APPLY TO MESSIAH

Curriculum

Nursing students in OB class
Pediatric clinical in the simulations labs

 

As a nursing student at Messiah University, you will develop an increasing ability to make clinical judgments in a variety of settings while you are learning the roles of the beginning professional nurse. You will learn about the professional values of nursing and how your increasing nursing knowledge is supported by the liberal and applied sciences.

 

  • Your first and second year of study includes QuEST and prerequisite courses.
  • If you are interested in studying abroad for a semester, the fall semester of your sophomore year is the only semester for this opportunity. Careful planning begins during your first year.  Open communication with your academic advisor is essential. The course, Historical & Conceptual Basis for Nursing, is the first nursing course taken in the nursing major. For those studying abroad, Historical & Conceptual Basis for Nursing will be taken during the January-Term, and for those studying on-campus, the course will be taken during the fall semester. For study abroad opportunities, view the Intercultural Office website. 
  • Your first clinical nursing courses, Health Assessment and Foundations of Nursing Practice are taken in the spring semester of your sophomore year.  In these courses you will have your first experience in our patient simulation laboratories, as well as local long-term care facilities. Pathophysiology serves as a co-requisite to your clinical courses.
  • As you progress through your junior year, nursing care will focus on patients across the lifespan. Nursing courses include the childbearing family, adult and older adult nursing and pediatric nursing. Our patient simulation laboratories will be used for each clinical nursing course, and you will experience nursing in various local hospitals and community settings. Co-requisite nursing courses include Pharmacology and Nursing Research I.
  • The focus is on nursing care in complex health care delivery environments and preparation for the professional role transition. Nursing courses include critical care nursing, psychiatric/mental health nursing, community health nursing and nursing leadership. Additional nursing courses include Nursing Research II,  focusing on evidence-based practice, and Senior Seminar, a nursing seminar course on professional nursing topics. Our patient simulation laboratories will be used for each clinical nursing course, and you will experience nursing in various local hospitals and community settings.
  • A highlight of your senior year will be the January-Term preceptor course or international option. If you choose the preceptor course, you will be matched with a staff nurse preceptor in a clinical area of your choice, and you will work the full-time schedule of your preceptor to refine and solidify your nursing skills. If you choose an international option, you will learn about nursing from a different perspective and practice nursing in a different culture either in Zambia or Thailand.  Read more.....
  • Preparations for your licensure exam (NCLEX-RN®) occur across the curriculum with secure online computerized testing formats and integrated testing programs in the nursing courses. In your last semester, additional focus on NCLEX-RN® preparation occurs in the Senior Seminar course along with an NCLEX-RN® review course after graduation.

 

  • Upon completion of the nursing curriculum, you will be well versed in being a provider of nursing care, a coordinator/manager/designer of nursing care, as well as being a member of the nursing profession.
  • View a complete list of major requirements and QUEST requirements for the nursing major.

For more details on the curriculum requirements and the types of courses you would be taking as an Nursing Major, visit our Online Course Catalog.

(Major brochure and course catalog contain PDF files. Click here for the Adobe® PDF Reader®)