrate knowledge, aptitudes and
compassionate care in living the three nursing practice dimensions with
families and groups. Learning experiences include service learning, faith
reflection and clinical experiences. Prerequisites: NUR310A. (5 credits, 3:2) Note: A fee is associated with this
course.
NUR 460AWI - Nursing Leadership and Clinical Scholarship
Based on a Christian worldview, this course explores the leadership,
management, role development and clinical scholarship dimensions of
professional nursing practice, with a distinctive emphasis on promoting
shalom, servant leadership, social justice and sociopolitical change.
Students will analyze the health care system at a microsystem, macrosystem
and chronosystem level, focusing on national health care but also exploring
global health issues. Foundational to this exploration is an analysis of the
relationship of personal, professional and organizational values and ethics
to health care leadership roles and activities. Clinical scholarship is
emphasized as a moral duty of Christian nurses committed to continuing
Jesus' healing ministry. The practicum component provides an opportunity for
students to observe (a) the role played by a nurse servant leader and (b)
engage in a leadership project as a basis for clinical scholarship. Learning
experiences include service-learning, faith reflection and practicum
experiences. Prerequisites: NUR310A. (4 credits, 3:1) (Writing intensive)
NUR 490ASR - Living Shalom
Based on a Christian worldview, this course explores finding one's place in
God's kingdom for now and eternity, living vocation, integrating values and
ethics in personal and professional realms and living shalom. Within this
capstone seminar, students assess their knowledge and aptitudes related to
the program outcomes and integrate them in their philosophy of Christian
nursing. Prerequisites: NUR 280A, NUR 310A, NUR 350A, NUR 420A, NUR 440A, and NUR
460AWI. (2 credits)
RN-BSN nursing cognates (20 credits)
Accepted as transfer credits or taken online at Northwestern
SOC 290CC - Cultural Anthropology
(4 credits)(IGE option under Cross-Cultural Engagement) This course is
about learning a way of seeing and understanding other cultures and our
own culture(s) - introducing and drawing on ideas and insights from the
field of Cultural Anthropology. In a globalizing and increasingly
interconnected world these ideas and insights can serve a critical need
in helping us understand and learn how to live in with cultural diversity
and complexity. Thus the value of this course is in learning a new way of
seeing and understanding, a way that helps us think about what it means
to be human, a way that helps us understand and live with our neighbors
-- locally and globally.
MAT 208QR - Biostatistics
(4 credits)(NWCore option under Quantitative Reasoning) This course is a study of statistical methodology commonly used in the
biological and health sciences. We will start with examining basic
descriptive methods in statistics. We will then introduce the foundational
concepts in probability. After these topics are explored, we will spend the
remainder of the course looking at the uses and interpretation of
statistics. Topics will include confidence intervals and hypothesis tests
involving one or two samples, correlation and regression, contingency
tables, and ANOVA.
Note: Meets four times per week. Students may receive credit for only one
course among MAT 116QR, MAT 117QR and MAT 208QR.
Prerequisite: C- or better in MAT090, an ACT math score of 20 or above (SAT
510 or above), or a passing score on MAT090 placement exam.
BIO 360 - Pathophysiology
An introduction to the pathophysiology associated with the disease states of the human body. The focus of the course will be on disruptions in homeostasis as the result of organ system malfunction or failure. The pathophysiology associated with the following systems will be examined: blood, cells and cell growth, nervous, muscle, cardiovascular, endocrine, respiratory, renal, reproductive and gastrointestinal. Prerequisites: BIO122 or 222 and CHE102 or 112. (4 credits)
CHE 108SN - College Chemistry
General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry (GOB) is a one-semester survey of
inorganic, organic, and biological principles. Topics include atomic and
molecular structure, chemical reactions, organic and biological molecules,
solutions, acid-based chemistry, and metabolism. The treatment of topics is
predominantly descriptive and the course is recommended for programs that
require one semester of chemistry. This course does not count toward a
chemistry major or minor, nor does it count toward the biology cognate
requirements. This course is offered concurrently online and on-campus.
The online course includes online lectures and one three-hour laboratory per
week; it is only open to RN-BSN students. The on-campus course includes three
lecture periods and one three-hour laboratory per week and is open to students
who are in a pre-nursing cohort. (4 credits) (NWCore option under Science and
the Natural World)
Note: Students with math ACT scores below 19 are strongly encouraged to take
Basic Algebra prior to enrolling in this course.
PHI 214BR - Contemporary Moral Issues (Ethics)
(4 credits)(IGE option under Belief and Reason) A philosophical
exploration of several contemporary moral issues. Possible topics include
abortion, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, cloning and
stem-cell research, war and terrorism, capital punishment, global
poverty, factory farming and experimenting on animals, homosexuality and
same-sex marriage, etc.
Northwestern education core courses (4 credits)
Accepted as transfer credits or taken at Northwestern
BTS 250 - Christian Story II
This course presents an overview and orientation to Christian theology
focusing on its formation, content, role in the Christian faith throughout
Church history, and its interpretation of key biblical subjects such as God,
Christ, creation, sin, redemption, church, and new creation. This course
completes the Christian Story sequence and prepares students for a lifetime
of critical thinking and faithful living from a biblical-theological
perspective. Students should complete this course by the end of their fourth
semester. (4 credits) Prerequisite: REL150.
Note: Does not count toward a religion major or minor.
Elective courses
Accepted as transfer credits from ADN.
Online courses are available for students who need to reach a total of 124 credits
Total credits: 124
124 credits are required to graduate with a bachelor's degree, which includes the total associate and bachelor credits combined.
Minimum credits from Northwestern: 30
The BSN degree at Northwestern is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education ( www.aacn.nche.edu/ccne-accreditation) and approved by the Iowa Board of Nursing. 
