Jul 28, 2025  
Graduate and Pharmacy Catalog 2025-2026 
    
Graduate and Pharmacy Catalog 2025-2026

The School of Nursing



Kimberly Fenstermacher, Ph.D., RN, Dean and Professor - School of Nursing

Diane Esposito, Ph.D., APRN-BC, Associate Dean, DNP Program

Gitana Ng, DNP, ARNP, NP-C, FNP-BC, Associate Dean, MSN Program

Associate Professors

  • Diane Esposito, Ph.D., APRN, PMHCNS-BC
  • Nakisha Kinlaw, DNP, APRN, AGPCNP-C
  • Valessa Joseph, DNP, APRN, FNP-C

Assistant Professor

  • Gitana Ng, DNP, ARNP, NP-C, FNP-BC

 

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Palm Beach Atlantic University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

 

Mission

The mission of Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Nursing is to prepare and equip graduates within a Christ-centered environment to serve God boldly in a life of service in the profession of nursing incorporating intellectual, professional, and spiritual integrity.

Core Values

Christ-centered

Christ is at the center of everything the School of Nursing does. “He [Christ] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” – Colossians 1:17 – 20

Servant Leader

PBA prepares students for lifelong learning and leadership. We strongly believe that leadership begins with being a servant. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:26 – 28

Ministry of Caring

Caring for the sick is not simply an act of goodness, but an act of worship and obedience, taking part in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:20


Empathy for: Empathy leads to action: “Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. ‘Lord,’ they answered, ‘we want our sight.’ Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” – Matthew 20:32-34


Connection to: Our common humanity binds us together. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” – John 11:33


Being with: Sometimes simply being with another is more important than doing for them: “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” – Luke 10:40-42

Holistic approach

Health involves much more than mere physical wellness or even psychological well-being. Health includes socio-cultural and spiritual aspects as well, and nurses must take them into account. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” – Mark 8:36

Professionalism

PBA is dedicated to excellence. PBA Nursing expresses that excellence through dedication to professionalism. It is not enough to simply feel empathy or compassion, or even act on them. Caring must be competent, tempered by learning, experience, and judgment. “I was sick and you looked after me…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:36,40

 

Master of Science in Nursing Program

Accreditation

The School of Nursing (SON) offers the MSN based on national standards set forth in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021)

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Palm Beach Atlantic University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

MSN Program Goals:

  • Provide master’s nursing education that builds on prior nursing education and experience.
  • Prepare graduates for advanced nursing practice - through competency-based education to promote clinical proficiency in their specialty concentration.
  • Prepare graduates for evidence-based practice and continuation of scholarship for doctoral studies in nursing.

MSN Program Learning Outcomes:

  1. Implement and evaluate theoretical and empirical knowledge from the natural and social sciences, Christian faith, and nursing as a source of clinical reasoning and decision-making to provide holistic care in advanced nursing practice specialties.
  2. Promote advanced nursing practice specialty care that is person-centered, framed in Christian values, holistic, individualized, equitable, respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based, and culturally sensitive.
  3. Appraise population healthcare to address disparities and social determinants of health, through wellness promotion, and disease prevention and management, collaborating with community partners, healthcare systems, local government entities, and others for the improvement of equitable population health outcomes.
  4. Synthesize and evaluate nursing knowledge through the application of evidence-based practice to improve quality of care and patient outcomes.
  5. Implement principles of safety as core values of advanced nursing practice specialties to enhance quality and minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
  6. Facilitate interprofessional communication and collaboration with care team members, patients, families, communities, and others to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and improve outcomes.
  7. Apply organizational systems leadership principles within advanced nursing practice specialties to deliver cost-effective, safe, high-quality, and equitable care to diverse populations.
  8. Implement and evaluate healthcare technologies to gather and interpret data, inform diagnostic reasoning, develop treatment plans and provide safe, high-quality and efficient healthcare in accordance with best practice and professional and regulatory standards
  9. Demonstrate and foster professional identity that encompasses Christian values, moral courage, accountability, integrity, a collaborative disposition, and ethical comportment reflective of nursing’s characteristics and values.
  10. Implement strategies to equip others and foster personal health, resilience, and well-being, contributing to lifelong learning, and supporting the development of nursing expertise and assertion of leadership.

