Programs

Overview

MCPHS offers an innovative ac­celerated 32-month nursing professional program leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nurs­ing (BSN) degree. The curriculum builds on a strong founda­tion in the liberal arts and sciences and guides students toward gaining the knowledge, skills, competencies and values required to practice as a professional nurse.

Program Highlights 

• Full-time, year-round, accelerated 32-month program
• Direct-entry admission for first-year and transfer students
• Fall semester start
• Graduates may apply to the part-time, online Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) or Generalist program, earning a master's degree for career advancement
• Graduates are eligible to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Program Overview

At MCPHS, students are prepared for the reality of contemporary nursing practice, from academic coursework that makes them critical thinkers to hands-on clinical practice that makes them capable professionals.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum has been developed in collaboration with clinical partners at Boston's Harvard-affiliated hospitals and selected other community agencies and institutions of the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston. Reflecting the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Detailed Test Plan for the NCLEX-RN, the program prepares graduates to be able to respond to the complex challenges of a rapidly changing health care environment. The curriculum builds on a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences and guides the student toward gaining the knowledge, skills, competencies and values required to practice as a professional nurse.

The BSN is offered as a full-time baccalaureate degree program, in a 32-month accelerated year-round format. The program consists of:

• 15-week fall semesters
• 15-week spring semesters
• 12 week summer sessions, concluding in May of the third year.

The program requires 122 semester hours of credit for completion, which includes the core curriculum requirements common to all MCPHS undergraduate and first professional degree programs, additional professional support courses in the natural and social sciences, and courses in the nursing major. Upon graduation from  the program, students will be eligible to sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

Curriculum

Year I-Fall

Year I-Spring

Year I-Summer

* BEH 352 fulfills the behavioral science core curriculum requirement.

Year II-Fall

Year II-Spring

Year II-Summer*

Year III-Fall*

Year III-Spring*

Total Preprofessional Coursework: 58 s.h.**

Total Professional Major: 64 s.h.

Total for BSN 122: s.h.

* Courses will be offered in a block-scheduling format each semester, with students taking three or fewer courses concurrently during each block

** A maximum of 58 semester hours of credit for the prior BS/BA degree from a regionally accredited college or university will be awarded upon matriculation in fulfillment of MCPHS Core Curriculum requirements.

Clinical Rotations

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing curriculum was developed in collaboration with area clinical partners at Boston's Harvard-affiliated hospitals, Worcester hospitals, and selected community agencies in the greater Boston and Worcester areas.

Because clinical experience is such a vital part of the nursing program, students will be assigned to clinical rotations in some of the world's finest health care institutions including Massachusetts General Hospital, St. Vincent's Hospital at Worcester Medical Center, and also in such clinical settings as skilled nursing facilities, mental health hospitals and community agencies, schools, public health departments, and hospice and home health agencies.

Rotations are supervised by College faculty, clinical faculty, and practice preceptors. Students are expected to arrange their own transportation to clinical sites.

• Baldpate Hospital
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston Public Schools
• Bournewood Hospital
• Brigham & Womens Hospital
• Brookline Senior Center
• Caritas Christi
• St. Elizabeths Hospital
• Children's Hospital
• Codman Square Health Center
• Concord Hospital
• Deutsches Altenheim - German Centre-Adult Day Health
• Elder Service Plan of the North Shore
• Family Van Mobile Health Clinics
• Faulkner Hospital
• Lemuel Shattuck Hospital
• Lowell General Hospital
• Manet Community Health Center - Houghs Neck
• Manet Community Health Center - Hull
• Manet Community Health Center - North Quincy
• Mass Department of Public Health - Hull
• Massachusetts General Hospital
• Metrowest Medical Center - Leonard Morse Hospital
• Milford Regional Hospital Morton Hospital
• Mystic Valley Elder Services
• Newton Health & Human Services Department
• Newton Senior Center
• Newton Wellesley Hospital
• Partner's Home Care - Beverly Branch
• Partner's Home Care - Braintree Branch
• Partner's Home Care - Bridgewater Branch
• Partner's Home Care - Chelsea Branch
• Partner's Home Care - Rockland Branch
• Partner's Home Care - Waltham Branch
• Salem Hospital Seven Hills Foundation - Devens, Mass.
• SouthEnd ABCD HeadStart
• Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
• Sr. Katherine Drexel Afterschool Program
• St. Luke's Hospital
• Tufts Medical Center
• Union Hospital
• VA Healthcare Systems
• Winchester Hospital

Notice on Clinical Rotations and Background Screenings

For some of MCPHS's programs placements in clinical rotations at health care providers are a required part of the MCPHS curriculum. Some of those health care providers require background screenings and a conviction for a criminal offense might present an issue. It is possible that certain types of criminal convictions, whether prior to being a student at MCPHS or while attending MCPHS, could preclude a student from being able to complete a required clinical rotation. If you have any questions, please contact the MCPHS Chief Compliance Officer.

