Dedicated to the mission of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the School of Nursing educates students in a caring science curriculum to become leaders in the profession of nursing, and thereby to transform healthcare and the world. The BSN program challenges students to strive for intellectual and professional excellence, to build inclusive communities, to engage in service to others, and to promote social responsibility. The philosophy of the School of Nursing grounds the caring curriculum, as well as all activities of the School:
Nursing and the teaching of nursing is a journey through deep caring connections with patients, students, colleagues, and the discipline of nursing. Nursing is imagined and known through caring authentic presence with others and multiple ways of knowing. Nursing is a presence to life lived with those entrusted to our care, a beacon, attentive to the extraordinary in the mundane and boldly entering questions of meaning. All stories of individuals and of the discipline are valued as necessary to the growth and advancement of the profession. Healing practice is possible in partnership relationships; nursing creates safe welcoming places, encouraging growth, seeking to understand and knowing each other's hearts.
Nurses are called to care through advocacy, action, 'power-with' and trusting relationships with persons and groups in diverse settings. Nursing embraces diversity and commitment to social justice. With perseverance and fortitude, caring and compassion are preserved as the ethical foundation of nursing practice and scholarship.
A nursing way of being requires reflective practice, a listening, that allows for meaning-making in all dimensions of academic and practice endeavors. Nursing practice is characterized by thoughtfulness and necessarily lived out with intention. This way of being
Students in the traditional undergraduate program are admitted to Notre Dame as Nursing students and complete most liberal arts and basic science courses prior to beginning the Nursing Major in the junior year. Both BSN pathways integrate the academic discipline with reflective clinical practice. Clinical learning experiences occur in a variety of hospital and community settings serving diverse populations throughout the region. BSN graduates are prepared as nurse generalists and are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX–RN) in order to secure licensure as a Registered Nurse.
The Nursing Program is approved by the Maryland Board of Nursing and is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001; Phone: 202-887-6791).
Progression Policy in the Nursing Major for Junior and Senior Year
Once enrolled in the Nursing Major, students must meet the following criteria in order to progress in the Major:
Criteria for Progression
- Adhere to the NSNA Code of Ethics for Nursing Students—Code of Academic and Clinical Conduct.
- Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 in nursing courses.
- Achieve a grade of C or better in all nursing courses.
- Satisfactorily complete the clinical component of each nursing course. A clinical failure constitutes failure of the entire nursing course regardless if a passing grade was obtained in classroom theory tests.
- Minimum of 70% examination average must be met before other assignments are considered in select nursing courses in order to pass the course. Once the examination average of 70% is met, all other assignment grades will be factored. These select courses include: NUR-301 Holistic Health Assessment, NUR-305 Foundations of a Caring Profession, NUR-308 Professional Nursing Care: Psychiatric Mental Health, NUR-310 Pathopharmacology, NUR-311 Professional Nursing Care of the Adult I, NUR-408 Professional Nursing Care: Maternal Newborn Nursing, NUR-417 Professional Nursing Care: Children and Families, NUR-421 Professional Nursing Care of the Complex Adult 1, NUR-422 Professional Nursing Care of the Complex Adult II, and NUR-431 Community Health Nursing.
- Only one nursing course (NUR designation) may be repeated—and only one time. Failure of a second nursing course results in dismissal from the nursing program.
- Students are limited to repeating one science course (for a grade less than C) and one nursing course (for a grade less than C) throughout the entire program of study.
- Students are limited to two withdrawals from nursing courses during their course of study.
- Students who withdraw from the program due to non-academic reasons may be reinstated on a space-available basis. Students must have withdrawn in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or above in all nursing courses. University admission policies are followed.
The complete policy for acceptance to the Nursing Major and complete progression policy is contained in the Undergraduate Nursing Student Entry-Level BSN Student Handbook.
Nursing Major Prerequisite Courses
Nursing Major Courses
Starting Fall 2026
Students entering the nursing program in Fall 2026 will follow the new Competency-Based Curriculum listed below and not the curriculum listed in the catalog under which the student was admitted.
Nursing Major Courses
Prior to Fall 2026
Students who entered the nursing program prior to Fall of 2026 will follow the previous nursing curriculum.
Traditional Undergraduate BSN Four-Year Plan
*Foreign Language Requirement
LSP-150 Begining Spanish for Healthcare Professionals is a requirement of the Nursing Major. However, based on a student's foreign language placement exam results, a student may be eligible to take an equivalency exam. If a student passes the equivalency exam, she is exempt from taking LSP 150.
Accelerated Second-Course Sequencing BSN Course Sequence
ABSN and H-ABSN
The 15-month Accelerated BSN (ABSN) Program is offered in 2 formats. The ABSN face-to-face program starts each Fall. The Hybrid ABSN has 3 starts per year - Spring, Summer, and Fall. The sequencing remains the same for both options. Students must hold a bachelor's degree in another field to be eligible for the ABSN program.