BS in Nursing Science

Students pursuing the Bachelor of Science (BS) in Nursing Science are provided both the theory and clinical base to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate health care to meet the needs of individuals, families, groups, and communities. The program is offered through the University of Alaska Anchorage and based in Anchorage, but admits students in Fairbanks and Kodiak. All students who apply to UAA and qualify for admission to the BS Nursing program are admitted as pre-majors.

Please note: Admission as a pre-major does not guarantee admission to the nursing program; a separate application process is required.

PREREQUISITES

For entry into the full-major portion of the program students must complete following prerequisites with a grade of 'C' or higher and an overall extracted GPA of a 3.0 or higher. We recommend seeing a School of Nursing (SON) advisor early in the process to create a personalized plan of study and determine the best timeline for your application. Additional courses may be required based on ACCUPLACER scores for Writing and ALEKs scores for Math placement.

Sample Schedule

Click here for an up to date list of approved Baccalaureate Degree General Education Requirements (GER).

Semester I
Required prior to Ranking Deadline.
- WRTG A111 Writing Across Contexts (3)
- COMM A111, A235, A237, or A241 (3)
- BIOL A111, A111L Anatomy & Physiology I (4)
- CHEM A103, A103L Survey of Chemistry (4)
Semester II
Required prior to Ranking Deadline.
- WRTG A213 Writing and the Sciences (3)
- *PHIL A101, A201, or ENGL A120- Reasoning Skills (3)
- BIOL A112, A112L Anatomy & Physiology II (4)
- CHEM A104, A104L Organic & Biochemistry (4)
- **SOCIAL SCIENCE GER Except PSY (3)
Semester III

Enrollment in, or credit for, during Ranking.
- BIOL A240, A240L Microbiology (4)
- *PSY A150 Life Span Development (3)
- **FINE ARTS GER (3)
- **HUMANITIES GER(3)
Semester IV

Recommended prior to starting NS classes.

Required prior to Trimester IV.
- **STAT A200 Elementary Statistics (3)
- **DN A203 Nutrition for Health Sciences (3)
- **PHIL A302 Biomedical Ethics (3)
- **HUMANITIES GER (3)
- **ALASKA NATIVE-THEMED GER

All courses required for the BS in Nursing Science may not be unsuccessfully repeated more than once.

*Either the Reasoning Skills requirement or PSY A150 must be completed at the time of application to the major.

Students must be enrolled in whichever of these requirements has not yet been completed.

**These courses may be taken in any order as long as one course is complete and two additional courses are either complete or in progress during ranking.

For a list which UAF and UAS pre-major courses meet UAA School of Nursing requirements please visit the Transfer page.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Once you are admitted into the full-major BS Nursing program, you will be required to complete courses in the following sequence. All students are enrolled in a specific local cohort. Students are expected to test, attend classes, labs, and clinical experiences with their cohort. Students are required to complete the program at the location they originally accepted placement.

Plan of Study

TRIMESTER I Nursing Science Major
- NS A204 Technology & Nursing Informatics (3)
- NS A216 Pathophysiology (4)
- NS A300 Foundations: Roles, Processes, Trends (3)
PRIOR to Trimester II
- Current CPR certification
- Health & Immunization Requirements
- National Level Criminal Background Check
TRIMESTER II Nursing Science Major
- NS A303, A303L Foundations: Therapeutics (7.5)
- NS A307, A307L Foundations: Health Assessment (3)
- NS A309 Pharmacology in Nursing (3)
TRIMESTER III Nursing Science Major
- NS A313, A313L Health Disruptions I (6)
- NS A315, A315L Health I: Nursing Therapeutics (6)
TRIMESTER IV Nursing Science Major
- NS A400 Nursing Research (3)
- NS A401, A401L Health Disruptions II (5.5)
- NS A406, A406L Complex Health Disruptions (5)
TRIMESTER V Nursing Science Major
- NS A411, A411L Health Integrative Capstone (5.5)
- NS A415 Nursing Management (4)
- NS A416, A416L Concentration in Clinical Nursing (4)
- *NS Upper Division Nursing Elective (3)

Minimum total credit hours for degree: 120
All nursing major lecture courses must be complete with a grade of 'C' or higher and clinical courses with a 'Pass'.
*The NS Elective may be taken in an earlier trimester if the prerequisites for the elective are met.

Please note: Graduates of this program must perform successfully on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to receive RN licensure. SON's program is approved by the Alaska Board of Nursing and the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing.

