Curriculum
The curriculum is designed to prepare a graduate for practicing professional nursing at a beginning level, with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings. The nursing process serves as a framework for the development of critical thinking skills in theoretical and clinical nursing courses. Emphasizing health teaching and health promotion, courses are offered in traditional nursing care specialties.
The UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing RN diploma program offers a full-time 22-month course of study and a four-year option for part-time study during evening/weekend hours.
Curriculum Objectives
At the completion of the program the graduate will:
- assume accountability as a beginning practitioner-managing groups of patients in acute care settings
- design health promotion strategies relative to discharge planning
- operationalize professional nursing behaviors (cultural, ethical, legal) relative to multiple patient assignments in acute care settings
- create leadership strategies to solve problems in the delivery of nursing care to multiple patients
- analyze critical decision-making and clinical judgment related to groups of patients
- collaborate with peers and professional colleagues to achieve desired outcome when managing groups of patients
- formulate life long learning goals for continued professional growth and higher education
- propose solutions to current and future issues in the nursing care delivery to groups of patients
Clinical Affiliating Agencies
Clinical experiences are provided at UPMC Shadyside as well as other hospitals and health care agencies within UPMC. Clinical experiences are scheduled during daylight, evening, and weekend hours.
Curriculum Progression Policies
- All nursing courses within a level must be successfully completed prior to enrollment into courses in the next level.
- The N200 and N300 courses can be taken in any order.
- Beginning with the 200 level, and including the 300 levels, students are not permitted to take two nursing courses, such as one daylight class and one evening/weekend class at the same time.
- All science courses must be completed prior to, or by the end of the first level nursing courses.
- The maximum time allotted for completion of the total program is seven years.
- Students have a maximum of five years to complete all nursing courses.
- Reapplication is required if the program has been interrupted for any reason.
- Students who fail a single course are permitted to apply for readmission to the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing. Students who fail more than one course are not eligible for readmission.
- Anatomy and Physiology I and II must be taken at the same institution.
- A theory grade of 76 percent is the minimum acceptable passing grade for all nursing courses.
- A clinical rating of “pass” is required for all nursing courses with a clinical component. Clinical failure at mid-term will result in the initiation of a learning contract and a mandatory referral to the Academic Advisor.
- Failure in either the theoretical or clinical portion of any nursing course will result in failure of the course.
- Courses with a grade less than “C” will not be accepted for transfer.
- Students must achieve a grade of “C” or above in affiliate college courses to continue. Students that do not achieve a grade of “C” or above in the affiliate college courses will be terminated from the program.
- Final grades are not rounded; they are assigned on the basis of a whole number only.
- Opportunities for bonus points/extra credit assignments do not exist.
- Grading of affiliate college course will follow the policies of the college.
- Transfers from full-time to part-time, part-time to full-time, day to evening/weekend or evening/weekend to day are on a space available basis at the discretion of the director. Students desiring a transfer must complete a Transfer Request Form and submit it six weeks priors to the start of the course to the coordinator of Financial Aid and Student Information.
- Successful completion of this course will involve fulfilling and meeting all requirements for the theory and clinical portion. Please be aware, if failure occurs within any of these two areas, both clinical and theory must be repeated. There will be no exceptions.
- Students are not permitted to take classes in a split semester format. A split semester is defined as follows: A student taking a 16 week class (college or nursing) and then staring a second 16 week class (college or nursing) half way through the first 16 week class.