Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Advanced Entry for Psychiatric Nurses)

This program is intended for students who already have completed a Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing (BPN) degree within the last 6 years, have an unconditional license with The British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP), and have current employment as a psychiatric nurse. Students that do not meet these conditions may wish to consider the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

The program is recognized by The British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP).

The purpose of the program is to educate nurses to practice with a variety of clients in various settings, guided by a health promotion perspective and a capacity for effective relational engagement.

Through relational engagement, the program will assist students to develop sensitivity to people's experiences with health and healing. Students will learn to work as partners with clients and with other health care providers. Students learn to be independent, accountable, reflective, self-directed, self-motivated and life-long learners with questioning minds and familiarity with inquiry approaches to learning. They make decisions for nursing practice based on multiple ways of knowing such as critical thinking, intuition, research and evaluation. Students learn to create and influence the future of nursing practice at political, social and professional levels by responding to and anticipating changing needs of society.

Students complete six (6) academic semesters to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. Graduates will be eligible to apply for membership with BCCNP which includes successful writing of the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exam.

The curriculum of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Advanced Entry for Psychiatric Nurses program is based on the concepts of health promotion, relational engagement, praxis, critical inquiry and professional role. Two concepts, health promotion and relational engagement are considered over-riding concepts since they represent the essence of nursing. The other three concepts are considered core concepts since they are essential elements of nursing practice. In the curriculum, the five concepts are used in course titles as organizing threads and are also threaded through each course in the program. As well as reflecting the nature of nursing, these concepts relate to the process of nursing education. For example, client-centeredness and a focus on strengths, relational engagement, critical inquiry, praxis and professionalism are essential elements in learning to become a nurse, thus are key features of the learning environment.

An unconditional license with The British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP)
Current employment as a psychiatric nurse
Completion of a recognized Bachelor of Psychiatric Nursing degree within the last 6 years, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.67, and including 30 undergraduate credits at the third and fourth year level
6 credits of undergraduate-level human anatomy and physiology with a minimum grade of C+ in each course
6 credits from outside the Health discipline, including 3 credits of English (ENGL 1100 or equivalent) with a minimum grade of C+ in each course
International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Test: overall band of 6.5 or higher, with a minimum 6.0 in each band, taken within the last two years from the term of admission
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): iBT 88 or higher, with no sub score less than 20, taken within the last two years from the term of admission
Duolingo English Test: Score of 110 or higher, taken within the last two years from the term of admission.
Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL): Score of 70 or higher with no sub score less than 60, taken within the last two years from the term of admission