ADMISSION: PROCESS AND CRITERIA

The School of Nursing considers students eligible for admission to the nursing major during the semester in which they are completing the courses listed under semester 3. Only the students who complete the Application and TEAS Exam listed below will be ranked for possible admission to NS A204, A216, & A300 in the trimester indicated by their ranking site. To be considered for the ranking, the following BS admission requirements must be completed by the Ranking Deadline for their site.

Admission to the UAA Bachelor of Science in Nursing Science pre-major, including transcripts from both high school/GED and college, with transcript evaluations.
- Apply to UAA.
- For New and Transfer Students: The School of Nursing strongly recommends students submit their high school, GED, and/or out of state transcripts to Enrollment Services three months prior to the School of Nursing deadline to ensure timely and complete processing.
- For Current UA Students: UA Students do not need to submit transcripts from UAA, UAF or UAS.
Proof of eligibility for enrollment in STAT A200 (previously STAT A252) by submitting one of the following: Grade of ‘C’ or better in Math A105 (or higher), or ALEKs test.
If you are able, attend a group Information Session at the School of Nursing. Call 786-4560 for recorded meeting time and location.
Meet with a Nursing Academic Advisor to verify course completion, GPA, and to ensure you are on track to meet required deadlines. Call 786-4550 to set up an appointment.
Application to the Baccalaureate Nursing Major.
A minimum extracted grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 for courses required for the Bachelor of Science, Nursing Science. The GPA will be calculated using grades from all courses required for the nursing major that have been completed by the ranking deadline.
Complete the minimum 31 credit hours of specified prerequisite courses (Semester I & II) with a minimum grade of C or better and an extracted GPA of a 3.0 or better.
Enrollment in, or credit for, the 13 credit hours of specified prerequisite courses (Semester III).

It is the applicant’s responsibility to remain informed of any changes to the BS Nursing Science program and to ensure that the items above have been received by the BS Nursing office. Call prior to the deadline to verify receipt of all required documents.

Completion of the TEAS Pre-Admission Exam is required. This test is an assessment tool, not a pass/fail test, to evaluate students’ verbal, math, and science ability. The cost will be determined by the UAA Testing Center. The test takes approximately 2½ hours and will be available by appointment during times determined by the UAA Testing Center.

Remote TEAS Exams are available to students who are unable to physically test at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Advising and Testing Center. Remote exams are currently available throughout Alaska with selected proctors and testing centers throughout the United States. Additional proctor fees may be required for students testing at distance testing facilities.

The TEAS can be taken once every 6 months and the most recent score will be used for ranking..

The application and TEAS Exam must be completed for an applicant to be eligible for ranking and possible admission to NS A204, A216, & A300 – Trimester I. Only a specified number of candidates (with highest rankings) will be invited to start based on the following ranking criteria:

Extracted grade point average (60% of ranking score)
Extracted Science GPA: BIOL A111/L, A112/L, CHEM A103/L, and A104/L (25% of ranking score)
ATI TEAS Preadmission test scores (15% of ranking score)
- The School of Nursing BS program has transitioned to the to the ATI TEAS exam. Previously completed Kaplan results can still be used through July 1, 2020 or until they expire, whichever comes first.

For transfer students, grades from equivalent courses will be used.

Candidates whose files are ranked will be sent either an invitation to accept a seat in the program or notice of unsuccessful ranking. Any candidate not admitted to Trimester I must request to have his/her file be ranked for the next year.

Each site in the BS Nursing Program has a specific admission pattern based on the number of applicants and available clinical facilities in the location. To be considered for the ranking in each location, the BS admission requirements must be completed by the appropriate deadline. Deadlines are subject to change, please check with the UAA Nursing Student Services for most up to date deadlines.

Application for Ranking Deadlines

Only one site may be submitted for ranking per deadline

OCTOBER 1: Fall, Spring, and Summer start dates

Every Year
- Anchorage (40 students per trimeseter)

MARCH 1: Fall start date

Every Year
- Fairbanks (16 students)
- Kodiak (8 students) starting March 1, 2019
- Mat-Su (8 students) starting March 1, 2020

RN to BS Students

Rolling Application
- Available State-Wide

Nursing Undergraduate Programs

BS in Nursing Science

PREREQUISITES

Sample Schedule

Semester I

Semester II

Semester III

Semester IV

All courses required for the BS in Nursing Science may not be unsuccessfully repeated more than once.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Plan of Study

TRIMESTER I Nursing Science Major

PRIOR to Trimester II

TRIMESTER II Nursing Science Major

TRIMESTER III Nursing Science Major

TRIMESTER IV Nursing Science Major

TRIMESTER V Nursing Science Major

ADMISSION: PROCESS AND CRITERIA