Franklin University’s B.S. in Nursing (RN to BSN) degree-completion program is designed specifically for registered nurses with an associate’s degree (ADN) or nursing diploma. Earn your online RN to BSN fast, with our accelerated program comprised of 9, six-week, online courses that fit your life and schedule. You can also choose to study in the United States as part of our residential program that includes an intensive ESL component.
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.
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
In this course, students acquire the writing competence necessary for conducting and presenting 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 of their courses. The course also emphasizes the elements of good writing style, appropriate grammar and mechanics, clarity of language, and logical and cohesive development. It culminates in submission of a documented research paper.
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).
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).
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.
6 credits from the following types of courses:
Choose from the Anthropology, Geography, History, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology disciplines.
6 credits from the following types of courses:
Two courses from the Science discipline. One course must have a lab component.
6 credits from the following types of courses:
Choose from the Art, English Literature, Fine Arts, Humanities, Music, Philosophy, Religion or Theater disciplines.
This course introduces students to the Franklin University community and provides strategies for successful transition to and participation in that community. Topics include University resources and procedures, strategies for advancing communication skills, the use of electronic tools to participate in virtual environments, and the development of an academic and career plan.
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 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.
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 public speaking.
This public-speaking course emphasizes the fundamentals of extemporaneous speaking. Skill-building activities and assignments focus on research, organization, reasoning, style and delivery of presentations as well as listening and audience engagement.
6 credits from the following types of courses:
Any General Education course at the 100 or 200 level
24 credits from the following types of courses:
Transfer credit from a diploma or associate degree registered nursing program.
This course will cover the history of health informatics, design and challenges of informatics infrastructure, and current issues. Topics will include HIPAA and other legislation, application of electronic health records, and other clinical and administrative applications of health information systems.
This course covers the broad spectrum of strategic issues in healthcare including policies, guidelines, standards, processes, and controls required to manage and implement enterprise-level information. Treating information as a strategic asset to healthcare organizations, processes to manage various risks to the quality of information and ensure its appropriate use are covered.
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.
In this course the student will develop a strong foundation of health law, enabling them to deal with common legal and practical moral and ethical issues facing the healthcare organization on a daily basis. Topics will include statutory laws, rules and regulations, review of tort laws, criminal law, contract law, civil procedures and trial practice. The student will examine numerous legal, moral, and ethical issues.
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 leaders approach to the policymaking system, become involved in it, and work through it to attain their objectives and those of their organization.
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.
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.
This course explores genetic concepts and principles related to human variation in health and disease. Current evidence on selected disorders including immunity and cancer will be explored with emphasis on clinical application. Political, social, and ethical issues impacted by recent advances such as genetic engineering, gene therapy, reproductive technology and Human Genome Project will be analyzed. This clinical application of moral, ethical, and legal issues will be integrated throughout the course.
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 integration of current evidence including nursing and healthcare research to guide nursing practice and promote high quality and safe patient care outcomes is emphasized.
The focus of this course is the professional nurse's role in working with aggregates in the community. This course presents the theory, concepts and practice of community health nursing. The components of health promotion and disease prevention at the individual and population level in order to improve the health of individuals, families, groups, communities and populations are emphasized. The health attitudes, beliefs and practices of culturally diverse populations are explored.
This course focuses on theories and principles of leadership and management in health care environments. Organizational mission, vision, and strategic planning quality improvement, patient safety, motivation and change theory as applied to health care systems are explored. Effective communication with health care professionals, individuals and groups to promote high quality and safe patient care is emphasized.
This culminating course is designed to provide the baccalaureate nursing student with an opportunity to demonstrate synthesis of knowledge and skills acquired throughout the RN-BSN program. Students will integrate theories and concepts from arts, humanities, science, and professional nursing to develop a capstone project.
24 credits from the following types of courses:
•Any undergraduate courses offered by the University except developmental education courses.
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.
Copyright 2023 Franklin University