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 Lab4.0
Developmental Psychology3.0
Anatomy with lab *4.0
Physiology with lab *4.0
Microbiology with lab *4.0
Human Nutrition3.0
Statistics3.0
English Composition3.0
*

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 120Contemporary Health Care3.0
NURS 221Concepts of Pathophysiology in Nursing3.0
NURS 225Health Assessment for Nursing Practice5.0
NURS 226Fundamentals of Nursing Practice6.0
NURS 317 [WI] Genetics for Healthcare Professionals3.0
NURS 320Health and Illness Concepts I6.0
NURS 321Health and Illness Concepts II6.0
NURS 322Concepts of Mental Health Nursing6.0
NURS 323Nursing Pharmacology Concepts I3.0
NURS 326Reproductive Health Across the Lifespan6.0
NURS 327Population Health Concepts6.0
NURS 328Pediatric Health Concepts6.0
NURS 329Nursing Pharmacology Concepts II3.0
NURS 420Health and Illness Concepts III6.0
NURS 421Holistic Gerontological Nursing6.0
NURS 422Leadership Concepts in Nursing3.0
NURS 423 [WI] Research Basis of Nursing Practice4.0
NURS 495Comprehensive Nursing Concepts3.0
Total Credits84.0

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
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
NURS 1203.0NURS 3206.0NURS 3216.0NURS 3276.0
NURS 2213.0NURS 3226.0NURS 3266.0NURS 4206.0
NURS 2255.0NURS 3233.0NURS 3286.0NURS 4223.0
NURS 2266.0NURS 4216.0NURS 3293.0NURS 4234.0
NURS 3173.0  NURS 4953.0
 20 21 21 22
Total Credits 84

24- Month Plan of Study

First Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
NURS 1203.0NURS 2255.0NURS 3206.0NURS 3216.0
NURS 2213.0NURS 2266.0NURS 3233.0NURS 3293.0
NURS 3173.0   
 9 11 9 9
Second Year
FallCreditsWinterCreditsSpringCreditsSummerCredits
NURS 3266.0NURS 4216.0NURS 3226.0NURS 4206.0
NURS 3286.0NURS 4234.0NURS 3276.0NURS 4223.0
   NURS 4953.0
 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

Nursing Faculty

Joyce Brill, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC. Assistant Clinical Professor. Pediatric critical care and pediatric rehabilitation
Linda Celia, DNP, RN-BC (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Adult medical-surgical nursing and telemetry.
Beth Chiatti, PhD, RN, CTN, CSN (Widener University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Genetics, transcultural nursing, immigrant health, human rights and global health
Danielle Devine, PhD, RN (Villanova University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Neurology, Critical Care.
Gloria Donnelly, PhD (Bryn Mawr College) Dean Emerita. Professor. Nursing education and a variety of mental health topics including assertiveness, stress and change.
Jane Donovan, PhD, RNC -MNN (Widener University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Maternal-newborn and gynecological nursing, intellectual and development disabilities nursing, nursing administration, nursing education.
Theresa Fay-Hillier, DrPH, MSN, PMHCNS-BC (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Child, adolescent and family mental health nursing.
Maryann Godshall, PhD, RN, CCRN, CPN, CNE (Duquesne University). Associate Clinical Professor. Pediatrics, critical care, nursing education, pediatric burn patients.
Maureen Gonzales, MSN, WHNP (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Clinical Professor. Women's health, high risk obstetrics.
Elizabeth Hammond-Ritschard, PhD, MSN, RN (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Clinical Professor. Cardiac nursing, adult medical-surgical nursing, leadership, and nursing education.
Shelly Hickey, MSN, BSN, RN (Villanova University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Critical care, nursing education.
Dana C. Kemery, EdD, MSN, RN, CNE, CEN, CPEN (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Emergency nursing (adult and pediatric), nursing education.
Tasha Martin-Peters, MSN, RN (Duke University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Pediatric critical care, pediatric cardiac care.
Kristen McLaughlin, PhD, MSN, RN, CPNP-PC (Widener University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Pediatric nurse practitioner.
Maura Nitka, MSN, RN, CPN (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Pediatric nursing.
Jennifer Olszewski, EdD, MSN, CRNP, ANP-BC (Drexel University) Chair of the BSN Nursing Accelerated Career Entry Program. Assistant Clinical Professor. Adult-gerontology nurse practitioner, dementia care.
Alis Kotler Panzera, DNP, WHNP-BC, RN (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Board certified women’s health nurse practitioner, reproductive health and female urology.
Hailey Park, DNP, MSN, AGACNP-BC (Vanderbilt University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Acute critical care and nursing education.n
Genevieve Porrecca, MSN, RN, PCCN (Holy Family University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Critical care
Meaghan Shattuck, MSN, RN, OCN (Holy Family University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Oncology certified, medical/surgical nursing and education.
Tina Solomon, MSN, RN FNP-C (West Chester University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Adult medical-surgical nursing and nursing education.
Helen Teng, PhD, RN (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Clinical Professor. Community health, immigrant health.
Ann Thiel-Barrett, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, CNE (Chatham University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Family health nursing.
Elizabeth Ward, MSN, RN, FNO-BC, CORLN (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Family nurse practitioner, nursing leadership and education, pediatric otolaryngology.
Denise Way, DNP, MSN, RN (Wilmington University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Osteoporosis prevention throughout the lifespan.
Joyce Welliver, MSN, CRNP, CAC, RN (Drexel University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Psychiatric/mental health nursing, adult health
Mary Yost, PhD, RN (Widener University) Chair of the BSN Co-Op Program. Associate Clinical Professor. Trauma/Critical Car and Emergency Nursing.
Mary Ann Zimmer, PhD, RN, MSN, CPN (Villanova University). Assistant Clinical Professor. Pediatrics, adult medical-surgical nursing, nursing education.