Broward College Nursing Programs: A Comprehensive Overview

Broward College offers a range of nursing programs designed to prepare students for successful careers in the healthcare field. These programs cater to various educational levels and career goals, from associate degrees to bachelor's degrees, ensuring accessibility and advancement opportunities for a diverse community of learners. Broward College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Applied Science, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Applied Science degrees. Broward College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels.

Associate of Science in Nursing Program

The Associate of Science Degree in Nursing is designed to prepare an individual for a career as a registered nurse. The student who meets all educational and institutional requirements for an Associate of Science Degree in Nursing from Broward College is eligible to have their name submitted to the Florida Board of Nursing to be considered as a candidate for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). The Florida Board of Nursing is the state agency authorized to determine if the applicant qualifies to take the NCLEX-RN for licensure as a registered nurse.

Program Options

The Nursing Program offers two options for the Associate of Science Degree in Nursing:

Generic Program: This option is offered in the traditional classroom setting. A Part-Time Generic Option is also available, following a part-time schedule beginning every January.
LPN-RN Transition Program: This curriculum is designed for students who already hold a current, unrestricted Florida Practical Nursing License without any public complaints.

Program Outcomes

Graduates who meet all educational and institutional requirements are awarded an Associate of Science degree in Nursing from Broward College and are eligible to have their name submitted to the Florida Board of Nursing for consideration as a candidate for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The Broward College Nursing Program graduates approximately 250 to 300 students annually.

Hands-on Training

Hands-on training occurs in the skills lab before clinical hospital experiences.

Performance Standards

Nursing students are expected to adhere to performance standards to ensure the safety of both themselves and their patients. Students whose physical examination indicates they may not be able to meet the standards may be required to obtain further documentation from a physician in order to enroll/remain in the program. Nursing is a practice discipline requiring cognitive, sensory, affective, and psychomotor performance requirements. Medium work is defined as lifting 50 pounds maximum with frequent lifting or carrying of objects weighing up to 25 pounds. Tactile ability is sufficient for physical assessment such as temperature, texture, size, and shape. The use of personal protective equipment including rubber gloves, gowns, goggles, and masks is required per OSHA regulations and is supplied by the facility.

Nursing Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Broward College Nursing Program is to prepare competent, compassionate, and culturally sensitive entry-level nursing graduates whose professional practice encompasses legal and ethical decision-making. The Department of Nursing is committed to providing a nursing program that is accessible to a diverse community of learners. Delivered by a dedicated Faculty, the program provides a collaborative teaching-learning environment to promote critical thinking, lifelong learning, and a positive role in a changing and global society across the lifespan.

Faculty Qualifications

All nursing faculty are currently licensed to practice as Registered Nurses in the State of Florida. The nursing faculty at BC initially requires three years or more of clinical experience in the acute care setting.

RN-BSN Program

Broward College's RN-BSN Program is designed for registered nurses who hold an Associate Degree or higher and wish to advance their education to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Admission Requirements

All applicants possess an Associate Degree or higher from an accredited institution recognized by Broward College.
All applicants have a Florida nursing license which is active and unencumbered.
Apply and be accepted by Broward College as a degree-seeking.

Program Structure and Philosophy

Consistent with the mission of the College and building on the mission of the Associate of Science in Nursing program, the faculty of Broward College's RN-BSN Program continues to prepare students to master the role of a nurse generalist as per the guidelines of the CCNE. The nursing faculty at Broward College ground their philosophy in the College’s mission and a shared set of beliefs that unify the nursing profession. These beliefs are built upon the meta-paradigm concepts of person, health, environment, and nursing, which guide our approach to education and practice.

Curriculum and Learning

The one hundred twenty-three (123) credit hours incorporate the Associate of Arts (AA) and the Associate of Science (AS) lower-division coursework as a foundation for the baccalaureate program. The upper-division nursing coursework prepares professional nurses using technology and cognitive ability to be influential healthcare professionals within the current interdisciplinary setting to promote quality health care within a complex, dynamic global healthcare milieu. Students will:

Demonstrate a basic knowledge of information management systems and skills in emerging telecommunication and patient care technology.
Integrate professional values and practice competencies through ethical decision-making which may impact future healthcare demands.
Apply goal-directed processes involved in the transmission and assimilation of information in order to expand knowledge and change behaviors.

