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Program Map

Nursing

Associate of Applied Science Degree

Fall Term 2023 Program Admission

About the Program

RCC is a member of the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education (OCNE) and offers a competency-based curriculum jointly developed by nursing faculties from the eleven community colleges and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) consortium partners. The core competencies address the need for nurses to be skilled in clinical judgment and critical thinking; evidence-based practice; relationship-centered care; interdisciplinary collaboration; assisting individuals and families in self-care practices for promotion of health and management of chronic and acute illness; end-of-life care; and teaching, delegation, leadership and supervision of caregivers.

Acceptance to the RCC Nursing program is a full-time commitment to two (2) years of nursing courses (after completing one (1) year of pre-requisite/preparatory course work of 45 credits minimum and application to the limited-entry program.) Applicants admitted to the RCC Nursing program are co-admitted to the OHSU Nursing programs, and once students complete their Associate Degree in the Nursing program at RCC, the OCNE curriculum provides entry to OHSU’s Nursing program. Continued full-time study for four (4) more terms leads to a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Graduates of the Rogue Community College Nursing program are eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensure testing. Students who choose to complete their BSN through the OHSU School of Nursing program must complete an additional 15 credits of upper-division college credits in order to progress into nursing courses for the bachelor’s degree through OHSU. RCC’s Statistics course will apply, but all other upper-level courses must be taken at a college or university with 300+ level courses.

Options available for baccalaureate completion can be found at https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-nursing

The Nursing program is approved by the Oregon State Board of Nursing (17938 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd., Portland, OR, 971-673-0685, www.oregon.gov/OSBN).

Program Learning Outcomes

The curriculum in RCC courses is derived from a set of identified learning outcomes that are relevant to the discipline. Ten collaboratively created OCNE competencies drive the curriculum. Program learning outcomes for the nursing program are:

• Base personal and professional actions on a set of shared core nursing values, including
  social justice, caring, advocacy, protection of patient autonomy, prevention of harm, respect for self and others, collegiality, authority, accountability, responsibility for nursing practice and ethical behavior.
• Use reflection, self-analysis, and self-care to develop insight through reflection, self-analysis, and self-care.
• Engage in intentional learning, developing self-awareness of the goals, processes, and potential actions of this learning and its effects on patient/client care.
• Demonstrate leadership in nursing and health care to meet patient/client needs, improve the health care system, and facilitate community problem solving.
• Collaborate as part of a health care team, providing, receiving, and using feedback in a constructive manner.
• Practice within, utilize, and contribute to all health care systems.
• Practice a relationship-centered approach, based on developing mutual trust and respect for the autonomy of the patient/client.
• Communicate effectively, accurately and therapeutically, with attention to social and cultural influences, and use appropriate communication modalities and technologies to ensure patient safety and provide for comprehensive continuity of care.
• Make sound clinical judgments through an iterative process of noticing, interpreting, responding and reflecting, use best available evidence, frameworks and systems to organize data and knowledge; accurately performing cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills in the delivery of care while maintaining safety of the patient/client, family, community, environment, and self.
• Locate, evaluate, and use the best available evidence.

Entry Requirements

Students are required to complete the Placement Process to determine skill level and readiness in math, reading, and writing. As part of their training, students must begin with the courses within their skill level as determined through the Placement Process. Students who have failed any two nursing courses (RN level, any program) are disqualified from applying for entry or re-entry to the RCC Nursing Program.

Program admission occurs once per year. Deadline for submitting program application material is February 15 annually for fall term admission (see program website and/or application packet for more information). Transcripts showing satisfactory completion of the math and Anatomy and Physiology I prerequisites and at least 22 other credits of the prerequisite/preparatory courses (minimum of 30 credits) must be in the Enrollment Services office by the application deadline to be considered eligible. All prerequisite/preparatory courses must have been taken with a letter grade and completed with a “C” or better (C- grades are not accepted). Consortium partner schools will use shared standards in a point system and a set of core criteria for evaluation and selection of candidates to the consortium curriculum, but selection processes, acceptance decisions, and admissions will occur at individual schools. Application to the Nursing program requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 for all completed prerequisite/preparatory courses. Contact the Nursing Department or see the Nursing website for information regarding the application and selection process.

If an applicant has taken an equivalent course elsewhere which has a course number, title, or credit hour different from the RCC course, the applicant must contact RCC’s Enrollment Services office for a transfer credit evaluation as far in advance of the application deadline as possible. To be admitted into nursing courses students must complete all required prerequisite and preparatory courses (minimum 45 credits) and be accepted into the Nursing program.

