RN-BSN
If you are already an RN with an Associates degree, our holistic Bachelors program is the perfect way for you to advance your career and prepare for graduate school. UMA's RN- BSN program is currently in NLNAC accreditation candidacy status. The expected NLNAC visit will be scheduled for Fall 2013. To read more about this please visit NLNAC
RN-B.S.N. via hybrid and online course offerings.
I attended my first class at UMA 3 years ago. At that time I was introduced to a holistic approach to nursing. Since that time I have incorporated this philosophy into my everyday practice. This has enhanced my professionalism, my practice and my ability to care for self.
UMA is a wonderful choice for any RN who works full time. The classes schedule is flexible with a combination of online and in class participation. The instructors understand what it is for a person to work full time and their teaching style helps you feel comfortable about returning back to school even if it has been 23 years like me.
My decision to attend UMA RN-BSN program has been a very rewarding experience and has afforded me the opportunity to explore a holistic approach to nursing that has shaped how I practice nursing today.
Patricia Y. Day RN
I can't tell you how much this program has improved my sense of professionalism within the nursing field. I have gone from one of those nurses who feel like 'just punching the clock' to a nursing professional who truly understands the larger picture and is empowered to initiate change. The UMA BSN program has allowed me to grow as a strong leader and enact change, not just for myself, but for all nursing professionals. The focus on holistic nursing experienced within this program was refreshing and enlightening on a level one would not expect to experience outside of a larger school. I would encourage anyone who is considering a nursing career to use this program as a solid base from which to launch themselves into the profession as a skilled leader.
Mary E Beale, RN
I am so grateful to this BSN program and to my professor Carey for awakening the dormant holistic nurse that was buried inside of me. Along with the teachings that regard holism in nursing leadership, I also learned the huge rewarding lesson of self-care.
I realize that now I am practicing fully present and it feels wonderful. I have been inspired and so supported in this BSN program. I am so thankful for the knowledge base this class and the program have given to me. Practicing in a holistic manner is important to me and now that I am living in a holistic manner by incorporating self-care and reflection I find that being a holistic nurse leader is a joy!
Bobbi McCarthy
I have been an ADN nurse for 18 years. Returning to school after so many years was not a decision that I made lightly. However, I knew that in order to advance my career I needed to complete my BSN. I had attended a very strict ADN program that left me feeling less than eager to begin taking classes again.
My experience at UMA has been very different. The BSN program at UMA has nursing excellence as a goal, but it teaches that the path to excellence begins and ends with each of us both as nursing professional and as a person. The program teaches that by taking care of ourselves we will be better able to care for others. This philosophy is carefully woven throughout the curriculum. It enhances and expands the knowledge base of each class. It also has been instrumental in helping me to recover from burnout and to rekindle my passion for nursing.
I will admit that in the beginning I was skeptical about the holistic curriculum, but now feel very lucky to have this added to my education. I have felt connected to the professors and well supported. The hybrid format of the BSN classes has allowed flexibility in my schedule so that I could continue to work full time. I am planning to continue on to graduate school in the fall and know that I will be well prepared. I highly recommend the BSN program.
Patricia Mason R.N.
BSN Student
About
Bachelor of Science – Nursing Completion Program
Florence Nightingale Monument in London
A whole new way to care through an Integral-Holistic Curriculum
Are you an RN in Maine looking to expand your horizons, both in how you care for others and how you care for yourself? With a holistic focus and approach, UMA's BS Completion Program (RN- BS) will expose you to new ways of caring, while preparing you for exciting new career opportunities or graduate level study.
Though we say that our BS Completion Program offers "a whole new way to care," in truth UMA's holistic focus dates all the way back to Florence Nightingale. Over 100 years ago, the founder of modern nursing was emphasizing the same humanitarian, patient-centered values that our program does today. "We must not talk to them or at them," Nightingale said, "but with them."
Nightingale's patient-centered approach to nursing care and healing diminished within the medical technology revolution of the 20th and 21st centuries. But in recent years, holistic nursing has begun to found its rightful way back into contemporary nursing, effectively tying together medical breakthroughs with a nurturing and healing approach. This is the very premise of UMA's BS program. It takes the best of modern medicine, health, and caring, and ties it together with all the profession has learned over the past 100 years.
A whole new way to grow.