Program Format and Completion Time

The RN-BSN Program has a hybrid format to allow flexibility for students focused on maintaining a work-life balance. The expected time to complete the program is as follows: Full-time students complete the program in four semesters.

Career Advancement

Hospitals desire their nurses to have a BSN in nursing to step into leadership positions and create high-reliable, transparent organizations. Upon successful completion, the graduate of the baccalaureate program is eligible to continue onward into a Graduate Program.

General Information for Health Science Programs

Application Process

Apply to Broward College: Apply and be accepted by Broward College as a degree-seeking student.
Select Major: After selecting your degree/certificate, please select your major. Scroll down and answer any additional questions that pop up below.
Transcripts: All official transcripts must be received and evaluated to determine that the required program prerequisites are complete. BC only accepts official commercial evaluations performed by a NACES member. For students who are applying to Broward College for the first time, and have transfer credits, it is recommended that all documentation be sent at least seven (7) business days prior to the close of the published application period for the program to which you are applying. College Registrar's Office 4205 Bonaventure Blvd.
Limited-Access Program Applications: Once the student applies to a limited-access health science program, BC Health Science Admissions staff will evaluate the application and assess the applicant's eligibility for the program to which they applied. Program eligibility for limited-access programs is determined by the satisfaction of prerequisites prior to applying, as well as the program application being submitted during the program's application period. Limited-access health science program applications submitted outside their prescribed application periods will not be considered. The Health Science Admissions team then applies the program's point system to each application.
Open-Enrollment Program Applications: Once the student applies to an open-enrollment health science program, BC Health Science Admissions staff will determine their eligibility for the program to which they applied.
Admission Decision: After the program application period closes and program applications are evaluated, BC Health Science Admissions staff will send you an admission selection decision (accepted or denied) for the program within 30-45 business days (excluding weekends, federal holidays, and other college closure days) after the program application period closes for most programs.
Program Orientation: Each limited-access health science program provides its own program orientation for ACCEPTED and ALTERNATE program applicants. These orientations are administered solely by the respective program office.

Important Notes

Transfer Credits: BC limited-access health science programs do NOT allow transfer credits for core courses. Core courses are program-specific courses, such as those earned from Nursing program courses. All BC limited-access health science program core courses must be taken at BC, only. However, general education credits, such as those earned from Math or Humanities courses, may be transferable, depending on the transfer institution.
Prerequisite Courses: All courses taken as part of a health science limited access program's prerequisites must be completed with a 'C' or higher with grades officially posted on the student's record on or prior to a health science limited access program's application period deadline. Requirements completed after a health science limited access program's application period deadline will not be accepted and will not be used to award application points.
Mathematics and Science Prerequisites: Beginning with the application periods for the May, June and August 2026 cohorts: All applicants to the Health Science programs must have successfully completed the required mathematics and science prerequisite courses within the ten (10) years preceding the application submission date. Applicants who have completed prerequisite coursework more than ten years prior to the application date are required to retake the relevant courses to meet this requirement.
Criminal Background Check and Drug Screening: Students selected for admission to a Health Science program are subject to a criminal background check and drug screening prior to the start of the program. Prior to admission, each student is required to successfully complete a drug screening. Please be advised that certain over-the-counter supplements and alternative medicinal products, including but not limited to CBD, THC, Cannabinoid, and Cannabinoid Oil may trigger a positive result, and consequently, the student will be ineligible for the Health Science program. A second drug-tested sample is not allowed per Broward College Admissions Procedure A6Hx2-5.01.
Program Changes: The college reserves the right to change any of the rules and regulations of the Health Science Department at any time, including those related to admission, instruction, and graduation. All such changes are effective at such time as the proper authorities determine and may apply not only to prospective students but also to those who already are enrolled in a Health Science Program.
Location(s): General education courses are available and offered at all BC locations.

