Nursing is assessing, diagnosing and treating actual or potential health problems and the planning, implementation and evaluation of nursing care. Professional nurses are committed to the overall goal of health promotion and the care and nurturing of people who are ill. Nurses also help people to achieve and maintain a healthy state, meet their basic needs, adapt to changes in their health status, recover from illness, and die with dignity.
Nursing offers a career with both personal and financial rewards. Many men and women are drawn to nursing because it is a caring profession—one that combines human compassion with the sophisticated technologies of modern health care. In addition to bridging advanced science and the art of caring, the nursing profession offers its practitioners a variety of employment and career opportunities.
Admitted students who have an ACT composite score of 25 or higher or combined SAT* Critical Reading and Math score of 1130 or higher enroll as pre-nursing majors. (*New SAT equivalent: Evidence-Based Reading and Writing + Math score of 1200.) Students not eligible to enroll in pre-nursing may enroll in health and human services exploration.
Once admitted to the BSN program, 68 required credit hours of nursing course work allows students to obtain knowledge needed to care for patients of all ages and diverse cultures.
The study of professional nursing includes classroom and laboratory instruction on the art and science of nursing and supervised clinical instruction in a variety of hospital and community settings.
The undergraduate professional degree in nursing requires a minimum of 120 semester credit hours and can be completed in four academic years. The first year of study includes pre-professional course work that is prerequisite to applying for the major.
The College of Nursing Honors Program is designed to challenge select students by offering opportunities to study an area of interest in greater depth and to enhance leadership skills. Features of the honors program include seminars, a mentored relationship with a nursing faculty member and the completion of a senior honors thesis. Students must be accepted into the College of Nursing Honors Program upon admission into the major and complete a thesis to graduate with distinction.
Nursing students may participate in several College of Nursing organizations such as Buckeye Student Nurses and Sigma Theta Tau International, as well as all other extracurricular organizations and groups at Ohio State.
Pre-nursing students who live in Park-Stradley Hall as part of the Nursing and Wellness Innovations Learning Community will also benefit from increased interaction with faculty and academic advisors.
Learn more about College of Nursing student organizations.
Registered nurses (RNs) provide many types of health care services in a variety of settings. Some of the settings, in addition to hospitals, include public and private health promotion centers; hospices; outpatient clinics; homes; community health centers; sub-acute and rehabilitation centers; long-term care centers; and clinics for special populations, such as the elderly, poor and underserved.
In addition, some RNs manage their own clinics or other types of health-related businesses. Nurses with advanced degrees can become nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, administrators, researchers, political consultants, members of federal and state regulatory bodies, educators, and health care advisors to government and private businesses.
Beginning salaries for BSN graduates in central Ohio range from $40,000 to $48,000 per year. Salary ranges vary depending upon the region of the country.
The College of Nursing is committed to to educating a diverse generation of health care professionals. The college was named the “Best School for Men in Nursing” in 2016 (American Association for Men in Nursing) and earned the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for Health Professional Schools.