RN to BSN Curriculum
The RN to BSN courses are designed to fit the busy schedules of working RNs.
The KU RN to BSN program is offered for part-time enrollment for the 2026-2027 academic year. Full-time enrollment begins with the 2027-2028 academic year.
Sample Curriculum
| Course Number | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 300 | Knowledge for Nursing Practice | 3 |
| NURS 559 | Person-Centered Care: Nursing Practice Across the Spheres of Care | 3 |
| NURS 450 | Informatics, Safety, and Quality in Health Care Teams | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| NURS 688 | Nurse as Leader | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| NURS 550 | Evidence-Informed Nursing Practice | 3 |
| NURS 551 | Population Health, Health Policy, and Nursing Advocacy | 3 |
| NURS 589 | Applied Practice: Transitioning to the Baccalaureate Nurse Role | 3 |
| NURS 689 | Practice Readiness | 3 |
Graduates of the RN to BSN will have completed a minimum of 120 semester credit hours, comprised of 60 credits of core curriculum prerequisites and 60 credits of nursing major-specific credits. The nursing major consists of the 30-35 credits of KU BSN courses and 25-34 credits awarded through a portfolio review of your ACEN-accredited associate's degree or diploma nursing program.
Portfolio is the method used to award university level credit (300-400 level courses) for academic knowledge acquired through your community college nursing program. All students graduating from ACEN-accredited nursing programs are automatically awarded 25 credit hours via the portfolio process and may be eligible for up to six additional credit hours with eligible pharmacology or assessment coursework. Students are billed just $15.00 per portfolio course, which equates to a total of $135.00-$165.00. This fee is assessed during the first semester of the program.
- Objective 1: Effectively communicate with all members of the health care team, including patients and their support system.
- Objective 2: Use clinical judgment to design quality, safe, evidence-based patient care.
- Objective 3: Deliver safe, compassionate, culturally competent, patient-centered nursing care across the lifespan.
- Objective 4: Use healthcare resources to effectively deliver high quality, cost-effective patient care.
- Objective 5: Demonstrate leadership in the evaluation of outcomes, improvement of care, and advancement of nursing practice.
- Objective 6: Provide health promotion, disease prevention, end-of-life care, and/or palliative care to individuals and populations in a variety of settings.
- Objective 7: Examine the micro- and macro-systems that influence health care delivery to achieve quality patient care within economic boundaries.
- Objective 8: Contribute the unique nursing perspective with the interdisciplinary health care team to achieve optimal health care outcomes.
- Objective 9: Demonstrate professionalism in attitudes and behaviors.