Core Values and Perspectives of Nursing

The faculty believes that nursing is a discipline incorporating evolving core values and perspectives integral to nursing in which the holistic needs of the person are met in a variety of settings. The body of knowledge that serves as the rationale for nursing practice and is held to be of most value in the discipline of nursing includes (1) empirics, the science of nursing; (2) esthetics, the art of nursing; (3) the component of personal knowledge in nursing; and (4) ethics, the component of moral knowledge in nursing. The professional identity of nursing is situated, practice-oriented, person-centered collaborative caring, guided by ethical decision-making, and shaped by internal and external environments as well as social, political, professional, and economic systems. Nursing is grounded within a framework of compassionate caring, civility and inclusion, critical thinking based on the nursing process, ethical reasoning, evidence-based clinical and technological competencies, and applications, professionalism, and supportive interpersonal processes. The mission of nursing is to provide for the holistic healthcare needs of persons in their communities; to mediate as an advocate between persons and systems; and to deliver culturally competent care based on the sound nursing judgment that honors diversity, informed decision-making, and human dignity. Within the totality of nursing practice, the registered nurse with an associate degree in Nursing functions professionally in a wide range of healthcare settings, as a provider of safe, quality care, manager of care, and member of the discipline of nursing. The nurse responds to the full range of the health continuum using evidence-based judgments in practice professionally working in and with diverse groups. Using evidence-based decisions, the nursing process, and contemporary clinical, relational, and leadership competencies, the nurse delivers ethical, compassionate, and collaborative care reflecting integrity and responsibility directed toward the promotion of positive outcomes, improvement processes, and professional growth. The associate degree nursing graduate uses their knowledge and skills to enhance human flourishing for patients, communities, and self; and approaches all issues and problems in the spirit of inquiry using sound nursing judgment to continually develop a professional identity.

Meta-Paradigm Concepts

Human Being/Person: The faculty believes that every human is a unique being with inherent dignity, value, rights, and worth. Each person has complex and dynamic biological, psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual dimensions that are in constant interaction with the environment. Each person is the synergy of unique and complex attributes, values, and behaviors with physical, psychological, social, aesthetic, and spiritual needs that must be met if s/he is to survive, develop, and grow holistically and achieve self-actualization. The person within the meta-paradigm is defined as a patient and/or client who may be an individual, family, aggregate, community, or population and whose needs are met holistically by nursing in a variety of settings.
Health: The faculty believes that health is a reflection of the person's physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual human flourishing. Health is a dynamic state that encompasses many processes: promoting and maintaining health, preventing illness, recovery from illness, dying with dignity, and the role of family, culture, and community in a person's development. Health is individually perceived and determined by biophysical, psychosocial, spiritual, and transcultural dimensions across the lifespan. Health is influenced by one's inherent capabilities, developmental stages, values, and beliefs. Each person has the right and the ability to manage health and healthcare choices through collaborative processes and interface with healthcare systems, resulting in informed health decisions and shared accountability for outcomes.
Environment: The faculty believes that environment is the physiological, psychosocial, cultural, philosophical, developmental, and spiritual conditions and forces that impact the health, life, and development of a person and/or group in the global environment. Internal and external environmental conditions and forces continually change, interconnect, and interact, forming the complex context for holistic nursing practice. Within this context, the nurse communicates and collaborates with the person to promote positive outcomes, assess the environment at the level its impact is perceived by the person, manage its constraints, utilize its resources to promote health, and value community empowerment and social justice. The nurse provides professional support, protective, and/or corrective modifications to the environment working to improve social conditions affecting health.
Nursing: The faculty believes that nursing is a discipline incorporating evolving core values and perspectives integral to nursing in which the holistic needs of the person are met in a variety of settings. The body of knowledge that serves as the rationale for nursing practice and is held to be of most value in the discipline of nursing includes (1) empirics, the science of nursing; (2) esthetics, the art of nursing; (3) the component of personal knowledge in nursing; and (4) ethics, the component of moral knowledge in nursing. The professional identity of nursing is situated, practice-oriented, person-centered collaborative caring, guided by ethical decision-making, and shaped by internal and external environments as well as social, political, professional, and economic systems. Nursing is grounded within a framework of compassionate caring, civility and inclusion, critical thinking based on the nursing process, ethical reasoning, evidence-based clinical and technological competencies, and applications, professionalism, and supportive interpersonal processes. The mission of nursing is to provide for the holistic healthcare needs of persons in their communities; to mediate as an advocate between persons and systems; and to deliver culturally competent care based on the sound nursing judgment that honors diversity, informed decision-making, and human dignity. Within the totality of nursing practice, the registered nurse with an associate degree in Nursing functions professionally in a wide range of healthcare settings, as a provider of safe, quality care, manager of care, and member of the discipline of nursing. The nurse responds to the full range of the health continuum using evidence-based judgments in practice professionally working in and with diverse groups. Using evidence-based decisions, the nursing process, and contemporary clinical, relational, and leadership competencies, the nurse delivers ethical, compassionate, and collaborative care reflecting integrity and responsibility directed toward the promotion of positive outcomes, improvement processes, and professional growth. The associate degree nursing graduate uses their knowledge and skills to enhance human flourishing for patients, communities, and self; and approaches all issues and problems in the spirit of inquiry using sound nursing judgment to continually develop a professional identity.

