California State University San Marcos

The purpose of the nursing profession is to help patients/clients achieve health goals. Nurses provide health care for individuals, families and communities by performing supportive, preventive, therapeutic, and restorative interventions. Nurses are employed in institutional and community-based healthcare settings. They can provide health-related interventions through independent action or as a collaborating member of a healthcare team.

The nursing curriculum at Cal State San Marcos is built on a self-care model. This model assumes that people are usually capable of providing their own needs related to health. Sometimes people cannot take care of themselves because of injury, disease, or insufficient health-related knowledge. Nursing care helps such people recover their self-care abilities through health promotion, health maintenance and health restoration.

The Nursing program at CSUSM places strong emphasis on delivering skillful, culturally sensitive nursing care. Each student will be proficient in a language-other-than-English and be aware of culturally driven healthcare practices. Students will be able to provide nursing care to diverse individuals and communities. Students take advantage of clinical experiences in a variety of acute care and community settings, and are able to provide nursing case management interventions for a variety of vulnerable populations.

The Nursing Program at CSUSM prepares students for multiple career tracks within the profession. Students who complete the undergraduate program will have knowledge and skills for general nursing practice, will be well prepared for entry into graduate level nursing programs, and will be qualified to assume leadership roles in healthcare organizations, clinics, and community agencies.

The baccalaureate degree program is designed for three groups of students with different options. Students who have had no previous nursing education follow the traditional BSN option. Students who have completed an undergraduate degree in another discipline but who wish a second degree in Nursing complete the accelerated BSN (ABSN) option. Students who have completed an associate degree program in nursing (ADN) at a community college and seek completion of their baccalaureate degree follow TBSN or accelerated (ABSN) option depending on their previous course of study. The traditional program is a full-time program designed to be completed in five years (including the three intervening summers).