*SACSCOC Concentration Program Learning Outcomes are listed under each track

“Expected student learning outcomes specify the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes students are expected to attain in courses or in a program.” Page 69. Resource Manual for the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), 2018.

MSN Program Tracks

The PBA School of Nursing offers two entries into the MSN program – Dual Enrollment BSN/MSN, or post-BSN.  There are four tracks:

  • Family Nurse Practitioner
  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  • Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
  • Health Systems Leadership

PBA BSN students may be eligible to participate in the Dual Enrollment Entry, where they will take up to two 3-credit Graduate Level courses during their senior year, while completing the BSN.

The MSN program requires 37-47 credits over 4 semesters dependent upon the track.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

Dual Enrollment BSN/MSN:

  1. Must be a Palm Beach Atlantic University BSN student.
  2. PBA BSN students may apply during their Junior Year to take two MSN courses in their Senior Year.
    1. NUR 5013 Scientific and Philosophical Foundations of Nursing Practice may be taken in lieu of the BSN Nursing elective.
    2. NUR 5113 Leadership in Organizations and Systems may be taken in lieu of NUR 4203 Nursing Leadership and Management.
  3. Student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA.
  4. Student must submit CV with details about community service and a letter of recommendation from their undergraduate nursing faculty.
  5. Upon graduating from PBA’s undergraduate BSN program, the student transitions
  6. into the MSN program.
  7. Student must pass the NCLEX and obtain a Florida RN license upon completion of the BSN to continue in the MSN program.
  8. Student must be employed as a Registered Nurse within the first year of graduation with the BSN.

MSN Program: 

  1. Bachelor’s degree in nursing from a regionally accredited university and nationally accredited nursing program.
  2. Minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, minimum nursing course GPA 3.0.
  3. No GRE required; however, applicants with a GPA less than 3.0 (cumulative and nursing courses) on a 4.0 scale must provide acceptable GRE scores of 50th percentile on both verbal and quantitative sections and 4.0 on the analytical writing section
  4. Unencumbered, current Florida Licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN). 
  5. One year experience working as a Registered Nurse.
  6. Required documents below may be submitted directly to PBA admissions or through NursingCAS* at www.nursingcas.org:
    1. Official Transcripts from all schools attended
    2. Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    3. Three letters of recommendation attesting to the applicant’s academic ability and leadership potential, including one from a current supervisor
    4. GRE scores if applicable
    5. Current and active Florida RN license or current and active license from another state and proof of application to Florida Board of Nursing
    6. Personal statement supporting future goals, faith, and interest in obtaining an advanced practice nursing role (no more than 500 words)

Health Systems Leadership Track

HSL Program Learning Outcome (SACSCOC track specific program measure for concentrations): At the completion of the program, graduates will demonstrate competency in the role of a health systems leader through application of evidence-based practice and quality improvement.

  • This MSN concentration is designed to prepare nurses for positions of leadership and management. A Health Systems leader can enter a health system/practice environment and diagnose systems level problems, develop evidence-based improvement plans, implement the plan for improvement, and evaluate their effectiveness.
  • Graduates who meet the practice requirements may be eligible to sit for the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center) Nurse Executive certification or the AONE Certified Nurse Manager and Leader (CNML). (Work experience is also required for eligibility to sit for the certification exam).
  • Emphasis is on identifying real world problems, leading the design and implementation of evidence-based quality improvement plans, and evaluating their effectiveness.