Accepted students must pass a criminal history background check and urine drug screen prior to nursing clinical experiences or their acceptance will be rescinded. Information regarding the background check and drug screen requirements can be found on the program’s website with additional information and deadlines provided to students following acceptance and before fall nursing classes begin. Accepted students will also be required to complete by a specified deadline a CPR Health Care Provider course (adult/child/infant, one- and two-person, with AED, course must have been successfully completed within two years prior to admission to nursing courses. Information regarding required immunizations will be provided in the acceptance letter.

Internet and email access is an integral part of all nursing courses and access to a computer (at home or at the college) will be required on a daily basis. Nursing students attend classes at the Table Rock Campus in White City. For the clinical practicum in both Josephine and Jackson Counties, the student will need reliable transportation. See the program website and/or program information for progression policies.

Graduation Requirements

These requirements apply only to nursing students admitted to the program during 2022-23 academic year. The program of study, graduation requirements, and courses are under constant review and are subject to revision. Students contemplating admission in a later year may have different requirements and must obtain the graduation guide or catalog for that year. If required courses (i.e., clinicals) are graded only on a pass/no pass basis, a grade of “P” for these courses indicate a student earned the equivalent of a “C” or better grade.

Students must complete all courses on this graduation guide with a grade of “C” or better to continue in and complete the program, receive their degrees, and meet the educational requirements to apply to take the national licensure exam (NCLEX-RN). The OSBN screens all applicants for licensure and may deny licensure applicants with a criminal offense or with a major physical or mental condition that could affect their ability to practice nursing safely. Contact the OSBN with any questions.

This guide lays out an optimal path to graduate. Where zero credits are listed in the prerequisites, students may place into a higher-level(s) based on designated placement score(s). Note, some prerequisites may be required for graduation. Please consult an advisor with any program completion questions.

30 Prerequisite/ Required Preparatory Credits to be Eligible to Apply
Application deadline is February 15 annually for fall term admission

Remaining Prerequisite/Preparatory Credits (15-17) to be completed before admission to Nursing courses. To be admitted into nursing courses, students must complete all required prerequisite/required preparatory courses (minimum 45 credits) and be accepted into the Nursing program.

¹ If computer proficiency is documented (0 credits), students must be sure to complete at least 30 credits from prerequisite/preparatory course list by application deadline and all prerequisites by end of summer term in the year of application to enroll in nursing courses, if accepted.

² Applicants who have completed a non-nursing bachelor’s degree in an English speaking country can use it to meet this requirement.

³ Virtual labs are not accepted; see note at end of this footnote. Remote or distance labs not conducted in the physical presence of an instructor are also not accepted for lab science courses; see note at end of this footnote. No extension beyond the seven-year time limit extension will be granted for anatomy and physiology courses. An acceptable 3-4 credit genetics course may replace BI211 only if the student has already completed the required anatomy and physiology and microbiology courses. Note: due to the COVID pandemic, lab courses taken online during 2020-22 will be accepted.

⁴ Electives may be required in pre-requisites and applied in order to reach the minimum 45 prerequisite credits. As needed electives may be required if students completed NFM225, PSY201 or PSY202, PSY215, WR121 and WR122, at 3 credits each, which are acceptable. If Life Span Human Development is completed prior to the application deadline, any previously completed transferable 3-4 credit social science course can replace PSY201.

⁵ MTH95 or higher-level math (4 credits) and BI231 must be part of the 30 credits completed by application deadline for application to be eligible. Remaining 15-19 prerequisite credits for eligibility may be from any of the prerequisite/required preparatory courses. Minimum prerequisite GPA for eligibility is 3.0. C- (minus) grades are not accepted.

⁶ Students who plan to continue through to OHSU must be aware that to earn a bachelor’s degree from OHSU, they must have two years of the same high school-level language, or two terms of college-level language, or pass a language proficiency examination. College-level transferable foreign language (including American Sign Language) credits count toward degree requirements. A minimum of 9 credits of humanities is required for the OHSU degree. Students planning to transition to OHSU must have 132 credits of prerequisite and program required courses by the completion of the AAS degree in order to meet the 180 credit requirement by the completion of the bachelor’s degree with a major in Nursing from OHSU. Students planning to earn a bachelor’s degree are encouraged to complete MTH243 Probability and Statistics soon after the prerequisite math course.

⁷ General education courses in this year may be completed during summer term but must be completed to progress to second year nursing courses.

⁸ NRS115 LPN Transition to OCNE, 6 credits, will be offered in spring term through RCC and will be limited to space available and to those LPNs who meet application/selection criteria. The application deadline will be October 15 annually. See the Nursing program director for more information.

⁹ As needed to meet program minimum credits.

For more information, contact the Nursing Department.

Nursing Department faculty and staff can also be reached by:
Phone: 541-956-7500
Email: [email protected]
Web address: www.roguecc.edu/nursing
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