Nursing (AAS)
The Nursing Program has as its mission the formation of nurses able to offer competent, sensible, effective, safe, and quality nursing care to the client person, family and community. The Program aims to produce graduates prepared to:
- Provide care with autonomy and with interdisciplinary collaboration and sensitivity to ethical-legal and cultural values and directed to the achievement of the best results for the client.
- Coordinate care by applying leadership and management skills that lead to the highest quality care with the minimum of cost.
- Assume a commitment as a member of the discipline in harmony with the standards of the practice.
For the development of this professional diverse and flexible modalities of study are offered. This facilitates mobility from the level of the associate degree to the Bachelor.
The Associate Program of the Aguadilla and Metropolitan campuses is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) (http://www.acenursing.org).
The Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Bayamón, Guayama, Metropolitan, Ponce and San Germán campuses are authorized to offer the Associate Degree in Nursing In addition, the Metropolitan Campus is authorized to offer the associate degree at its University Center in Caguas.
Competencies Profile of Graduates
This Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing is designed to develop the competencies that will enable students to:
Knowledge
- Demonstrate scientific and humanistic knowledge of the nursing discipline when analyzing biopsychosocial and spiritual aspects in the different stages of growth and development.
- Know the nursing process as an instrument for making clinical decisions while offering a safe and quality care.
Skills
- Demonstrate up-to-date clinical skills in therapeutic interventions when you offer care to the client throughout the continuum of health-disease in structured scenarios.
- Demonstrate care management, coordination skills and effective collaboration as a member of the interdisciplinary team.
- Use communication skills, critical thinking and the use of technology to maintain the quality of care offered to the client.
Attitudes
- Demonstrate responsibility and ethical-legal commitment with humanistic care in response to the changing needs of society.
- Demonstrate responsibility and commitment with their own development and that of the profession.
Major requirements are offered in a four-year program with an option to leave the Program upon completing the requirements of the first two years. Each year is equivalent to a level in which courses have been organized and developed according to their level of complexity. In the first two years (levels I and II) technical (associate) knowledge and skills are presented; in the last two years (levels III and IV) those corresponding to the professional level (generalist) are presented. This scheme articulates both levels of preparation, (associate degree and Bachelor’s Degree in nursing) by integrating knowledge and skills.
Students in the Nursing Program are exempt from taking GEHP 3000 - Well-being and Quality of Life.
Admission Requirements
- Comply with the admissions requirements established in the General Catalog.
- To be a candidate for admission to the Associate Program in Nursing, candidates must have a minimum grade point index 2.50 from their high school or place of origin.
Requirements of Clinical Practice
To be admitted to a practice agency the following is required:
- A current certificate of no criminal record issued by the Police of Puerto Rico.
- A health certificate valid for one year issued by the Health Department.
- Evidence of vaccination against Hepatitis B.
- Evidence of vaccination against chickenpox or chickenpox titer tests.
Some agencies and courses have additional requirements. Students are responsible for complying with any other requirement imposed by the practice agency. Among these are: An updated certificate of CPR, a negative dope test, a nose and throat culture and a negative certificate of sexual offender.
Transfer Requirements
- Comply with the admissions requirements for transfer students established in the General Catalog.
- Admission of transfer students to the Program or to take courses of the major with combined registration requires the previous authorization of both Program directors.
Academic Progress Requirements of the Nursing Program:
- Comply with all Satisfactory Progress Norms established in the General Catalog.
- Pass all courses in Nursing and the course GEMA 1000 (Quantitative Reasoning) with a minimum grade of C.
- Students who do not pass a major course with a minimum grade of C in their third intent will be dropped from the Program.
Graduation Requirements
- For the Associate Degree in Nursing students are required to complete 50% of the major credits in the campus from which they expect to receive the degree.
- All students who are candidates for graduation in the Associate of Nursing program must graduate with a minimum grade point average of 2.50.
- Students, upon completing the requirements of the first two years of study, have the option to request certification of the Associate Degree in Nursing in order to apply for the board examination.
Requirements for the Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing
| General Education Requirements |
24 credits |
| Major Requirements |
41 credits |
| Total |
65 credits |
General Education Requirements - 24 credits
Major Requirements - 41 credits