MSN with Health Systems Leadership Concentration

Format: Online Hybrid

Degree Requirements: 37 Credit Hours; 510 Clinical/Practicum Hours

Required Courses:

NUR 5013 - Scientific and Philosophical Foundations of Nursing Practice 3 Credit Hours ***may have taken as BSN dual enrollment

NUR 5023 - Advanced Nursing Research 3 Credit Hours

NUR 5103 - Healthcare Policy and Advocacy 3 Credit Hours

NUR 5113 - Leadership in Organizations and Systems 3 Credit Hours ***may have taken as BSN dual enrollment

NUR 5223 - Faith and Science 3 Credit Hours

NUR 6003 - Advanced Pathophysiology 3 Credit Hours

NUR 6013 - Healthcare Technology and Quality Improvement 3 Credit Hours

NUR 6053 - Advanced Nursing Practicum I 3 Credit Hours, 225 Practicum Hours

NUR 6103 - Advanced Pharmacology 3 Credit Hours

NUR 6104 - Advanced Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning 4 Credit Hours, 60 Clinical Hours

NUR 6153 - Advanced Nursing Practicum II 3 Credit Hours, 225 Practicum Hours

NUR 7103 - Healthcare Economics and Finance 3 Credit Hours

Family Nurse Practitioner Track

FNP Program Learning Outcome (SACSCOC program measure for concentrations): At the completion of the program, graduates will demonstrate competency in the role of the family nurse practitioner through health promotion and primary care management for individuals across the lifespan.

This MSN concentration is designed to prepare nurses to provide primary care across the lifespan. Students are eligible to sit for the ANCC or AANP FNP National Board Certification upon completion of the NP program and apply for Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (APRN) Licensure in the State of Florida. Emphasis is on developing advanced practice nursing knowledge and skills for the provision of health promotion and disease prevention in primary care settings.

Students are required to attend 3 in-person sessions per semester, on campus, during the four specialty courses.

MSN with Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Concentration

Format: Online Hybrid

Degree Requirements:   46 Credit Hours; 780 Clinical Hours

Required Courses:

NUR 5013 Scientific and Philosophical Underpinnings of Nursing Science 3 Credit hours 

**  may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 5113 Leadership in Organizations and Systems 3 Credit hours

 ** may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 6103 Healthcare Technology and Quality Improvement 3 Credit hours

NUR 5223 Faith and Science 3 Credit hours

NUR 6003 Advanced Pathophysiology 3 Credit hours

NUR 6103 Advanced Pharmacology 3 Credit hours

NUR 5023 Advanced Nursing Research 3 Credit hours

NUR 6104 Advanced Health Assessment 4 Credit hours, 60 Clinical Hours

NUR 7033 Primary Care I Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 7053 Primary Care I Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR 7133 Primary Care II Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 7153 Primary Care II Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR 8033 Primary Care III Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 8053 Primary Care III Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR  8153 APRN Immersion 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Track

PMHNP Program Learning Outcome (SACSCOC program measure for concentrations): At the completion of the program, graduates will demonstrate competency in the role of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner through psychiatric evaluation, medication management, interdisciplinary treatment planning and psychotherapeutic modalities.

This MSN concentration prepares students to provide primary mental healthcare across the lifespan. Students are eligible to sit for the ANCC or AANP PMHNP National Board Certification upon completion of the NP program and apply for Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (APRN) Licensure in the State of Florida. Emphasis is on the assessment, diagnosis and management of mental disorders using psychopharmacological and other psychotherapeutic modalities.

Students are required to attend 3 in-person sessions per semester, on campus, during the four specialty courses.

