STUDY OPTIONS FOR RN/BS STUDENTS

Students applying to the RN Completion Option may select either a full-time or part-time study option.

Full-time Study Option

Students take at least 12 credit hours each semester including all nursing courses scheduled in the curriculum plan. Entry into required courses at the appropriate time is guaranteed. Admission to the full-time option is offered to students entering either the Fall or Spring semesters.

Part-time Study Option

Students take less than 12 credit hours each semester according to a prescribed plan.

Pre-Baccalaureate Option (PBC)

Students admitted to the RN/BS option, and, who have not completed all lower division prerequisite courses or who do not meet the minimum GPA admission requirement may wish to be admitted under the PBC option. In this option, a student may take up to 16 credit hours beyond the lower division prerequisites which will count toward the Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing. Students may take either a full-time or part-time course load while in the PBC option.

CHALLENGE EXAMINATION GUIDELINES FOR RN/BS AND ACCELERATED BS TO MS

Challenge exams are available to establish either lower or upper division credit hours for qualified students. Information about challenge examinations may be obtained from the academic advisors in the School of Nursing.

1. Currently licensed RN’s who are graduates of diploma nursing schools are no longer required to take challenge exams to establish 30 hours.
   
2. Challenge Examinations to Establish Upper Division Nursing Credit
1. Specific nursing courses required in the RN/BS nursing curriculum may be challenged for credit by successfully completing a written and simulated clinical examination. Students must have at least the equivalent of one year of full-time experience as a registered nurse in the appropriate clinical area. Specific courses and criteria are listed in the Challenge Examination Guidelines. The Challenge Examination Guidelines can be obtained from the Undergraduate Secretary.
2. Students may not challenge the following nursing courses (NUR): 384, 390, 391, 488, 498
3. Challenge Examinations From Other Departments Within the University:

   The following courses may be challenged by examination:

   1. Biology 213, Human Anatomy and Physiology I - 4 cr.
   2. Biology 214, Human Anatomy and Physiology II - 4 cr.
   3. F&N 303, Essentials of Nutrition 3 cr.

   Students desiring to challenge any of these courses must contact the individual course instructor prior to testing

   NOTE: Students may take challenge exams at no cost. A student who is not admitted to the university may not take challenge examinations. Correspondence courses are not accepted for transfer credit. See University catalog for description of CLEP credits.

PURDUE UNIVERSITY CALUMET
School of Nursing BS/RN Challenge Exam Guidelines

General Information

Challenge examinations for RN/Baccalaureate students are available through the School of Nursing. This allows Registered Nurses with an Associate Degree or Diploma to validate equivalent knowledge for a course(s) in the Baccalaureate Degree Nursing Program. A Baccalaureate Degree RN nursing student cannot test out or transfer more than 92 hours of coursework. To obtain a Baccalaureate Degree from Purdue University, a student must complete a minimum of 32 semester hours of coursework at the junior level or higher.

• Students who are not admitted to Purdue may not take a challenge examination.
• Exams are scheduled ten times a year accordingly to the enclosed dates.
• Students desiring credit in non-nursing courses must contact the individual departments.

Listed below are courses to establish upper division nursing credit for the RN/BS student.

CLASSIFICATION CODES

Classification Codes - 06/2009

CONCEPTUALORGANIZATION
CONCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION OF THE OF THE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY

The Purdue University Calumet School of Nursing embraces the mission and philosophy of Purdue University Calumet.

Person:

Persons are viewed as developing across the life span and are dynamic, complex and autonomous. As citizens of the world and members of a larger network of families, groups and communities, individuals strive to meet their basic human needs.

Individuals are in constant interaction with other open systems and interpret the world according to their own contextual reality. In doing so, persons create their own subjective meanings about health, illness and well-being. As a result, they have the right to fully participate in health care decisions which affect their quality of life.

Environment:

Environment is the arena for human development and provides the conditions for persons to grow, change and meet (or not meet) their basic human needs. Additionally, the environment exerts social, cultural, political and religious norms that influence the behavior of individuals, families, groups and communities. Reciprocally, individuals, families, groups and communities influence the nature of the environment.

Nursing:

Central to the practice of professional nursing is respect for the autonomy and dignity of all individuals without regard to gender, ethnicity, religion or class. The values of the profession are rooted in a caring philosophy and encompass ethical standards, a commitment to advocacy and social justice, scientific theory, intuitive ways of knowing, aesthetic ways of knowing and tradition.

