Accelerated Online RN to BSN Program | Fast Track RN to BSN

Program Overview

Franklin’s rigorous coursework is an efficient way to build on your existing education and experience, helping you acquire the expertise needed to advance your career. You’ll gain the skills healthcare providers are actively looking for in these key areas: nursing leadership and management, clinical competence, personalized medicine, evidence-based practice, community and population health, health informatics, and healthcare law and ethics.

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Franklin University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

Our program curriculum reflects The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice, as established by The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Our coursework meets other national industry standards and guidelines as well, and is informed by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics, Healthy People 2020, and Quality and Safety in Education of Nurses (QSEN), so you can be confident your degree will prepare you with the up-to-date knowledge you need to advance your nursing career.

Program Outcomes

Integrate theories and concepts from arts, humanities, and sciences to develop a foundation for holistic nursing practice
Apply leadership concepts, skills, and decision-making in the provision of quality nursing care, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the oversight and accountability for care delivery
Integrate current evidence including nursing and healthcare research to ground nursing practice and promote high quality patient care outcomes
Apply knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technology to improve patient care outcomes and create a safe care environment
Demonstrate knowledge of the influences of healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments including local, state, national, and global healthcare trends on nursing practice and the healthcare system
Employ effective communication in interactions with healthcare professionals, individuals, and groups to advocate for high quality and safe patient care
Apply the principles of health promotion and disease prevention across the health-illness continuum to improve the health of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations
Incorporate professional standards, and the values of caring, ethics, integrity, altruism and social justice in the practice of nursing
Assume roles in nursing practice and leadership to provide high quality and safe care to culturally diverse individuals, families, groups, communities and populations across the lifespan and across the continuum of healthcare environments

Curriculum & Course Descriptions

Fundamental General Education

English Composition

ENG 120 - College Writing (4)

In this course, students acquire the writing competencies necessary for completing analytical and argumentative papers supported by secondary research. A variety of assignments, beginning with personal reflections, build upon one another, as students develop ideas that respond to, critique, and synthesize the positions of others. Students systematize and organize knowledge in ways that will help them in all their courses. The course also emphasizes the elements of critical reading, effective writing style, appropriate grammar and mechanics, clarity of language, and logical and cohesive development. It culminates in submission of an extended, documented research paper.

Mathematics

MATH 160 - College Algebra (4)

This course is designed to prepare students for Applied Calculus and Discrete Mathematics and to provide the mathematical background needed for the analytic reasoning used in other courses. Topics include functions and their graphs, including exponential and logarithmic functions; complex numbers; systems of equations and inequalities; matrices; basic principles of counting and probability; and other selected topics. Note, this course has proctored exam(s).

OR MATH 215 - Statistical Concepts (4)

This course introduces the student to statistics with business applications. The course covers both descriptive and inferential statistics. Topics included are: measures of central tendency; measures of dispersion; graphical displays of data; linear regression; basic probability concepts; binomial and normal probability distributions; confidence intervals; and hypothesis testing. These topics will be covered using a basic knowledge of algebra and Microsoft Excel. Note, this course has proctored exam(s).

AND

Choose MATH 150 Fundamental Algebra as the prerequisite for MATH 160. Choose either MATH 140 Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning or MATH 150 Fundamental Algebra as the prerequisite for MATH 215. Course can count as a University elective.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

6 credits from the following types of courses:
Choose from the Anthropology, Geography, History, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology disciplines.

Science

6 credits from the following types of courses:
Two courses from the Science discipline. One course must have a lab component.

Arts & Humanities

6 credits from the following types of courses:
Choose from the Art, English Literature, Fine Arts, Humanities, Music, Philosophy, Religion or Theater disciplines.

Additional General Education

PF 121 - Basic Learning Strategies (2)

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferrable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for time management, goal setting, reading comprehension, and advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments.

OR PF 321 - Learning Strategies (2)

This course prepares students to be successful lifelong learners both academically and in their chosen careers. Franklin courses require a high level of self-directed learning and focus on the skills required in the workplace and the classroom that are easily transferable between the two environments. The course includes strategies for advancing communication skills, including the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments. The assignments and activities in the course are created to closely simulate teamwork found in the workplace.

AND

COMM 150 - Interpersonal Communication (4)

By using applied critical and creative thinking, students in this course will develop a set of communication skills that will enhance their personal and professional relationships and endeavors. This course will focus on skill development in key areas such as self, perception, listening, verbal messages, conversations, relationships, conflict management, persuasion, and presentation skills.

OR SPCH 100 - Speech Communication (4)

This basic public-speaking course intends to improve the student's ability to think critically and to communicate orally. Theory and practice are provided in various speaking situations. Each student is required to speak before an audience, but class work also involves reading, gathering and organizing information, writing, and listening.

AND

6 credits from the following types of courses:
Any General Education course at the 100 or 200 level

Technical Credit

24 credits from the following types of courses:
Transfer credit from a diploma or associate degree registered nursing program.

Major Area Required

HCM 442 - Legal Aspects of Healthcare Management (4)

Understanding cultural competency, ethics, policy, and law is necessary for healthcare professionals in a continuously evolving healthcare system. This course will provide students with practical knowledge and methods for applying ethical, legal, and cultural decision-making frameworks to mitigate risks. Topics will include regulatory compliance, patient consent, privacy and confidentiality, and cultural competence.

OR HCM 742 - Healthcare Laws and Ethics (4)

In this course students will develop a strong foundation in health law, enabling them to deal with the common legal, practical, moral, and ethical issues that healthcare organizations face on a daily basis. Topics will include statutory law, rules and regulations, tort law, criminal law, contract law, civil procedures, and trial procedure.