MSN with Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Concentration

Format: Online Hybrid

Degree Requirements: 46 Credit Hours; 780 Clinical Hours

Required Courses:

NUR 5013 Scientific and Philosophical Underpinnings of Nursing Science 3 Credit hours

** may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 5113 Leadership in Organizations and Systems, 3 Credit hours,

** may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 6103 Healthcare Technology and Quality Improvement 3 Credit hours

NUR 5223 Faith and Science 3 Credit hours

NUR 6003 Advanced Pathophysiology 3 Credit hours

NUR 6103 Advanced Pharmacology 3 Credit hours

NUR 5023 Advanced Nursing Research 3 Credit hours

NUR 6104 Advanced Health Assessment 4 Credit hours, 60 Clinical Hours

NUR 6202 Advanced Psychopharmacology, 2 Credit hours

NUR 6212 Advanced Psychopathology Assessment Theory   2 Credit hours

NUR 6352 Advanced Psychopathology Assessment Clinical 2 Credit hours, 120 Clinical Hours

NUR 7333 Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Across the Lifespan: Children and Adolescents, Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 7353 Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Across the Lifespan: Children and Adolescents, Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR 8203 Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Across the Lifespan: Adults and Older Adults Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 8254 Advanced Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing: Across the Lifespan: Adults and Older Adults Clinical 4 Credit hours, 240 Clinical Hours

NUR  8153 APRN Immersion 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Track

AGPCNP Program Learning Outcome (SACSCOC program measure for concentrations):   At the completion of the program, graduates will demonstrate competence in the role of the Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner through health promotion and primary care management for adults and older adults.

This MSN concentration is designed to prepare nurses to provide primary care to adults and older adults. Students are eligible to sit for the ANCC or AANP AGPCNP National Board Certification upon completion of the NP program and apply for Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (APRN) Licensure in the State of Florida. Emphasis is on developing advanced practice nursing knowledge and skills for the provision of health promotion and disease prevention in primary care settings for adults and older adults.

Students are required to attend 3 in-person sessions per semester, on campus, during the four specialty courses.

MSN with Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) Concentration

Format: Online Hybrid

Degree Requirements:  46 Credit Hours; 780 Clinical Hours

NUR 5013 Scientific and Philosophical Underpinnings of Nursing Science  3 Credit hours

** may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 5113 Leadership in Organizations and Systems 3 Credit hours

** may be taken by BSN Dual Enrollment student

NUR 6103 Healthcare Technology and Quality Improvement  3 Credit hours

NUR 5223 Faith and Science 3 Credit hours

NUR 6003 Advanced Pathophysiology 3 Credit hours

NUR 6103 Advanced Pharmacology 3 Credit hours

NUR 5023 Advanced Nursing Research 3 Credit hours

NUR 6104 Advanced Health Assessment 4 Credit hours, 60 Clinical Hours

NUR 7033 Primary Care I Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 7053 Primary Care I Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR 7233 Geriatric Health Issues 3 Credit hours

NUR 7253 Geriatric Health Issues Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR 8033 Primary Care III Theory 3 Credit hours

NUR 8053 Primary Care III Clinical 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

NUR  8153 APRN Immersion 3 Credit hours, 180 Clinical Hours

Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

Accreditation

The School of Nursing (SON) offers the DNP based on national standards set forth in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (2021).

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice program at Palm Beach Atlantic University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

All DNP concentrations require a minimum of 1,000 post-baccalaureate supervised clinical and/or practicum hours.

DNP Program Goals

The goals of the DNP program are:

  • Provide doctoral nursing education to prepare experts in specialized advanced nursing practice with a Christ-centered focus.
  • Prepare graduates for enhanced knowledge and skills in translational evidence-based practice.
  • Develop graduates as leaders within the healthcare community, implementing a Christian worldview.

