The Department of Nursing strives to provide a nursing education that is aimed at preparing beginning and advanced practice nurses to meet the ever-changing health care needs of Connecticut and the surrounding region. This is achieved through:

• A dynamic curriculum that is responsive to students and community needs;
• Clinical competence, scholarship and research;
• Service to the university, the public and the profession;
• Accommodation of diverse values and interests;
• A commitment to a caring culture.

1. Synthesize knowledge from the arts, sciences, and humanities with nursing theory as the basis for making nursing practice decisions.
2. Exercise critical thinking in using the nursing process to assess, diagnose, plan, implement, and evaluate the care provided to individuals, families and communities.
3. Apply the nursing process to design, implement, and evaluate therapeutic nursing interventions to provide preventive, curative, supportive, and restorative care for individuals, families, and communities in both structured and unstructured settings, using a variety of techniques.
4. Use a variety of communication techniques, including written documentation, in the process of assessment, counseling, and therapeutic interventions with individual clients, families, groups and communities.
5. Develop and implement a variety of teaching-learning strategies in the provision of health teaching for individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings.
6. Use the process of scientific inquiry and research findings to improve nursing care delivery.
7. Manage information, human resources, and material resources to achieve optimum client outcomes in a cost-effective manner.
8. Use leadership, management, and collaborative skills as a member of a multi-disciplinary team within the health care delivery system to develop, implement, and evaluate health care provided to clients.
9. Exercise independent judgment and ethical decision-making, and act as an advocate for consumers of health care services.
10. Demonstrate accountability in learning and in nursing actions, based on accepted standards of nursing care and in accordance of professional nursing practice.

Professional Nurse Licensure

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to apply to the State Board of Examiners for Nursing in Connecticut, or in any other state of their choice, for examination for Professional Nurse licensure. Each state board may have additional criteria for eligibility according to the laws of the state. In Connecticut, the limitations to eligibility for licensure are delineated in Public Act 86-365. A copy of this act is available for review in the department office.

The Nursing Department also offers courses for the RN-BS degree completion program at Western’s Waterbury program located on the grounds of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury. This program is available only to students who hold a current RN license. A current RN license is required from the state in which clinical affiliations are scheduled.

Some courses offered at Waterbury are also open to students taking classes at Danbury. For more information on this program, contact WCSU at Waterbury, Founders Hall 129, (203) 596-8777.

Registered nurse graduates of associate degree and hospital diploma nursing programs who hold a current RN license in Connecticut or another state are encouraged to apply to this program. A current RN license is required from the state in which clinical affiliations are scheduled. These students must complete all college and department course requirements satisfactorily to be eligible for the B.S. degree with a major in Nursing. Western Connecticut State University is a participant in the Connecticut Articulation Model for Nurse Educational Mobility.

Learn more on the Nursing-Registered Nursing Program Website

To learn more about the Nursing degree, please follow the links below

• Catalog entry
• Nursing department website
• Nursing-Registered Nursing Program Website
• School of Professional Studies