Nursing (RN-BSN)

The faculty of the Department of Nursing accepts the philosophy of The University of Tennessee at Martin supporting the goal to educate and engage responsible citizens to lead and serve in a diverse world.

The Department of Nursing's mission is to prepare caring, compassionate, professional nurse generalists committed to advancing the profession of nursing through leadership and service in diverse healthcare communities and the world.

The Department of Nursing believes a professional nurse is committed to making safe clinical judgments supported by evidence to implement patient-centered care for diverse individuals, families and groups across the lifespan. The nurse considers patients' self-identified, unique and individual preferences to provide optimal collaborative and compassionate care. The professional nurse utilizes concepts of informatics and technology, quality improvement, and health promotion in leadership roles in various healthcare systems (AACN, 2008; NCSBN, 2015; QSEN, 2015).

The faculty of the department of Nursing at The University of Tennessee at Martin believe:

Patient-centered care (PCC) includes recognizing the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based on respect for patient's preferences, spiritual and cultural values, and needs (QSEN, 2015).

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the process of integrating best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient/family preferences and values for delivery of optimal health care (QSEN, 2015). Clinical judgment is using evidence-based practice to make decisions within the care setting. Professional nursing practice is grounded in the translation of current evidence into one's practice (AACN, 2008).

Teamwork and collaboration (TC) occur when the nurse functions effectively within nursing and interprofessional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respect, and shared decision making to achieve quality patient care (QSEN, 2015). Communication and collaboration among healthcare professionals are critical to delivery high quality and safe patient care (AACN, 2008).

Safety (S) minimizes risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance (QSEN, 2015). Safe performance of nursing care is considered foundational for the professional nurse and is essential to provide high quality health care (AACN, 2008).

Quality improvement (QI) is the process of using data to monitor the outcomes of care processes and use improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of health care systems (QSEN, 2015). Knowledge and skill in quality improvement is necessary to provide high quality health care (AACN, 2008).

Professionalism (P) and the inherent values of altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity and social justice are fundamental to the discipline of nursing (AACN, 2008). As professionals, nurses use a well-delineated and broad knowledge base for practice. Professional nursing requires strong critical reasoning, clinical judgment, communication and assessment skills. Baccalaureate nurse generalists are members of the profession and in this role are advocates for the patient and the profession (AACN, 2008).

Informatics (IT) involves the use of information and technology to communicate, utilize knowledge management, mitigate error, and support decision making (QSEN, 2015). Knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technology are critical in the delivery of quality patient care (AACN, 2008).

Leadership (L) skills of the baccalaureate nurse generalist emphasize ethical and critical decision making, initiating and maintaining effective working relationships, using mutually respectful communication and collaboration within interprofessional teams, care coordination, delegation, and developing conflict resolution strategies (AACN, 2008).

Health promotion (HP) is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions (WHO, 2015). Health promotion and disease prevention at the individual and population level are necessary to improve population health and are important components of baccalaureate generalist nursing practice (AACN, 2008).

Follow these steps for the Nursing Pre-Entrance Exam:>

1. Students register through RegisterBlast for a testing appointment at the UT Martin Testing Center. The proctor fee is $38.50.
2. Students create an account with ATI prior to test date. (Choose U of Tn Martin as institution)
3. Students will pay the TEAS test fee on the test date; students must bring debit or credit card to the test center. The TEAS test fee must be rendered using a credit or debit card. Be sure to fill in the correct billing address associated with the card or the system will not accept payment. This fee is approximately $72 with taxes.

Sixty percent (60%) of students who begin in the baccalaureate program will complete on time-- (pre-licensure students within six semesters; RN-BSN completion students within four semesters).

At least 80% of graduates will pass the NCLEX-RN on the first attempt within the same 12-month period.

90% of all students who complete the BSN will be employed as Registered Nurses within 3-6 months of graduation.