ABSTRACT
Developing and Enhancing Clinical Tracks in the MSN Program
The UTHSCSA School of Nursing has a successful, fully accredited, long standing, accelerated LVN to RN/BSN educational option designed to meet the specific articulation needs of adult LVN students. It is three full time semesters; heavily web enhanced, and requires 62 hours of lower division preadmission requisite courses.
LVN numbers in Texas continue to increase, while opportunities diminish, and RN demands explode, making LVNs a highly appropriate market for an accelerated LVN to BSN program. The LVN pool is heavily minority weighted and provides an excellent resource for increasing minority representation in the profession. In Texas border regions this is particularly pertinent, as is the need to facilitate educational advancement that increases professional nurses in local communities.
The goal of the proposal is secure the resources necessary for The UTHSCSASA-SON to collaboratively explore the feasibility of, and develop a plan for the potential expansion of their LVN to BSN/RN option to 3 other UT schools (UTB, UTPA, UTEP) as well as studying opportunities to share resources in offering the program, and pre-requisites, across campuses. A needs assessment, evaluation of articulation and/or impact on current programs options, and assessment of impact on faculty, physical, and clinical resources will be included.
