Methodist College of Nursing Programs: A Comprehensive Overview

The field of nursing is currently experiencing a period of exciting growth, marked by innovation, diverse opportunities, strong partnerships, and a commitment to clinical excellence. Methodist Healthcare, in collaboration with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) College of Nursing, has expanded its nursing educational programs to accommodate students at various stages of their career journeys. These programs offer pathways to Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees, as well as an online RN to BSN degree. Many programs offer both part-time and full-time options to cater to the needs of practicing nurses seeking advanced specialized care. These innovative educational programs are designed to improve patient outcomes.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Programs

Methodist College offers several options for individuals to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which prepares students to take the nursing licensure examination to become professional nurses. At Methodist College, a range of BSN programs are tailored to meet students where they are in their educational and professional path.

BSN Prelicensure Program

The Methodist College Bachelor of Science in Nursing Prelicensure program combines general education with nursing-specific coursework. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN, the national licensing exam. In Spring 2022, Methodist College launched a streamlined BSN curriculum that reflects changes in nursing education.

Students can enter this program directly from high school or as transfer students. College credits are evaluated for transferability into the BSN program. As an undergraduate degree, the BSN Prelicensure program typically requires four years of study for freshmen, but can be completed faster depending on transfer credits. Official transcripts are crucial for the admission process.

Traditional BSN Degree at Nebraska Methodist College

Nebraska Methodist College offers a traditional BSN degree program that embodies a century-long commitment to teaching and preparing individuals for nursing careers. This CCNE-accredited, four-year on-campus program combines compassionate care, innovative thought, and practical training.

The program is structured with three semesters of foundational courses and five semesters of nursing techniques and hands-on clinical sessions. Essential science courses such as chemistry, anatomy, and microbiology are included. The program accommodates both recent high school graduates and students transferring college credits. Prerequisite courses must be completed at a regionally accredited college before the program begins.

Curriculum Overview for BSN Programs

To receive a bachelor’s degree in nursing, students must earn a minimum of 127 total credit hours, completing specific coursework, including the Educated Citizen Core Curriculum.

Core courses often include:

