<p>Quality nursing programs should provide at least 25-30 clinical hours per course credit hour. At UD students in their Sr. year spend 3 days per week in clinical settings for a total of well over 500 hours clinical time in their Sr. year. In addition 80-160 hours are required in their Jr. year in a clinical work setting along with several hundred hours in the nursing simulation lab. Many other hours are spent in field trips during the 2nd and 3rd yesr.</p>
<p>One needs to be very cautious about trying to use clinical hours as the sole measure of the quality of a nursing BSN program. Quantity does not always equate to quality. At UD the ratio of clinical staff to students in a clinical rotation is 1:8, which allows for a good level of educational involvement between clinical staff and students. A number of programs tend to boast about the high number of clinical hours they provide students, but often the staff to student ratio is 1:15 or worse, offering a much less then ideal learning experience.</p>
<p>BSN Nursing education has been undergoing a dynamic evolution over the last 5 years with a much more clinical/diagnostic focus involving the development of clinical problem solving skills, understanding/utilizating/identifying nursing care best practices, and the development of leadership skills as compared to the past technical focus of just following physician orders. Research is also a major focus as it ties in to all of these things. Programs at UD tend to emphasize these areas along with providing good basic nursing skills training.</p>
<p>I do not doubt that there are a number of quality BSN programs out there. I am just trying to express my opinion, based on my D’s experiences at UD, that UD is certainly one of them and should be considered by potential nursing applicants. While it may not be a perfect measure of the quality of a nursing program, the passage rate on the NCLEX exam has often been cited as at least one measure of the quality of a nursing program. At UD the pass rate is 92% on the first attempt with a 100% pass rate overall subsequently (from UD’s web site). Best of luck to all you future nurses.</p>