With UMA's integral-holistic curriculum based in Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring, Barbara Dossey's theory of Integral Nursing, and Ken Wilber's Integral Philosophy, our RN-BS completion program is not just about the patient. It is also about you. As a student here, you will learn how to take better care of yourself in a profession that we all know firsthand can be incredibly stressful. You will learn to create meaningful and sustainable caring-healing nursing practices that support why you became a nurse in the first place: to engage in the caring-healing process with those who are in need and experiencing suffering.
At the same time you are learning to take care of yourself and support the healing process of patients and communities, you will also be equipped with new skills; you will earn the qualifications necessary to take your nursing career in new directions, to assume professional leadership positions, to adapt to the changing nature of health care and health care roles, to integrate the new science and informatics into your practice, and to pursue a graduate degree.
A whole new way to learn.
Because most of our BSN students are working nurses, UMA's program offers a combination of fully online and blended learning courses. This blended approach of e-learning with occasional face-to-face meetings will enable you to flourish in our program, no matter the demands of your daily life or how far you live from Augusta.
NLNAC site visit is scheduled for October 1-3, 2013
Courses
BACHELOR’S DEGREE REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum 120 Credit Hours
Writing Intensive Course
Minimum Cumulative G.P.A.: 2.50
30 Credit Hours of Residency courses
9 Credits of Upper-Level Major Residency courses
Minimum G.P.A. in the Major: 2.00
PROGRAM MAJOR REQUIREMENTS ö (33 credit hours):
CIS 225 Introduction to Health Informatics (3)
NUR 301 Health Assessment Throughout the Lifespan (4)
NUR 302 Pharmacology for Nurses (3)
NUR 304 Conceptual Basis of Professional Nursing (3)
NUR 352 Nursing Research (3)
NUR 354 Concepts of Community Health (5)
NUR 410 Leadership and Management (3)
NUR 499W Senior Seminar for RN’s (3)
___________any 300 or 400-level Nursing elective (3)
___________ any 300 or 400-level Nursing elective (3)
GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS (18 credit hours):
One of the following (3):
ENG 102W Introduction to Literature
ENG 111W Journalism
ENG 317W Professional Writing
Fine Arts* (3)
Humanities* (3)
MAT 115 Elementary Statistics (3)
BIO 104 Introduction to Human Nutrition (3)
BIO 345 Pathophysiology (3)
All prerequisite, MAT, BIO, and NUR courses require a grade of C, not C minus (C-), or higher for Successful completion
* See BSN Checklist for specific Fine Arts and Humanities courses that meet the General Education Requirements.
Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the RN- BSN program, the graduate will be able to:
- Plan and provide holistic nursing care in diverse health care settings, including hospitals and community agencies.
- Provide care based on enhanced theoretical knowledge and the nursing research/ evidence base to improve patient outcomes.
- Provide culturally and ethically competent care to diverse client populations across the lifespan.
- Focus on continued development of one's professional identity with an ability to provide leadership in continuously improving care.
- Demonstrate the ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively via a variety of technological, written, and verbal modalities.
- Demonstrate competency with leadership and transformative change skills in providing and influencing care delivery in diverse healthcare settings.
- Demonstrate competency with self care-healing modalities in order to create sustainable caring-healing practices.
- Enter into and succeed at the graduate level of education; enact a commitment to lifelong learning.
Here is sample of some of our graduating students' outcomes, stated in their own words.
Careers
Completion of a BSN degree may afford registered nurses a variety of advancement in their current practice setting and/ or help the nurse to pursue new career opportunities.
Clinical Settings:
- Advancement in level of clinical practice in a variety of inpatient settings:
- Medical Surgical
- Critical Care
- Pediatrics
- Obstetrics
- Emergency or Trauma Nursing
- Nurse Educator (in some settings)
- Nurse Manager (in some settings)
Community Settings:
- Public Health Nurse
- School Nurse
- Home Health or Hospice Nursing
- Case Manager
- Wellness Coach
Graduate School Opportunities:
- Nurse Practitioner
- Nurse Educator
- Nurse Manager
- Nurse Anesthetist
- Nurse Leader (CNL)
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
- PhD in nursing research or nursing science
Faculty
Dr. Carey S. Clark
Carey S. Clark, PhD, RN, RYT has been a nurse since 1994, with a wide range of practical-clinical experience, including acute medical-surgical, pediatrics, inpatient psychiatric, home health nursing, parish nursing, and hospice nursing. Dr. Clark has taught for 15 years across all levels of nursing in the traditional, online, and hybrid classroom settings.