Foundational Concepts: Courses providing foundational concepts for understanding the human body in relation to healthcare, introducing medical terminology, and reviewing principles of chemistry, physics, embryology, developmental biology, and histology. These courses introduce the eleven body systems, focusing on articulations and the integumentary, nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems.
Chemistry: Courses covering general, organic, and biological chemistry with an emphasis on applications to health sciences, introducing basic knowledge of the properties of matter, reactions, and classifications, as well as discussing organic compounds and basic biochemistry principles.
Introduction to NMC: Courses introducing the mission, values, Educated Citizen Core, and the Core Advocacy Project, developing inquiry skills through critical thinking and mindset principles, and applying these to personal, contemporary, and professional contexts. Students engage in professional communication skills to articulate and present their ideas effectively.
Algebra and Psychology: A survey-level course designed to build basic algebra skills, and an engaging introduction to essential topics in the field of psychology.
Human Body Systems: Courses applying foundational concepts of the human body as they relate to healthcare, exploring the structure and function of the special senses, along with the endocrine, circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems.
Microbiology: Courses designed to study microbiology principles with a human perspective, providing a basic understanding of microbial structure, function, and their role in infectious diseases, with an emphasis on the application of microorganisms and their relationship to various disease processes.
Writing and Communication: Courses providing instruction and practice in writing, with emphasis on generating, drafting, revising, and editing, as well as courses presenting practical communication skills needed for health professionals working with diverse clients.
Spanish for Healthcare: Courses providing basic knowledge of the Spanish language and Latino culture, emphasizing the importance of this knowledge as it relates to healthcare in the United States. Students demonstrate an ability to express ideas and thoughts in Spanish using both verbal and nonverbal communication skills in a culturally competent manner.
Communication with Deaf Clients: Courses presenting practical communication skills needed for health professionals working with deaf clients, emphasizing everyday communication and introducing grammar in context. Students learn conversational strategies to maintain conversations with deaf patients and appreciate the diversity of deaf people and their culture.
Lifespan Development: Courses exploring the lifespan perspective, including the basic contentions that development is life-long, multidimensional, multi-directional, plastic, historically embedded, multi-disciplinary, and contextual.
Cellular Functions and Pathology: Courses focusing on cellular functions and pathology, including inflammation, infection, immune response, metabolism, and fluid disequilibrium, serving as the foundation for examining alterations in various bodily functions.
Leadership Skills: Courses focusing on developing leadership skills that enable students to connect effectively with others, particularly across differences, exploring social issues, identities, and cultures through a sociological lens, and learning to respond to these differences as Educated Citizens.
Ethics: Courses introducing students to theories and practices of individual, communal, and societal obligations, with moral inquiry proceeding from a philosophical basis, and an emphasis on varied professional codes of ethics in healthcare disciplines.
Pharmacological Principles: Courses designed to introduce students to pharmacological principles, examining the various drug classifications and general characteristics of drugs within a class.
Population Health Nursing: Introductory courses providing a foundation for population health nursing along the continuum of wellbeing, emphasizing healthy individuals, and introducing population health focused on improving health outcomes across systems at the local, state, and national level.
Professionalism in Nursing: Courses introducing the NMC Core Values and standards expected of a nursing professional, including the nursing code of ethics, and personal behaviors required of the profession such as appearance, etiquette, language, and communication.
Health Assessment: Courses familiarizing the student with normal and abnormal health assessments of clients across the lifespan, identifying and utilizing the principles of diagnosis, reasoning, and critical thinking to practice the application of health assessment findings to nursing practice.
Social Systems and Inequities: Courses analyzing social systems and their inequities, equipping students with the skills needed to recognize and address these systemic issues, and assessing their own cultural backgrounds and biases to better navigate and respond to diverse perspectives within various structures and systems.
Quantitative Information: Courses designed to introduce students to the methods used in organizing, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative information.
Care Management: Courses building on population health nursing concepts focusing on care management for the moderate risk individual with multiple chronic health conditions, demonstrating professional role development, clinical judgement, and the use of humanistic/scientific principles and research as the basis of compassionate and culturally respectful nursing care.
Healthcare Legislation: Online courses focusing on legislation of healthcare, introducing professional activism, and teaching about the nurse’s role in health care advocacy and policy development both individually and through professional organizations.
Research Process: Courses designed to assist the student in developing an understanding of the research process in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods designs.
Historical Analysis: Courses critically analyzing the impact of history on contemporary society, with historical methods of inquiry informing students' perspectives on societal and institutional development.
Advanced Population Health Nursing: Advanced courses focusing on caring for individuals requiring close monitoring and timely interventions, expanding on the role of the professional caregiver through nursing theory, knowledge, and concepts.
Global Healthcare Issues: Non-clinical courses focusing on critical examination of healthcare issues that impact a changing global community, examining populations affected by topics such as global epidemics, international disasters, international nursing practice, finances, and ecology.
Community Transformation: Courses empowering students to embrace their role as "Educated Citizens" committed to lifelong advocacy and community transformation, engaging with pressing social issues and developing advocacy strategies that align with the mission of fostering healthy communities.
Interdisciplinary Topics: Seminars exploring a range of interdisciplinary topics designed to transform students' perspectives on healthcare, examining the systems and structures shaping healthcare, the community, and the wider world.

Clinical Practicum

The clinical practicum offers students opportunities to practice clinical judgement while providing nursing care focused on primary and secondary interventions. Students will demonstrate fundamental nursing skills while providing compassionate and culturally respectful nursing care.

In subsequent courses, the clinical practicum offers students opportunities to implement caring and communication with individuals, families, and aggregates, focusing on nursing care addressing low risk and/or chronic conditions. Students will integrate concepts and skills used in the delivery of care with an emphasis on primary, secondary and tertiary interventions, to mitigate health disparities and improve access to health care.

Advanced clinical practicums offer students varied experiences with high-risk populations across the lifespan with a focus on secondary and tertiary interventions. Progressive clinical judgment will promote ongoing synthesis of complex concepts in nursing care management across the continuum. Experience fosters prioritization, leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Career Opportunities with a BSN

A bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) opens several doors from a career perspective for registered nurses. Career opportunities can be found in a wide variety of areas including hospitals, physician offices, home health care services, nursing homes, surgical centers, and dialysis centers.

According to Salary.com, the average New Graduate Registered Nurse salary in North Carolina is $65,931 as of July, but the range typically falls between $59,143 and $75,371.

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Programs

Methodist College also offers a Master of Science in Nursing program. The program focuses on integrating evidence-based practice in providing safe, effective, and culturally-appropriate nursing care in partnership with a diverse clientele in order to promote health, prevent disease, and to attain, maintain, or restore wellness.

Financial Aid and Support

More than 97% of MU students receive some form of financial aid, with the University offering more than $24 million annually to students for scholarships. NMC is committed to helping students find every avenue to finance their education.

Read also: Learn about SMU

Alternative Pathways

Methodist Health System, in partnership with Dallas College in Dallas, Texas, offers a two-year nursing program on the campus of Methodist Dallas Medical Center. This Associate Degree in Nursing program is available to employees of Methodist, family members of employees, and volunteers.

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