DNP Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Synthesize, translate, and evaluate theoretical and empirical knowledge from the natural and social sciences, Christian faith, and nursing as a source of clinical reasoning and decision-making to provide holistic care in advanced nursing practice specialties.
  2. Design and coordinate person-centered nursing practice framed in Christian values that is holistic, individualized, equitable, respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based, and culturally sensitive.
  3. Design strategies to improve population healthcare, addressing disparities and social determinants of health through wellness promotion, and disease prevention and management, collaborating with community partners, healthcare systems, local government entities, and others for the improvement of equitable population health outcomes.
  4. Synthesize, translate, and disseminate nursing knowledge through the application of evidence-based practice to transform health care and improve patient outcomes.
  5. Lead initiatives to advance safety as core values of advanced nursing practice specialties to enhance quality and minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance.
  6. Lead interprofessional teams to enhance communication and collaboration with care team members, patients, families, communities, and others to optimize care, enrich the healthcare experience, and improve outcomes.
  7. Design and lead nursing practice within complex systems to proactively coordinate and deliver cost-effective, safe, high-quality, and equitable care to diverse populations.
  8. Lead healthcare innovation through the design and evaluation of healthcare technologies to gather and interpret data, inform diagnostic reasoning, develop treatment plans and provide safe, high-quality and efficient healthcare in accordance with best practice and professional and regulatory standards.
  9. Model professional generosity in the mentoring of others to promote  Christian values, moral courage, accountability, integrity, a collaborative disposition, and ethical comportment reflective of nursing’s characteristics and values.
  10. Exemplify leadership in advanced nursing practice specialty roles that equip others and foster personal health, resilience, and well-being, contribute to lifelong learning, and support the development of nursing expertise and the assertion of leadership.

SACSCOC Concentration Program Learning Outcomes listed under track

“Expected student learning outcomes specify the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes students are expected to attain in courses or in a program.” Page 69. Resource Manual for the Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), 2018.

DNP Program Tracks

The PBA School of Nursing offers three Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Tracks as a Post Master’s (MSN) entry:

  • Post-Master’s DNP Executive Nurse Leader
  • Post-Master’s DNP Family Nurse Practitioner
  • Post-Master’s DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
  1. The Post-Master’s DNP program is for Registered Nurses who already hold a master’s degree in nursing.
  2. The Post-Master’s DNP curriculum provides a minimum of 500 practice hours.  (Students who completed less than 500 hours in the master’s program will have to complete additional practice hours at the DNP level to meet the 1000-hour post-baccalaureate minimum).
  3. Degree plans will vary based upon transcript review and gap analysis.

DNP Scholarly Project

Every DNP student is required to successfully complete a DNP Scholarly Project as a requirement for graduation. The DNP Scholarly Project must make a significant impact on nursing practice and health outcomes of populations and communities, demonstrate an evidence-based contribution to existing nursing knowledge, and be suitable for peer-reviewed presentation or publication. The graduate faculty will appoint a faculty mentor during NUR 7003: “Translational Evidence Based Practice” for each DNP students.  The Graduate Committee must approve the DNP Scholarly Project plan, and the faculty mentor will supervise all stages of the project’s implementation. Students may not graduate until the Committee has approved the completion of the DNP Project and students have met all other University and DNP graduation requirements. Students who have completed all other DNP course work must maintain registration in NUR 8522 DNP Project each semester until graduation.

ADMISSION CRITERIA

  1. Master of Science Degree in Nursing from a regionally accredited university and nationally accredited nursing program
  2. Minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, minimum nursing courses 3.0 GPA
  3. No GRE required; however, applicants with a GPA less than 3.0 (cumulative and nursing) on a 4.0 scale must provide acceptable GRE scores of 50th percentile on both verbal and quantitative sections and 4.0 on the analytical writing section
  4. Successful completion of Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology and Advanced Health Assessment prior to starting the NP concentration. If five years have elapsed since a nurse practitioner track student has taken Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, or Advanced Pharmacotherapy, retaking the course is recommended. Retaking the courses may be mandatory after five years, dependent upon the Gap Analysis.
  5. Unencumbered, current Florida Licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) and/or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN)
  6. Required documents below may be submitted directly to PBA admissions or through NursingCAS* at www.nursingcas.org:
    1. Official Transcripts from all schools attended
    2. Current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
    3. Three letters of recommendation attesting to the applicant’s academic ability and leadership potential, including one from a current supervisor
    4. GRE scores if applicable
    5. Current and active Florida APRN license OR a valid RN license from another state and proof of application to Florida Board of Nursing
    6. Personal statement supporting future goals, faith, and interest in obtaining a practice doctorate (no more than 500 words)

Health Requirements and Limitations

Professional nursing students are responsible for their own health and for the health of others with whom they come in contact. The following policies have been created to protect both the student and clients. Students are responsible for timely updates of their health care records according to the prescribed schedule. In order to successfully complete the nursing program, students must be able to perform the following essential abilities:

Observation/Sensation

Nursing students must be able to observe and sense the client’s current physical, psychological, developmental, spiritual, and sociocultural health care status as well as client responses to nursing interventions. Vision, hearing, and other sensory perceptions are necessary for this ability.

