Description
The Registered Nurse Bridge Program is designed to prepare the individual student for a career as a professional nurse. The program is designed to enable individuals who currently are in the Practical Nursing profession to study to become Registered Nurses by facilitating career mobility to the Associate Degree in Nursing. The program prepares students as Registered Nurses for a variety of careers in the nursing and health care fields, and incorporates the students’ previous nursing training into the program requirements. A degree will be awarded upon successful completion of this program.

Students who have successfully met all educational and institutional requirements for the Associate of Science Degree Registered Nurse Bridge program from Keiser Career College are eligible to have their names submitted to the Florida Board of Nursing to be considered as a candidate for the NCLEX-RN. The Florida Board of Nursing is the state agency authorized to determine if the applicant qualifies to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) for licensure as a Registered Nurse. 

Objectives
The program will prepare students who currently have training and experience in the practical nursing field for an entry level position as a Registered Nurse.  Students will be exposed to professional nursing encompassing legal and ethical decision-making in the promotion of health in the community. Students will demonstrate the use of the nursing processes to meet multiple health needs for adults and children in a variety of health care settings, communicate therapeutically with families, groups, and individuals, synthesize and communicate relevant data effectively and concisely, and utilize management skills and concepts to plan and coordinate patient care.  Students will assume the role of the associate degree nurse as a member of the health care team and will integrate theoretical content of general education classes with nursing theory and practice.

Prerequisites

• Submit Application
• Provide a current, unrestricted Florida License as a Practical Nurse or Florida Paramedic Certification
• Pass Nursing Pre-entrance exam. Graduates of any Keiser Career College Practical Nursing program are not required to sit for the entrance exam again
• Submit written essay
• Submit current resume
• Interview with Nursing Program Director
• Possess a current Eight Hour American Heart Association CPR
• Provide Documentation of Health Examination
• Provide TB Test and/or Chest X-Ray Documentation
• Abuse registry clearance
• 10 Panel Drug Screen
• Level II Background Check

Admission to the Registered Nurse Core Classes
(Please note that the following requirements must all be met or maintained in order to advance to the Registered Nurse Core Nursing Classes.)

• A cumulative GPA of 2.75 in the General Education courses is required to enter the core Registered Nurse courses.  If a candidate transfers any General Education course(s); those courses and the grades earned will be used to calculate the CGPA. The College will use the credit value and grade scale for current Keiser Career College General Education courses in the computation of the CGPA. The credit values at a minimum must be equivalent to current Keiser Career College General Education courses. The student may elect not to transfer in any General Education courses.
• No more than a combined total of four grades of D, F, or W in the General Education courses required for the program.
• A 10 Panel Drug Screen and Level II Background check will be will be conducted again.  If the candidate tests positive for the drug screen or items appear on the Background check that violate clinical site terms of agreement the candidate will not be allowed to proceed to the core RN courses if he/she is unable to provide corrected documentation in the event of errors.
• The currency and unrestricted nature of the practical nursing license/paramedic certification will be checked again prior to entering the core nursing classes.  If a candidate’s license/certification is not current or unrestricted at this time and he/she is unable to provide documentation, he/she will not be permitted to enter the core nursing classes.
• Active Medical Insurance (evidence of annual renewal of medical insurance at the designated interval after the interval has started in the nursing program) will be required.

Course Outline
To receive an Associate of Science Degree in Registered Nursing Bridge Program, the student must complete 42.0 semester credit hours (with 4.5 semester credit hours awarded for successful completion of the Transition to Professional Nursing Course) and 30.0 semester credit hours in the General Education courses for a total of 76.5 semester credit hours.  This Associate Degree program can be completed in 20 months for full-time day students.