Nursing - LPN to BSN online program

Nursing Mission:

The mission is to advance the art and science of nursing through innovative teaching, research, and clinical practice. To educate and train diverse groups of nursing professionals to interact with interdisciplinary teams thus promoting optimal health outcomes in individuals, families, and global communities while promoting a culture of lifelong learning.

Nursing Philosophy:

The foundation for professional nursing education is embedded in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities which enhance critical thinking and reasoning, while promoting high ethical standards in providing holistic care for individuals, families, global communities, and societies. The baccalaureate of science in nursing prepares a nurse generalist and lays the foundation for graduate education to promote personal, professional and intellectual growth. The graduate of the School of Nursing will be able to assimilate theory, concepts, research, and leadership to help reshape the future of nursing practice while meeting the demands of an ever changing healthcare environment.

BSN Student Learning Outcomes:

• Complete a solid base in liberal education which provides the cornerstone for the practice and education of nurses while using knowledge from other disciplines emphasizing clinical judgment and best practices in transforming nursing practice.
• Provide compassionate, holistic, competent person-centered care to the individual patient with complex/complicated needs including ones’ identified family and “ important others”, using best practices and is “developmentally appropriate” regardless of expertise, skills, or area of interest.
• Collaborate with other disciplines and stakeholders to form partnerships focusing on disease prevention and health promotion across the lifespan and to improve population health outcomes for diverse groups and those facing disparities in healthcare.
• Integrate current nursing knowledge gained through theory, science, research, and best practices to enhance healthcare and effect positive changes in healthcare.
• Select credible bodies of knowledge that focus on approaches to improve quality and safety, minimize risk to patients/providers while facilitating best practices in treatment outcomes.
• Use purposeful collaboration with interprofessional teams, “patients, families, communities and other stakeholders” to promote high quality patient care, optimize the patients’ healthcare experience, and to achieve positive health outcomes.
• Coordinate appropriate resources within a complex healthcare system necessary to provide high quality, safe, ethical, and equitable care to diverse populations.
• Analyze data from information technologies to increase knowledge, promote decision making, and use best practices to deliver high quality, accessible, and cost effective healthcare while adhering to professional and regulatory standards/guidelines.
• Demonstrate professionalism and role model the inherent values of accountability, social responsibility, autonomy, compassion, integrity, cultural humility, lifelong learning, promotion of personal health and well-being, while maintaining competency and leadership skills which are fundamental to the discipline of nursing.

Nursing Program Goals:

• Promote a school culture that treats all nursing students with cultural sensitivity and respect for human dignity.
• Build curricula that promote collaboration and communication skills, with clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills.
• Uses teaching-learning practices that promote self-directed learning, creative thinking, and intellectual inquiry.
• Prepare students to achieve PSLOs and to pass the NCLEX exam on the first attempt.
• Retain qualified faculty and staff that are committed to high academic standards, academic freedom, and that are leaders in their areas of expertise.
• Prepare graduates that are satisfied with the nursing program and promote the SON within learning and health care communities.

The Missouri Valley College Nursing Program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) through the 2027-2028 academic year and has conditional approval from the Missouri State Board of Nursing. Completion of the BSN program does not guarantee licensure or eligibility to sit for the NCLEX licensure examination. Students will need to review the regulations regarding the eligibility to sit for the examination prior to the testing date.

The Missouri Valley College Undergraduate Nursing Program admits 34 students per academic year.  The traditional nursing program admits (20) students in the fall, and the LPN to BSN online track admits (14) students in the spring. 

Application 

Requirements for admittance to the Nursing Program, include the following:

1. Application and admission to Missouri Valley College - admission to MVC does not guarantee acceptance into the School of Nursing (SON).
2. Application and admission to the Missouri Valley Nursing Program (completed during the sophomore year).
3. Completion of the TEAS exam within the last five years, achieving ‘Proficient’ level (58.7%). Students are allowed to retake the TEAS exam no more than three times in one year to improve scores. 
4. Submission of official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended and on file with the MVC Admissions and/or Registrar’s Office.
5. Completion of transcript review (to be on file in the Registrar's office) with an academic plan of study completed by nursing.
6. Obtaining a minimum cumulative GPA in core and prerequisite nursing classes of 2.75 (on a 4.0 scale).
7. Obtain a B in all nursing prerequisites.
8. Science courses must have been completed within five years of applying to the nursing program.
9. Preference will be given to students who are in progress or have completed all core and prerequisite courses. 
10. Special request forms must be completed and submitted with the application packet if there are any courses to be taken out of sequence.
11. Nursing faculty base the admission into the program on references, CGPA(s) of 2.75 or higher, ACT minimum 20 (waived for LPN with active unencumbered LPN license), and a TEAS score of proficient.  
12. Students for whom English is a second language shall meet the same general admission requirements as other students.
13. For international students educated abroad and are non-native English speakers, evidence of English-language proficiency can be achieved by any of the following: 

a. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) www.toefl.org with a passing score of 540 on the paper examination or a passing score of 83 for the internet-based examination; or 

b. Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) www.toeic.com with a passing score of 725 in the Listening and Reading Modules; or

c. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) www.ielts.org with a passing score in the academic module of 6.5 and the Spoken Band score of 7

See Missouri State Board of Nursing website for further information date of access 7/27/2020.

Admission

Completion of Nursing prerequisite courses with a ‘B’ or higher. These courses (or transfer course equivalent) include: BI275 Anatomy and Physiology I, BI 285 Anatomy and Physiology II, NU 105 Intro to Nursing, BI 320/HL 320 Microbiology or CH 111 Chemistry, EX385 Nutrition, HL 280 Pathophysiology, PL 150 Ethics, PY 225 Developmental Psychology.

Complete the Nursing Program Application found online on the Missouri Valley College Nursing website. Please, review the nursing website for valuable information pertinent to the School of Nursing.

All application materials for face to face students must be submitted to the School of Nursing administrative assistant by February 1st.  For the LPN to BSN online track, the deadline is October 1st.  If the deadline occurs on a weekend, the deadline will be the Monday following that weekend.