Communication

Nursing students must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written forms with clients and the health care team members. Communication in nursing includes the ability to gather assessment data, provide effective teaching, and provide emotional support for all clients.

Motor

Nursing students must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from clients by palpation, percussion, auscultation, diagnostic maneuvers, and comfort/positioning measures. They must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general nursing care and emergency treatments. Such actions require moderate motor strength, equilibrium, gross and fine muscle movement coordination, and functional use of touch and vision senses.

Intellectual

Nursing students must have the ability to accurately measure, calculate, reason, and analyze. In addition they must be able to synthesize and apply complex information. Students must be fully alert and attentive at all times when caring for clients and communicating with health care team members. Each student must demonstrate mastery of these skills and possess the ability to incorporate new information from peers, professors, and the nursing and medical literature to formulate sound judgment in patient assessment, intervention, evaluation, and teaching and setting of short- and long-term goals.

Behavioral/Social

Nursing students must possess a level of emotional health that allows full utilization of intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, prompt completion of all responsibilities, attention to the nursing diagnoses and subsequent patient care, and the development of mature, empathetic and effective nurse-client relationships. Students must be able to function effectively under stress. The student must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, accept and integrate constructive criticism given in classroom and clinical settings, effectively interact in the clinical setting with other members of the healthcare team, and learn to function cooperatively and efficiently in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical practice.

The student must be able to adapt to and function effectively in stressful situations in both classroom and clinical settings, including emergency situations.

Immunization

All students must meet the University’s requirements for immunization and health information documentation.  Also, students in the School of Nursing must meet additional requirements for immunizations, health documentation, and background screeening based upon the clinical affiliate’s requirements.

Students with Disabilities

Students admitted to the PBASON must be able to fully perform the essential nursing functions in each of the following five categories: observation/sensation, communication, motor, intellectual, and behavioral/social. Degrees of ability vary widely among individuals. SON faculty will consider candidates with any form of properly disclosed and documented disability on an individual basis. Students with documented special needs must contact both the Dean of the School of Nursing and the Office of Academic and Accessibity Resources designate. Palm Beach Atlantic University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities through established University policies and procedures.

Progression Policies

Some didactic courses require a clinical co-requisite course that must be successfully completed together. (For example: NUR 7033 Primary Care I: Acute and Chronic Health Problems and its corresponding clinical course NUR 7053 Primary Care I: Acute and Chronic Health Problems Clinical.)

  • If a student withdraws from a didactic course, the student must also withdraw from the clinical course.
  • If a student withdraws from a clinical course, the student must also withdraw from the didactic course.
  • If a student is unsuccessful in a didactic course but is passing the clinical course, the student will receive a Y in the clinical course.
  • If a student is unsuccessful in a clinical course but is passing the didactic course, the student will receive a Y in the didactic course.

If five years have elapsed since a nurse practitioner track student has taken Advanced Health Assessment, Advanced Pathophysiology, or Advanced Pharmacotherapy, retaking the course is recommended. Retaking the course is mandatory after seven years.

Grading Scale for Graduate Nursing Courses

Any grade below a “B” average is not accepted for progression in the graduate program.  The average of all test and quiz scores for a course (Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and all nurse practitioner core courses must be a minimum of 84% to successfully pass a course in addition to a minimum 84% overall in the course.  Test scores comprise at least 70% of the grade. 

 

 

Programs