About CSUB Nursing
Undergraduate Program
The DON has offered the BSN degree since the University first opened its doors in 1970. Over the past 45 years, more than 2,400 students have completed a BSN at CSUB. CSUB remains the only public university in the region where students can earn a BSN.
Non-licensed students can obtain a BSN and eligibility for permission to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) through the Traditional BSN Program, a rigorous 3-year experience. Registered nurses can earn a bachelor’s degree through the RN-BSN Program, which features a predominantly online curriculum. As of December 2015, there are 423 pre-nursing students, 155 Traditional BSN students, and 82 RN-BSN students enrolled at CSUB. As a result of heavy demand, the Traditional BSN Program and the RN-BSN Program have both been granted Impacted Status designation from the CSU Chancellor’s Office. In the CSU system, a program is granted Impacted Status when the number of applications received exceeds program capacity. At CSUB, admissions standards and ranking criteria for the Traditional BSN and RN-BSN programs are established by the Undergraduate Program Committee (UPC), and cohorts are comprised of the top-ranking candidates. Graduates of the Traditional BSN and RN-BSN Programs have provided an excellent pool of candidates for admission to the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program at CSUB.
The majority of the RN-BSN Program is delivered in an online format. The RN-BSN program had been offered on-campus for many years, but in 2009 the DON began utilizing the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) to provide improved access to higher education for nurses in the region. All of the nursing didactic courses are offered online and do not require on-campus attendance. The program’s one clinical course, Community Health Practicum, requires 100 hours of clinical experience.
The BSN Program earned continuing approval from the California state Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) in Fall 2011. The BSN program’s accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) was successfully renewed in Spring 2012. A Continuous Improvement Progress Report (CIPR) is due in December 2017, and the next on-site evaluation is planned for Spring of 2022.
Graduate Program
The DON opened the MSN program in 1987 with a graduate degree in Nursing Administration, and secured National League for Nursing (NLN) accreditation in 1991. After the implementation of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Track in 1996, the BSN and MSN programs transitioned successfully to CCNE accreditation in 1998. Additional MSN Tracks were also introduced and discontinued over the years, based on student demand and available resources. Between 1990 and 2010, the MSN program graduated 114 FNPs and 87 Clinical Nurse Leaders, Clinical Nurse Specialists, Nurse Educators, and School Nurses. Most MSN graduates have remained in Kern County and are leaders within the local healthcare community.
During a period of economic recession and statewide budget cuts in higher education, the difficult decision was made to temporarily close the MSN program. The DON suspended new MSN admissions in Fall 2008 and notified the California BRN and the CCNE. All MSN students received careful advising and were well-informed regarding this program change. No new students were enrolled, and the final MSN courses were offered during Spring 2010. All continuing MSN students successfully completed their coursework and graduated as planned in June 2010. In 2011, CCNE accreditation for the MSN program was voluntarily withdrawn due to the program’s moratorium status. As a result, the regularly scheduled on-site evaluation by the CCNE in 2012 did not include the graduate program; there were no MSN courses offered and no students enrolled.
Between 2010 and 2014, leaders within our community and on campus monitored the trends within the healthcare system, our community’s needs, and the professional goals of our current and prospective students. A feasibility study was conducted, which indicated a tremendous need for more FNPs; a healthy MSN/FNP program is a critical resource for the Central Valley of California. The MSN Program with an FNP Track reopened in Fall 2014 with full approval by the California BRN, and is now seeking to reestablish accreditation from the CCNE through the standard new program process. The current cohort of 15 students will be completing the program in June 2016, and a new cohort of 18 students is planned to enter in August 2016.
The University will be transitioning from the quarter system to a semester calendar in Fall 2016. For this reason, no new MSN enrollments were planned for Fall 2015 to avoid having a full cohort in the middle of their curriculum during the transition.
Nursing Faculty
The Department’s nursing faculty are highly qualified nurse scholars and educators prepared in research and practice of their respective nursing disciplines. Faculty members meet the California Board of Registered Nursing expectations for clinical competence, the University and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education’s expectations for scholarship, teaching, practice, and leadership.
Resources
The Department maintains three technical areas for nursing students in the Romberg Nursing Education Center (RNEC) on the CSUB campus: a nursing skills laboratory, a computer laboratory, and a simulation center with an attached smart classroom to support multiple forms of technology-assisted classroom instruction. The nursing arts laboratory has 13 patient care learning stations, and the computer lab contain videotapes, PCs and Macintosh computers, instructional software, and multimedia software.
Community Partners
Students practice their nursing skills at many locations in Bakersfield and in the surrounding Kern Country area. These facilities include hospitals, physicians’ offices, health clinics, schools, public health agencies, homeless shelters, hospices, and specialty care centers.
CSUB Non-Discrimination and Non-harassment Policy
The Department of Nursing follows the CSUB policy on non-discrimination and non-harassment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, handicap, color, marital status, sexual or national origin.