Her research interests are focused on caring in nursing and nursing education, as well as the empowerment of nurses. Her dissertation examined Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring and the volume related her nursing theory to interdisciplinary theories such as complexity, chaos theory, transpersonal psychology, and partnership social systems. She has many published articles in scholarly journals such as Advances in Nursing Science, International Journal for Human Caring, and Holistic Nursing Practice. Dr. Clark is passionate about expanding upon others ideas to delve deeper into the meanings of life, love, and caring. She is a Reiki Master, a yoga teacher, and is skilled in assisting others to create sustainable holistic caring-healing nursing practices.
Dr. Clark has been involved for several years with the Nurse Manifest Project, a grass-roots movement focusing on the revamping of nursing practice and the autonomy and emancipation of nurses worldwide. She currently blogs about creating change and nurses autonomy for the Nurse Manifest project. Dr Clark’s research and publications in peer -reviewed journals have elucidated the ideas of caring in nursing and nursing education. Dr. Clark is the editor of the American Holistic Nurses Association student-faculty newsletter. Dr. Clark was honored in 2011 to receive the Carrie Lenburg Award from Excelsior College for outstanding commitment to nursing education.
Having completed both the MSN and PhD coursework in the online format, she is very familiar with the challenges and benefits of working in this environment from the student perspective. Dr. Clark looks forward to working with the students enrolled in the RN- BSN program at UMA and supporting their scholarly learning journey, as well as their self-care and healing processes.
Dr. Lynne King, BSN Coordinator
Dr. Lynne King has been a nurse since 1977, with a wide range of practical-clinical experience, including the acute medical-surgical, ICU, emergency, inpatient psychiatric and rehabilitation settings. Dr. King has taught for over 30 years at the Associate and Baccalaureate levels of nursing in the traditional, ITV, and hybrid learning environments.
Her earlier research interests involved pressure ulcer prevention, and she is currently focused on incivility in nursing and nursing education. Dr. King’s dissertation was a Heideggerian phenomenological study of nursing faculty-to-faculty experience with incivility. She continues her work with creating a positive and civil workplace culture.
Having recently completed doctoral degree coursework in the hybrid format, Dr. King is very familiar with the challenges and benefits of working in the hybrid environment from the student perspective. It has always been her goal to create courses and a learning environment that contribute to a meaningful student experience. Her doctoral education used a community of learners model, and implementing this model has become a passion for Dr. King, as she strives to create a community of learners in each course taught.
Dr. King practices nursing holistically and is a Therapeutic Touch practitioner. She has recently integrated yoga practice into her self-care. Other interests include informal pet therapy with routine visits of her two dogs at a local nursing home where they share their healing energy with residents.
As the newly appointed RN-BSN Program Coordinator, Dr. King looks forward to working with the students enrolled in the RN- BSN program at UMA and supporting their scholarly learning journey, as she collaborates with the UMA RN- BSN faculty to support students in their self-care and healing processes.
Meredith Kendall, MSN, RN, CNE, Adjunct Faculty
Meredith Kendall teaches Reiki at the University of Maine at Augusta and nursing at the Central Maine Medical Center College.
Ms. Kendall is a Reiki teacher/practitioner and the Reiki Coordinator at the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Ms. Kendall manages a team of Reiki practitioners/researchers at the Dempsey Center, conducts research, and shares Reiki with clients. She created and established Reiki programs at two medical facilities in Maine.
Ms. Kendall volunteers at The Pierce House, a 16-bed assisted living facility, teaching yoga and serving on the Board. She manages the Reiki and massage tent at the annual Dempsey Challenge, an annual October fundraising event. Challenge athletes and survivors ride, run, and walk: raising money to support free integrative health services for clients of the Dempsey Center. She is a member of a local Institutional Review Board.
Kendall is the author of two books about Reiki; Reiki Nurse: My life as a nurse and how Reiki changed it, and Reiki Stories: My hot hands.
She was the recipient of the 2012 St Joseph’s College of Maine Alumni of the Year Award, distance education. She is a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association. She is certified as a nurse educator by the National League for Nursing.
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