Program overview – Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN)

Prepare for lifelong service and leadership with our 60-credit Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing. This intensive ABSN track offers the academic foundation, hands-on training and clinical experience you need to enter the rapidly growing professional field of nursing with confidence and skill.

The ABSN features small classes led by expert faculty with specialist expertise, plus 945 hours of hands-on training and clinical experience across a range of care settings and populations, including medical-surgical acute care, geriatrics, surgery, behavioral health, pediatrics, OB-GYN, emergency room nursing, intensive care units (ICU), intermediate care (IMC) and community health settings.

Program format – how you will study

The ABSN track is designed for applicants who hold a bachelor’s degree in any academic major and want to make a career change to nursing. The ABSN can be completed in as few as 16 months of full-time study.

Your courses will combine:

  • Classroom instruction – Master fundamental and advanced academic concepts in engaging classes led by our expert faculty.
  • Training in state-of-the-art simulation labs – Learn patient assessment and clinical treatment skills through hands-on practice with advanced patient simulators and in simulated health care environments.
  • Research opportunities – Working under the guidance of a faculty member, you can contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the nursing profession while gaining an understanding of how scholarly research is conducted and can contribute to nursing care.
  • Clinical experience – We have partnered with regional care facilities ranging from hospitals to clinics in order to ensure you gain experience working with many different types of patients in different care settings and specialty areas.

The ABSN track is designed to prepare you for an intensive and rewarding profession in nursing.

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Texas Lutheran University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791. Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

ABSN course schedule

Semester 1 – 14 credits

  • NURS 330 Age-Span Health Assessment (4 credits)
  • NURS 332 Fundamental Nursing Concepts & Practice (5 credits)
  • NURS 334 Evidence-Based Professional Nursing I (3 credits)
  • NURS 336 Health Care in 21st Century (2 credits)

Semester 2 – 17 credits

  • NURS 340 Complex Nursing Concepts & Practice I (7 credits)
  • NURS 342 Behavioral Health Nursing (5 credits)
  • NURS 344 Nursing Research (3 credits)
  • NURS 479 Nursing Elective* (2 credits)

Semester 3 – 15 credits

  • NURS 430 Nursing of Childbearing Families (5 credits)
  • NURS 432 Complex Nursing Concepts & Practice II (7 credits)
  • NURS 434 Leadership & Management of Nursing Care (3 credits)

Semester 4 – 14 credits

  • NURS 440 Community Health Nursing (5 credits)
  • NURS 442 Evidence-Based Professional Nursing II (3 credits)
  • NURS 443 Capstone Nursing Leadership Practicum (6 credits)

Total 60 credits

*Can be taken once, whenever available, before Semester 4.

Nursing Program outcomes – what you will learn

Our ABSN track prepares you to pursue licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) and to pursue career opportunities in nursing. You will also have the academic foundation necessary to pursue graduate-level nursing education.

As a graduate of our program, you will learn to:

  • Synthesize knowledge from a general undergraduate education as a foundation for providing holistic nursing care.
  • Practice competent, safe, patient-centered care of individuals, families, groups and communities along the health-illness continuum and across the lifespan, within a variety of multicultural settings.
  • Utilize leadership skills to critically examine and continuously improve health-care delivery systems with emphasis on safety, quality and fiscal accountability.
  • Demonstrate the use of research, conceptual/theoretical models and critical reasoning when translating evidence into nursing practice.
  • Apply knowledge and skills in information management and patient care technology within a rapidly changing environment.
  • Incorporate appropriate local, state, national and global health-care policies related to health care and nursing.
  • Demonstrate effective communication skills, including collaboration, negotiation and conflict management.
  • Assume responsibility and accountability for professionalism, including lifelong learning, professional ethics and development, integrity and social justice, in the practice of nursing.

We want you to graduate prepared to pursue licensure as an RN in Texas to provide care to patients across the lifespan and to join the many TLU nursing alumni who are working and leading in some of the region’s most prestigious hospitals and care facilities.

Learn more today!

Make the change to a career in nursing with a university that challenges you to learn boldly and live to inspire. Contact us today to take the next step toward earning your ABSN from TLU.