Associate Degree Program

 

OVERVIEW OF THE ASN PROGRAM

Applications for all ASN program tracts (Traditional ASN and LPN-ASN) for the 2020-2021 year will open on August 26, 2019 at 8 am. The application must be submitted electronically and can be found at www.fairmontstate.edu/ASN-Application.  Applications are taken until the class cohorts and wait list are full.

Fairmont State University's School of Nursing offers 3 program options for a student to obtain the Associate of Science in Nursing Degree (ASN).

Traditional ASN (4 full time semesters- fall and spring) is best suited for students who can attend classes and clinical through the week. 

Nontraditional LPN-ASN (3 full-time semesters - fall to fall) is for LPNs who can attend class over the computer 2-3 evenings a week and clinical two days a month. 

We are not accepting applications to the Weekend RN program for academic year 2020-2021 admission.

 

Upon graduation, the student receives the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) degree and is eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The ASN nurse is prepared as a nurse to care for clients with common health problems in structured settings. The associate degree nurse's practice is defined by the roles of care provider, client teacher, communicator, manager of client care and member within the profession of nursing.

The faculty of Fairmont State’s ASN Program believes that a quality education should be based on current professional standards and sound educational theory. The following documents and standards serve as a guide for the curriculum:

  • National League for Nursing (NLN) Competencies for Nursing Education
  • Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Competencies
  • American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics
  • WV Board of Examiners of Registered Professional Nurses (WVBOERPN) Standards and Scope of Practice
  • Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) Standards

To guide the approach to teaching and learning, the faculty adopted Malcolm Knowles’s Theory of Andragogy for theory application and David Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning for clinical application. The faculty believes that nursing students should be active in their own learning at all stages of the teaching/learning process, build on personal experiences, focus on solving patient and healthcare problems, and exhibit characteristics of professionalism. Students learn best through experience and reflection. The process of teaching and learning is as important as the content delivered.

GRADUATE OUTCOMES (ASN)

Upon completion of the Associate Degree in Nursing Program, the graduate will be able to:

  1. Provide patient-centered care to patients in response to their changing health needs.
  2. Advocate for patients in ways to promote their self-determination and ongoing growth.
  3. Apply evidence-based practice and clinical judgment in the provision of patient-centered care.
  4. Use the nursing process, information management systems, teamwork and inter-professional collaboration to provide safe, effective, quality care aimed at promoting the patients’ health.
  5. Provide compassionate patient-centered care through roles of care provider, manager, educator, leader and advocate.
  6. Communicate professionally and collaboratively with patients and members of the healthcare team.
  7. Demonstrate responsibility and accountability for professional nursing practice and life-long learning.
  8. Integrate current best practices to deliver safe and effective patient-centered care aimed at improving quality of care and care outcomes.

EXPECTED PROGRAM OUTCOMES

  1. NCLEX-RN Pass Rate– Eighty percent of graduates will pass the NCLEX-RN exam on the first attempt.
  2. Program Completion Rate– Seventy percent of students will graduate within 150% of program length.
  3. Program Satisfaction– Eighty percent of the graduates will rate the program as satisfactory or above on end of program survey.
  4. Employment Rate– Eighty percent of graduates will gain employment as a nurse within 6 months of graduation.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

  1. Graduates of the Associate Degree Nursing program must pass the national licensure exam to be a registered nurse (NCLEX-RN). Employment opportunities are at an all-time high in West Virginia and nationwide.
  2. Registered nurses constitute the largest healthcare occupation, with 2.4 million jobs.
  3. More new jobs are expected to be created for registered nurses than for any other occupation.
  4. Job opportunities are expected to be excellent.
  5. Almost 3 out of 5 jobs are in hospitals, in inpatient and outpatient departments. Others work in offices of physicians, outpatient clinics, nursing care facilities, home healthcare services, employment services, government agencies, and outpatient care centers.
  6. Graduates of the Associate Degree Nursing program who are licensed as registered nurses can continue their education in our Bachelor of Science in Nursing program

Model Schedules

 

Additional Resources