Nursing Degree Requirements

Students in the BSN program must complete 56 credits in the major, along with 24 credits of required courses that support the major and 50+ credits fulfilling Carthage’s degree requirements. Minimum total credits for the degree are 130, 82 of which must be outside the major.

Required Courses (56 credits)

• NSG 2010 Pathophysiologic Concepts for Nursing Practice (4 credits)
• NSG 2015 Fundamental Core Concepts for Nursing Practice (includes practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 2016 Advanced Core Concepts for Nursing Practice (includes practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 3010 Principles of Pharmacotherapeutics in Nursing Practice (4 credits)
• NSG 3012 Nursing Practice I: Improving Adult Health Outcomes (includes practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 3014 Nursing Practice II: Improving Children’s Health Outcomes (includes practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 3015 Assuring Quality and Safety in Health Care Settings (4 credits)
• NSG 3020 Nursing Practice III: Improving Mental Health Outcomes (with practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 3022 Nursing Practice IV: Improving Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes (with practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 3024 Clinical Scholarship: Applying Evidence to Improve Health Outcomes (Writing Intensive) (4 credits)
• NSG 4020 Nursing Practice V: Improving Health Outcomes of Populations (with practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 4022 Nursing Practice VI: Improving Health Outcomes in Complex Situations (with practicum) (4 credits)
• NSG 4024 Leading Systems of Care to Improve Health Outcomes (4 credits)
• NSG 4026 Advanced Clinical Synthesis and Capstone (practicum and senior thesis) (4 credits)

Required Support Courses (24 credits)

• BIO 2010 Human Anatomy and Physiology for the Health Professional I (4 credits)
• BIO 2020 Human Anatomy and Physiology for the Health Professional II (4 credits)
• CHM 1010 General Chemistry I (4 credits)
• CHM 1020 General Chemistry II (4 credits)
• PYC 1850 Lifespan Developmental Psychology for the Health Professional (4 credits)
• Sociology elective (SOC 1000 Introduction to Sociology, SOC 2010 Social Problems, SOC 2020 Cultural Anthropology, or SWK 1300 Introduction to Social Justice and Social Welfare) (4 credits)

To continue in the Carthage BSN Program, students must meet the following progression requirements:

Cumulative GPA of 2.75 or Better

Nursing majors must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or greater throughout their time in the nursing program. Nursing majors must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 or greater to graduate. Students whose cumulative GPA falls below 2.75 will be placed on academic probation within the program and will be allowed one semester to bring their GPA to the requisite 2.75 cumulative average. A student who does not raise their GPA to 2.75 within one semester may be dismissed from the nursing major. Faculty will evaluate a student’s progress toward the requisite GPA and may, if the student demonstrates sufficient progress, extend the probationary term by a semester to allow the student time to raise the GPA. A third probationary event (i.e., GPA below minimum requirement, or a non-progressing grade in a nursing or correlative course) may result in dismissal from the program. Dismissal from the nursing major does not necessarily mean dismissal from Carthage College. Students should confer with their advisor to ascertain their eligibility to continue at Carthage.

Grade of “C” or Better in all Courses

All courses must be passed with a grade of “C” or better. A C-minus is not a passing grade in the BSN Program. Students must receive a “pass” for all clinical experiences.

• All nursing (NSG) and correlative courses (BIO, CHM, EXS, PYC, or SOC) must be passed with a grade of “C” or better.
• Students must receive a “pass” for all clinical experiences (i.e., NSGC 2015, NSGC 2016, NSGC 3012, NSGC 3014, NSGC 3020, NSGC 3022, NSGC 4020, NSGC 4022, NSGC 4026). A student who receives a “no pass” for any clinical experience must repeat both the didactic and clinical portions of that course at its next iteration before progressing to the next grade level.
• If a student receives a grade of C-minus or below in the didactic portion of a clinical nursing course (i.e., NSG 2015, NSG 2016, NSG 2010, NSG 3010, NSG 3012, NSG 3014, NSG 3020, NSG 3022, NSG 4020, NSG 4022, NSG 4026), the student must repeat said course at its next iteration.
• Students should be aware that the need to repeat the didactic and/or clinical section portion of a course may delay the student’s graduation date due to the availability of these courses.
• A student may repeat an individual nursing course or a correlative course only once. If the student is not successful in the second attempt of the course (i.e., a grade of C or better), the student will be dismissed from the nursing program.
• A student will be dismissed from the nursing major if they receive a third non-progressing grade (any grade of C-minus or below) in any combination of nursing or correlative courses.
• A student may repeat any course, other than nursing or correlative courses, as many times as necessary to maintain a 2.75 GPA, but the student should be aware that repeating a course may delay graduation.

Additional student policies may be found in the Carthage Nursing Student Handbook.