The objectives of this program are to insure that graduates will be able to:

1. Incorporate knowledge from the liberal arts, sciences, and nursing as the basis for nursing practice in developing and providing care that is culturally competent, fiscally responsible and socially relevant.
2. Integrate nursing research and evidence-based practice into professional nursing
3. Promote competent nursing care at all levels of prevention across the health care continuum
4. Examine the role of the professional nurse in providing leadership for nursing practices as a member of the healthcare community
5. Utilize information technology to manage knowledge, communicate information and facilitate decision making in nursing practice
6. Integrate legal, ethical and professional values within the role of the BSN-prepared nurse
7. Analyze the role of nurse as advocate in working with clients, families and the profession through involvement in political process, and health care/client care policies and practices

Philosophy of the Nursing DepartmentThe philosophy of the Department of Nursing is derived from and is consistent with the mission, objectives and values of the College. The Department philosophy focuses on faculty beliefs about the person, environment, health, nursing, and education. The faculty supports the American Nurses Association (ANA) definition of nursing. "Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations."

Each person is a unique integration of physiological, psychological, social-cultural, developmental, and spiritual dimensions in continuous interaction with the environment. Each person has the right to respect, dignity, and self-determination. The person, as an individual, and as a member of a family, group, local or global community, is the central focus of nursing.

The environment includes sociocultural, political, technological, and economical factors that are constantly changing forming a complex context for the nursing practice. Nursing has the responsibility to assist individuals to adapt to the changing environment just as nursing as a profession must adapt and grow within this complex context for nursing practice. Nursing includes promoting health, preventing illness, restoring health, and caring for the dying. Nurses provide ethical care utilizing critical thinking through application of the nursing process to provide comprehensive, individualized care. Nurses enact multiple roles of caregiver, teacher, advocate, leader, researcher, and manager. Nurses integrate evidence and research findings into practice appropriate to the level of education and position.

Education is an active process in which students are encouraged in developing patterns of critical thinking and the ability to make discriminatory judgments. This intellectual framework fosters a teaching-learning process where knowledge, skills and attitudes are shared in an environment of inquiry and positive growth. This framework posits teacher as leader in the educational enterprise by planning opportunities for learning in light of identified goals. Students, in concert with teachers, bear responsibility for their own learning.

Associate Degree Program

Education at the Associate Degree level focuses on the development of science-based nursing knowledge and professional skills required to make safe evidenced based judgments for care, advocate for patients and families, develop the professional image and self, question underlying assumptions in care and offer new insights into improvement of care across the lifespan and in various health care settings. Upon graduation from the program, students are prepared to sit for the NCLEX examination. The Associate degree education is an entry level into the profession of nursing. ASN graduates are generalists in nursing.

RN-BSN Degree Program

Education at the Baccalaureate Degree level focuses on the incorporation of science-based nursing knowledge and professional skill required to assist patient, families, and communities to progress toward fulfillment of human potential. Baccalaureate prepared nurses utilize evidenced based practice to provide quality care, promotion of health, demonstrate professional identity and leadership, and act as an evolving scholar. Baccalaureate education is based in liberal education and integrates nursing with the humanities as well as the behavioral and the social sciences.

The purpose of the RN-BSN program is to expand the knowledge base and scope of practice of the ASN/Diploma prepared RN. The RN-BSN completion program expands the practice and knowledge base rooted in nursing science and liberal arts. The program is committed to and places emphasis on scholarship, evidence-based practice and leadership in a rapidly changing, complex environment. The RN-BSN completion program prepares graduates to practice professional nursing in partnership with individuals, families, communities and populations to promote and restore health and prevent illness, locally and globally. Graduates of the program are generalists with the foundation for graduate education and continuing professional development.

Master's Degree Program

Education at the Master's Degree level fosters critical thinking and promotes understanding of the broad scope of health care within sociopolitical contexts and ethical-legal implications of health care delivery. Graduate education is rooted in a strong tradition of research and scholarly endeavor which includes systematic inquiry, leadership and creative conceptualization. Graduate prepared nurses are leaders and change agents in their area of practice. Masters degree prepared nurses identify gaps in knowledge, formulate research questions, promote advancement of professional nursing in self and others, and systematically evaluate the quality of evidenced-based practice.

The faculty upholds the belief that continuing education is an ethical, moral, and legal responsibility of all nurses at every level of education. Education is a life-long process with the emphasis on maintaining, improving, and promoting competency in the nursing practice.

International students with English as a second language may apply for admission to the La Roch College RN-BSN Program after completing one-two years of clinical work experience in a U.S. healthcare agency prior to or concurrent with the educational program.

Prospective students must have one-two years experience in a U.S. health care agency.

1. Complete the appropriate admission application in English at least three months before the projected enrollment date.
2. Be licensed to pracice nursing in a state or country and provide copy of license.
3. Complete the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) process.[CGFNS, 3600 Maket Street, Fourth Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651]
4. Complete the Test of English as a Foreign Language Exam (TOEFL). A score of 600 must be achieved. This score should be submitted as part of the admission process. Students will be referred to English as a Second Language [ESL] as part of the procedure.
5. Outline sources of funding to support completion of the academic program and its requirements.
6. Submit a reference letter from a person who can address the applicant's nursing ability, ability to achieve in an academic program, ability to communicate in English, and ability to adapt to life in a foreign country.
7. Those applicants who are accepted for admission must complete all necessary forms through the La Roche College Department of International Student Services three months prior to arrival in the U.S.
8. Applicant will be notified of acceptance into the program by the Office of Graduate and Continuing Education Admissions.

Many graduates of the La Roche B.S.N. program elect to pursue graduate work at the College. Specific entrance requirements, admission procedures, course descriptions, etc., for graduate study are available from the La Roche College Office of Admissions for Graduate and Continuing Education. International students are required to come to campus to take exams through the program.

Students Admitted to the Current/Revised Curriculum
The program is open only to registered nurses and requires 120 credits for graduation. To complete the nursing major successfully, the following course work is required:

• 24 prerequisite credits which must include 12 science credits
• 36 credits Nursing Mobility Profile II (NCLEX)
• 30 liberal arts credits
• 30 nursing component credits (18 credits of which are required; 12 credits of nursing electives)

A minimum of 120 credits is required for graduation, the last 30 of which must be earned at La Roche College. Students must achieve a minimum of a "C" grade in each nursing course.

RN-MSN Program

The RN-MSN option provides an opportunity for associate degree and diploma prepared nurses to obtain the MSN. The program is entirely online and allows nurses interested in advance roles to move more directly into such positions as nurse administrator or nurse educator.

The advantage to enrolling in the RN-MSN is the credits required in the BSN are decreased and the transition to MSN is quicker. The BSN degree curriculum is reduced by two elective courses and the student is able to take two graduate courses at the undergraduate tuition rate. Students may take graduate courses as they complete the BSN requirements.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is awarded upon the successful completion of 6 credits of graduate level courses.