The context of nursing is health promotion , health maintenance , health restoration and palliation. The practice of nursing should be patient centered and exert significant influence on the safety, health and welfare of individuals, families, groups and communities. This is accomplished by utilizing the nursing process and critical thinking to provide interventions that assist individuals to meet their physiological, safety and security, self-esteem, love and belonging, and self actualization needs and by promoting the health and welfare of families, groups and communities. The process by which this is achieved is through the implementation of an evidence based practice model that utilizes the best available international evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preference, within the context of available resources.

Professional nurses are educated to provide leadership in resource management, utilize information technology effectively, motivate and supervise others, collaborate with the multi-disciplinary team, maintain standards of care, focus on quality improvement, act as a change agent , implement evidence based models for practice, and influence the profession through political awareness and activity.

Health:

Health is a subjective state, rooted in experiences, values, and beliefs and is culturally defined and practiced. Health is reflected in a person's ability to pursue their goals and desires, meet their basic human needs and achieve a quality of life that produces satisfaction and happiness.

Teaching-Learning Process:

The Purdue University Calumet School of Nursing's primary mission is the engaging of nursing students in the teaching-learning process relevant to the nursing discipline. The faculty believes that this dynamic process is mutual, constantly evolving and provides the opportunity to both inspire and empower nursing students. Through this process, nursing students are inspired to value change by the role modeling of faculty and empowered through didactic and clinical instruction to create their visions regarding the role of the nurse. More notably, through the critical thinking process students should be empowered to challenge traditional nursing practices that are void of research or evidence based support. Further, the teaching learning process is viewed as the linking of nursing faculty expertise with evidence based teaching strategies that enhance student learning, promote effective communication and cultivate a value for life long learning.

Core Conceptual Threads of the Undergraduate Curriculum

• Life Span Development: A dynamic process that occurs from birth to death in which there is an orderly pattern of growth and change affecting structure, cognition, socioemotional, moral and spiritual dimensions.
• Basic Human Needs: A hierarchy of human needs that includes physiologic needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging needs, self-esteem needs and self-actualization needs.
• Patient Centered Care: Holistic patient care that encompasses a respect for the uniqueness and complexity of persons as open systems. It includes science, advocacy, caring, ethical standards and attention to social, cultural, political and religious norms.
• Evidence Based Nursing Practice: A practice model that utilizes the best available international evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preference within the contest of available resources.
• Nursing Process: An organized method of planning and delivering care that is composed of five steps: assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, implementation and evaluation.
• Health Promotion: Providing developmentally appropriate nursing care to individuals, families, groups and communities for the purpose of promoting health and welfare through patient education, risk reduction and health screening.
• Health Restoration: A process and outcome that moves the patient, family and community towards a state of well-being or an optimum level of functioning (wholeness). Health restoration occurs on a multidimensional level affecting the emotional, psychosocial, spiritual and physiological relationship.
• Health Maintenance: Interventions/activities that include health promotion, disease prevention, educational, environmental, political, and regulatory mechanisms aimed at sustaining a defined level of health. Interventions that support actions and living conditions that are conducive to the health of individuals, families, and communities.
• Palliation: Nursing intervention that provides physical, psychological, social and spiritual care to dying patients, their families and significant others.
• Critical Thinking: Planning nursing care that incorporates all the different ways of knowing. Nursing knowledge, is based on rationale inquiry, demonstrates a healthy skepticism and results in a willingness to change, based on new information.
• Professional Leadership: The ability to manage resources, utilize information technology effectively, motivate and supervise others, collaborate with the multi-disciplinary team, maintain standards of care, focus on quality improvement, act as a change agent , implement evidence based models for practice, and influence the profession through political awareness and activity.

Nursing Standards:

The baccalaureate program in nursing utilizes The American Nurses Association standards and codes. As a professional program students will be expected to demonstrate behaviors that reflect these standards.

TERMINAL OBJECTIVES

Terminal Objectives of Undergraduate Degree Nursing Program Options

1. Utilize the nursing process to implement principles of patient centered care.
2. Apply professional leadership skills in collaborating with the interdisciplinary team to provide continuity of care and continuous quality improvement in a safe environment.
3. Implement the principles of evidence based nursing practice in the provision of patient centered care.
4. Use information technology to support clinical decision making in the provision of patient centered care.
5. Implement critical thinking strategies to provide nursing care in the context of health promotion, health maintenance, health restoration and palliation.