Plymouth State University’s nursing program is launching a new RN to BSN track in fall 2024. Prospective students who already have an associate degree and are licensed as registered nurses in any state can transfer between 60 to 90 credits toward the 120 total credits required to graduate at PSU with a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN).
“This program will fill an important gap in our educational offering and will meet a growing demand for nurses looking to take the next step in their careers,” PSU Director of Nursing Donna Driscoll, DPN, RN, CEN. “We look forward to seeing how our fully integrated classrooms will benefit from the experience of working nurses, and we believe this program will serve to bolster the much-needed nursing workforce in New Hampshire and beyond.”
While nursing classes will be held in-person at the PSU campus, there will also be an option to attend remotely via Zoom, which will provide flexibility for working nurses and out-of-state students. Certain general education courses are also available as online courses.
Each nursing student at PSU must complete an Integrated Capstone course, which includes clinical hours at a local healthcare institution. In addition to its existing clinical affiliations, PSU will establish ad hoc affiliations with institutions closer to where students live and work to make it possible for all students to receive the necessary credits. RN students will only be required to perform up to 100 hours of clinical study, while traditional students will need to complete 270 hours to fulfill the requirements of their capstone course.
This will be the first program of its kind at PSU, wherein traditional and non-traditional students will be seamlessly integrated, enabling young students to learn from fellow students who may already have a great deal of nursing experience.
Additionally, PSU is unveiling a new pre-nursing track for first-year students who do not initially meet the criteria for the nursing program. This will enable students to take the prerequisite nursing courses while enrolled in the allied health sciences program during their first year with the goal of transferring into the nursing program the following year. If a pre-nursing student successfully transfers into nursing in their second year, it will not delay their graduation.
PSU’s nursing program has been ranked the No. 1 nursing program in New Hampshire by RegisteredNursing.org based on the pass rates for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) over the past five years. PSU’s nursing program is also ranked top in the country, with a 100 percent pass rate in the 2022 to 2023 school year. PSU nursing students collectively earned a 100 percent pass rate in four out of the last five years.
The program is expected to see continued growth. By fall 2025, a new and improved Panther Nursing Simulation Center will have opened, along with additional classrooms, effectively doubling the current center’s capacity.