Facilities

The learning at MCPHS-Boston is hands on, with laboratories that mirror real-world nursing settings in the Richard E. Griffin Academic Center. In the clinical simulation laboratory, students gain foundational knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe and effective nursing care. Students will learn to complete over 100 skills routinely performed in the delivery of patient care.

In addition, the clinical simulation laboratory features six computerized high fidelity manikins, which provide an opportunity for students to assess and intervene appropriately, such as with a sudden drop in blood pressure or any of hundreds of other clinical conditions that may threaten the patient.  

In the patient assessment laboratory, which features Welch Allyn integrated diagnostic systems and other state-of-the-art equipment, students learn to gather information about the health status of the patient by obtaining a complete health history and conducting a complete head to toe physical examination. Students learn to analyze and synthesize that data in order to make sound clinical judgments about necessary nursing interventions. 

Technical Standards

A pre-licensure candidate for the BSN degree must have abilities and skills in four areas: communication, observation, motor function and endurance, and behavioral maturity. Rea­sonable accommodations may be made for some disabilities. However, pre-licensure BSN students must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner, with or without accommodations.

Communication 

• Must be able to communicate effectively with patients, families, and members of the health care team through oral, written, and interpersonal means.
• Must be able to obtain information, describe patient situations, and perceive both oral and non-verbal communication (including ability to understand normal speech with­out seeing the speaker's face).
• Must be able to speak, comprehend, read and write in English at a level that meets the need for accurate, clear and effective communication; examples include but are not limited to: giving clear oral reports, reading watches or clocks with second hands, read­ing graphs, reading and understanding documents printed in English, writing legibly in English, discriminating subtle differences in medical terminology.

Observation

• Must be able to observe a patient accurately; examples include but are not limited to:
• listening to heart and breath sounds; visualizing the appearance of a surgical wound; detecting bleeding, unresponsiveness,
• other changes in patient status; detecting the presence of foul odor; and palpating an abdomen.
• Must be able to detect and respond to emergency situations, including audible alarms (e.g., monitors, call bells, fire alarms).

Motor Function and Endurance

• Must have sufficient strength and mobility to work effectively and safely with patients and carry out nursing care activities; examples include but are not limited to: lifting and positioning patients (lifting up to 50 pounds, carrying up to 25 pounds), transferring patients in and out of bed, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (AHA Health Care Provider), preparation and administration of medications (oral, injection, intravenous, includ­ing hanging IV bags at shoulder height), reading and emptying body fluid collection devices below bed level, application of pressure to stop bleeding, clearing/opening an obstructed airway, provision of daily hygiene care.
• Must be able to complete assigned periods of clinical practice, including up to 12 hour shifts (including days, evenings, nights, weekends).  
• Must be able to respond at a speed and in a manner sufficient to carry out patient as­signments within the allotted time.

Behavioral

• Must possess mental and emotional health required for total utilization of intellectual abilities.
• Must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads.
• Must be able to respond and function effectively during stressful situations.
• Must be capable of adapting to rapidly-changing environments, and respond with flex­ibility in uncertain situations.
• Must be able to interact appropriately with others (patients, families, members of health care team) in various health care contexts. 

Accreditation

BS Nursing Program

The MCPHS program leading to a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) has received Full Approval status by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. The program also holds full initial accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for the maximum five year period accorded new programs. CCNE is located at One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036; tel.: 202.887.6791; fax: 202.887.8476; website: www.aacn.nche.edu

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is authorized to grant undergraduate and graduate degrees in the health sciences and related fields.

MCPHS is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), Inc. through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. 

For Transfers

MCPHS welcomes students from other institutions. Any applicant to MCPHS who has completed at least one semester of college coursework (12 credits or more) is considered to be a transfer applicant. Students who have been out of high school for more than two years are strongly encouraged to take math and science courses at another accredited college or university and then to apply for transfer to MCPHS.

The transfer requirements may be different for different MCPHS programs. To find the requirements for transferring into this program, please click the link below.

Transfer Requirements for Nursing (Accelerated BS) (Boston)

Program Members