Teaching and Learning Philosophy

Teaching-learning is those goal-directed processes involved in the transmission and assimilation of information in order to expand knowledge and change behaviors. Learning is a life-long endeavor that provides an opportunity for the enrichment of life and the ability to contribute meaningfully as a responsible citizen in diverse, local, and global communities. Learning enhances the individual's development as a positive role model and informed creative decision-maker and gives the learner an awareness of global and cultural perspectives so that s/he is capable of contributing to a dynamic knowledge and service-based global society in a socially responsible manner. The teaching-learning process is facilitated through planned sequences of experiences and by actively involving the learner in goal-directed activities that are perceived as having purpose and meaning that allow the student to develop an ever-widening lens of understanding and expanding repertoire of dynamic response patterns. Teaching is the facilitation of learning and inherently requires the valuing of the learner as a unique, dynamically complex person. The teacher is the catalyst in the student's ability to explore, understand, communicate, and integrate innovative concepts, while the student is ultimately responsible for his or her own learning. Faculty and students share the responsibility for creating a caring, educational climate that fosters caring, mutual respect, civility, integrity, honesty, intellectual inquiry, critical thinking, creativity, accountability, and effective communication to assume positive, professional roles in a changing society. Faculty provides the learner with the resources, technologies, opportunities for learning, and guidance. Functioning as resource persons and role models and guided by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) core competencies for nurse educators, the faculty create environments that encourage the acquisition of knowledge and insights; self-direction; deliberate, informed practice, and ethical comportment; quality and safety initiatives; the core values of caring, diversity, excellence, integrity, ethics, holism, and patient-centeredness; and motivation for life-long learning within the nursing profession. Nursing education is structured to teach the art, science, ethics, and personal knowledge of nursing and is the process by which individual learners are socialized into the profession of nursing. To facilitate different modes of learning: classrooms, simulated laboratories, informatics, and a variety of culturally diverse health care settings are used. These learning environments foster professionalism; creativity and innovation; effective ethical decision-making models; leadership; communication and team dynamics; a culture of safety; teaching, managing, and coordinating all levels of care; competency in practice based on evidence and best practices; legal/ethical accountability and advocacy; caring abilities that honor individuals, colleagues, families, and groups; system effectiveness; and a commitment to self-reflection, self-actualization, and life-long learning.

Read also: Funding Your Education in Broward

Career Outlook for Registered Nurses

Job prospects for registered nurses are projected to increase, primarily because of technological advancements; an increased emphasis on preventative care; and the large, aging baby-boomer population who will demand more healthcare services as they live longer and more active lives. Nurses are invaluable members of any healthcare team.

Financial Aid

Applying for aid is not difficult, but the application does take some focused time. The rewards are worth it. Unlike loans, you do not have to pay scholarship money back.

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