OR HCM 752 - Health Policy (4)

This course will explore the essential conceptual and analytical understanding of health policymaking and politics, including their impact on health administration and leadership. Selected policy issues will be explored through the application of political concepts and behavioral models, including a system model of policymaking. The emphasis will be on understanding the health leader?s approach to the policymaking system, become involved in it, and work through it to attain their objectives and those of their organization.

AND

NURS 310 - Transition to Professional Nursing (4)

This course is designed to facilitate transition into the study of professional nursing. The course introduces the scope and theoretical foundations of the nursing profession, with emphasis on the societal mandate for nursing, legal parameters of practice, critical thinking and communication.

NURS 325 - Health Assessment & Promotion (4)

This course is designed to broaden and enhance the professional nurse's knowledge and skills in health promotion and holistic assessment of individuals across the lifespan. Students will explore concepts of assessment and health promotion, disease, and injury prevention. Emphasis is placed on recognizing deviation from normal and assessing physiological, psychosocial, developmental, spiritual, environmental, genetic, and cultural dimensions while completing a comprehensive health assessment.

NURS 405 - Palliative and Hospice Nursing Across the Lifespan (2)

This course will prepare professional nurses to provide compassionate, high-quality care to patients and their support system during end-of-life (EOL) care. Nurses will explore reflection as a strategy to maintain self-care in an effort to deliver effective communication and spiritual support to patients and family members. Evidence-based resources for professional and family caregivers will be reviewed as well as health policy regarding EOL care to move healthcare initiatives forward in the political arena. Students will create case studies using the concepts of social determinants of health, person-centered care, and ethics to demonstrate self-efficacy in EOL care throughout the patient's lifespan.

NURS 435 - Nurs Research & Evidence-Based Practice (4)

This course provides an overview of the research process including methodology, design and interpretation of findings. Students will study basic statistics relevant to interpreting research findings. The emphasis in the course will be on the integration of current evidence, including nursing and health care research, to guide nursing practice and promote high quality and safe patient care outcomes.

NURS 448 - Community Health Nursing (4)

The focus of this course is the professional nurse's role as a member of a healthcare team working towards the collaborative goal of health equity and improved health for ALL patients across the lifespan. Community and population health includes public health, acute care, ambulatory care and long-term care which can be delivered at local, regional, national and global levels. This course presents the health promotion theory and concepts of clinical judgment, communication, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), ethics and health policy. Students will complete indirect patient care hours using courseware simulation and an evidence-based project focused on health promotion and disease prevention. Direct patient care hours will be acquired by the students using face to face and/or telehealth/virtual simulation to provide safe, compassionate care to individuals or groups within their communities. Achieving equitable population health outcomes along with the identification of meaningful community-wide partnerships will allow nursing students to serve groups in a safe and effective manner.

NURS 458 - Leadership & Mgmt for Professional Nurse (4)

This course focuses on the development of agile nursing leaders who are self-aware and able to adapt to ambiguity and change within the context of complex healthcare systems. Values such as integrity, altruism, compassion, humility, autonomy and social justice will be explored relative to a variety of leadership roles in nursing practice. Theories and principles of leadership and management in healthcare environments that support the use of evidence-based and innovative solutions to address complex problems will be emphasized. Organizational mission, vision, and strategic planning, along with quality improvement, patient safety, and motivation and change theory as applied to healthcare systems across the continuum are explored. Effective communication with healthcare professionals, individuals, and groups to promote high quality and safe, compassionate patient care is reviewed and elaborated upon within the context of the nurse leader role. Direct patient care hours will be acquired through face to face or telehealth preceptorship with nurse leaders. Indirect patient care hours will be acquired through evidence-based course project.

NURS 485 - Nursing Informatics and Effective Communication Strategies (4)

The focus of this course is preparing the professional nurse to assume a high-tech, compassionate caregiver role when using Informatics and healthcare technologies to improve the delivery of safe, high-quality and efficient healthcare services to a diverse client population. Effective communication strategies will be integrated into this course to promote ethical, compassionate care when using technology in decision-making, planning of individualized care and providing holistic services throughout the lifespan. Core concepts including clinical judgment, communication, compassionate care, diversity, equity and inclusion, ethics, evidence-based practice, health policy and social determinants of health will be interwoven throughout this course as applied to the global and future perspectives in health informatics for professional nurses.

NURS 497 - Nursing Capstone (4)

This culminating course provides the opportunity for students to summarize how the competencies and sub-competencies from The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021) were met through direct and indirect patient care hours. Students will use self-reflection as a tool to review and expand upon concepts discussed throughout the RN-BSN program. Current nursing and healthcare evidence will be used to further develop capstone project which was initiated in evidence-based course. Capstone project will be shared as an innovative presentation with nursing colleagues, faculty and community members.

University Electives

24 credits from the following types of courses:
•Any undergraduate courses offered by the University except developmental education courses.

Additional Requirements

All students are required to pass College Writing (ENG 120), and either Basic Learning Strategies (PF 121) or Learning Strategies (PF 321) prior to enrolling in any course at the 200 level or above. Students who enroll at Franklin with 30 or fewer hours of transfer credit are required to pass PF 121 Basic Learning Strategies in place of PF 321 Learning Strategies. Interpersonal Communication (COMM 150) or Speech Communication (SPCH 100) must be taken prior to enrolling in any course at the 300 level or above. Students must also meet the University algebra competency requirement.

Take charge of your nursing career with an online RN to BSN