Educational Standards Set High in Delaware: RN to BSN Programs in Delaware
Delaware sets educational standards high for professional nurses. You can get a nursing position with an ADN degree, but many positions do prefer or even require the BSN. Depending on the type of job you seek, the requirements may be set by the government or by individual employers.
States vary with regard to their mandates for public health and school nursing. Not all have come as far as Delaware has. The push to have the BSN as the terminal degree, though, is a nationwide movement. The Tri-Coucil for Nursing, which includes both the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, issued a consensus statement in 2010, encouraging nurses to seek their BSN degree.
Another major player, and force for change, is the Institute of Medicine. The IOM has published a series of reports detailing inadequacies in the American healthcare system. Fragmentation of services is one of the contributing factors, and the IOM believes that nurses can be a big part of the solution.
What can you expect in a BSN completion course? Programs that are accredited by the Commission of Collegiate Nursing Education follow the Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing. Competencies include far more than just mastering the basics of patient care across the lifespan. A nurse enrolled in a BSN completion course can expect coursework in community nursing and evidence-based practice (including research). Leadership and professional collaboration will be covered. Nurses can expect to increase their health assessment skills. Global health may be included in the program as well.
BSN Career Mobility
Your BSN can be a ticket into the very important world of community nursing. Delaware requires a baccalaureate for those in the public health arena. The same holds true of school nurses. You will need a bachelor’s degree and three years of clinical experience to get hired by a school district; after hiring, you have three years to complete additional classes in school nursing.
Many hospital positions in Delaware also favor candidates with baccalaureate degrees. This includes direct care positions as well as positions for nurse coordinators and leaders. Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children, for example, lists the BSN as a preferred qualification for clinical positions on a wide range of wards. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which does some hiring in Wilmington, also has a preference for BSN candidates. Magnet hospitals are known, across the nation, for an ability to hire the best. Delaware may be small, but it has two magnet hospitals, one in Newark and one in Wilmington.
BSN Program Considerations
It may be easier than you realize to complete that bachelor’s degree. If you like the traditional classroom, you can find classes in Dover, New Castle, and Georgetown. Many RN to BSN programs, though, are taught entirely online. You may enroll in a program through a Delaware institution or one in another state.
It is up to you whether to be a full- or part-time student. Your transcripts will determine how many classes you actually have to take. Wilmington University notes that you can transfer up to 89 credits if you have enough classes on your transcript. This could leave as little as 31 to complete. The reality, though, is that if you don’t have a fairly broad liberal arts background, your course of study will go a little longer. Typical requirements include academic writing and statistics.
Tuition is variable. At the University of Delaware, fees are based on whether you are a resident of the state and whether you are participating in a program though a worksite. Rates start at $377 a credit hour.
RN to BSN Programs in Delaware
University of Delaware
Wilmington University
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