Nursing (BSN) - Accelerated Career Entry (ACE)
Major: Nursing
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 218.0
Co-op Options: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.3801
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 29-1141
About the Program
Drexel University offers the Accelerated Career Entry Option, a one-year intensive nursing program for students who already have bachelor’s or graduate degrees. The program is ideal for working adults or college graduates who want to change careers and earn a new degree in one year. This innovative program is geared to students who will benefit from intense education in nursing science rather than the traditional program, which takes three or four years.
Like their counterparts in the traditional baccalaureate nursing program, graduates of the accelerated program emerge with a set of skills that will serve them well in their chosen profession. Our graduates:
- Utilize the growing compendium of knowledge and information sources from nursing and other disciplines to learn, teach, heal the sick and conserve health.
- Contribute to the profession by sharing knowledge and skills with clients, peers and other professionals in a variety of methods.
- Utilize multiple technologies that access and manage information to guide professional practice.
- Participate in culturally sensitive health promotion activities that contribute to the community’s health and wellness.
- Participate in ongoing educational activities related to personal growth, professional practice and community service.
- Apply knowledge and skills appropriate to their selected areas of career clinical practice.
- Develop personal potential for leadership in a changing health care environment.
- Integrate ethical concepts and principles, The Code of Ethics for Nurses and professional standards into practice within professional, academic and community settings.
- Utilize critical-thinking skills to improve the health outcomes of patients, families and communities across the continuum of care.
Additional Information
For more information about this program, please contact askcnhp@drexel.edu.
Admission Requirements/Prerequisites
Candidates for admission must be college graduates with a 3.0 overall GPA or a 3.0 GPA in their most recent 60.0 semester hours of coursework completed. Admitted students must complete all prerequisites before continuing with the program. Applicants whose native language is not English and/or were born outside of the United States are required to take both the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and the TSE (Test of Spoken English) and achieve a passing score in each.
Degree Requirements
Prerequisites
The following 8 courses, in semester terms, are prerequisites for the ACE program:
Degree Requirements
Students should contact their academic advisor for any changes to their plans of study prior to registration due to ongoing curriculum updates.
Prerequisites:**
| General Chemistry I with Lab | 4.0 | |
| Developmental Psychology | 3.0 | |
| Anatomy with lab * | 4.0 | |
| Physiology with lab * | 4.0 | |
| Microbiology with lab * | 4.0 | |
| Human Nutrition | 3.0 | |
| Statistics | 3.0 | |
| English Composition | 3.0 | |
- *
The anatomy, physiology, and microbiology courses must have been taken within five years of beginning the program.
- **
Drexel University requires 180.0 quarter credits for conferral of a Bachelor’s degree. Students will transfer in 134.0 quarter credits, 96.0 quarter credits from their previous Bachelor Degree and 38.0 quarter credits from their pre-requisites totaling 134.0 quarter credits. Upon completion of the NACE program they will receive an additional 84.0 quarter credits, bringing the total to 218.0 quarter credits.
| NURS 120 | Contemporary Health Care | 3.0 |
| NURS 221 | Concepts of Pathophysiology in Nursing | 3.0 |
| NURS 225 | Health Assessment for Nursing Practice | 5.0 |
| NURS 226 | Fundamentals of Nursing Practice | 6.0 |
| NURS 317 [WI] | Genetics for Healthcare Professionals | 3.0 |
| NURS 320 | Health and Illness Concepts I | 6.0 |
| NURS 321 | Health and Illness Concepts II | 6.0 |
| NURS 322 | Concepts of Mental Health Nursing | 6.0 |
| NURS 323 | Nursing Pharmacology Concepts I | 3.0 |
| NURS 326 | Reproductive Health Across the Lifespan | 6.0 |
| NURS 327 | Population Health Concepts | 6.0 |
| NURS 328 | Pediatric Health Concepts | 6.0 |
| NURS 329 | Nursing Pharmacology Concepts II | 3.0 |
| NURS 420 | Health and Illness Concepts III | 6.0 |
| NURS 421 | Holistic Gerontological Nursing | 6.0 |
| NURS 422 | Leadership Concepts in Nursing | 3.0 |
| NURS 423 [WI] | Research Basis of Nursing Practice | 4.0 |
| NURS 495 | Comprehensive Nursing Concepts | 3.0 |
| Total Credits | 84.0 | |
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements
In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.
A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.
Sample Plan of Study
11-Month Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 120 | 3.0 | NURS 320 | 6.0 | NURS 321 | 6.0 | NURS 327 | 6.0 |
| NURS 221 | 3.0 | NURS 322 | 6.0 | NURS 326 | 6.0 | NURS 420 | 6.0 |
| NURS 225 | 5.0 | NURS 323 | 3.0 | NURS 328 | 6.0 | NURS 422 | 3.0 |
| NURS 226 | 6.0 | NURS 421 | 6.0 | NURS 329 | 3.0 | NURS 423 | 4.0 |
| NURS 317 | 3.0 | NURS 495 | 3.0 | ||||
| 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 | ||||
| Total Credits 84 | |||||||
24- Month Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 120 | 3.0 | NURS 225 | 5.0 | NURS 320 | 6.0 | NURS 321 | 6.0 |
| NURS 221 | 3.0 | NURS 226 | 6.0 | NURS 323 | 3.0 | NURS 329 | 3.0 |
| NURS 317 | 3.0 | ||||||
| 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 326 | 6.0 | NURS 421 | 6.0 | NURS 322 | 6.0 | NURS 420 | 6.0 |
| NURS 328 | 6.0 | NURS 423 | 4.0 | NURS 327 | 6.0 | NURS 422 | 3.0 |
| NURS 495 | 3.0 | ||||||
| 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Total Credits 84 | |||||||
- +
Drexel's Accelerated Career Entry in Nursing program admits new students in Fall and Spring terms each year. Students that begin in Spring will progress in the same sequence as indicated above.
Program Level Outcomes
- Apply concepts from liberal arts to nursing practice
- Demonstrate leadership behaviors that enhance patient safety and quality care
- Utilize multiple technologies to access and manage information to guide professional practice
- Apply research-based evidence to nursing practice
- Integrate technology to support clinical decision making in patient-centered care
- Examine health care policy and financial/regulatory environments that influence the delivery of health care
- Foster caring and collaborative relationships with self, patient and the health care community that provide positive outcomes
- Practice culturally congruent care that addresses health promotion and disease prevention
- Assimilate ethical principles and professional standards into practice using evidence-based clinical judgment
- Apply age-specific knowledge to provide safe, competent care across the lifespan
- Pursue life-long learning as a means to enhance practice