BSN Nursing Programs in Florida: Top Online
& Campus Degrees

The University of Florida offers a traditional BSN program that combines classroom learning, laboratory work, and experiences in a clinical setting. The program takes four semesters to complete and gives students the skills they need to begin their careers as a generalist nurse and build the foundation needed to further their education or pursue a nursing specialization later. Specific classes cover clinical reasoning in health assessments, pharmacology, pathophysiology, and population health. Students also learn about nursing leadership, the role of ethics and law in nursing practice, and how to provide services across the continuum of patient care. This program requires 60 credit hours of coursework, and then students go on to complete 765 clinical hours at a healthcare facility approved by the school.

To be admitted into this program, people are expected to pass pre-professional prerequisites, such as anatomy and physiology, nutrition, human growth and development, statistics, and biology, with at least a 3.0 average. Applicants should also have a minimum overall 3.0-grade point average and at least eight to 10 hours of foreign language classes.

Barry University’s BSN takes six semesters to complete and focuses on a contemporary curriculum that includes community-based education and opportunities to learn about how care is delivered in various settings. To be admitted, prospective students must score well on a standardized nursing program admissions test, have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA, and participate in an interview with the admissions committee.

Once students are admitted, they take a curriculum that familiarizes them with basic nursing practice and essential concepts through classes covering health assessment and promotion, pharmacology, nursing research and evidence-based practice, and nursing leadership and management. Also, the curriculum focuses on patient-centered care to different types of patients, from pediatric to geriatric patients and everyone in between. After completing their classroom learning, students are then expected to participate in hands-on clinical experiences, which can be provided at various sites, including Jackson Healthcare System Hospitals, Holy Cross Hospital, Miami Children’s Hospital, and North Shore Medical Center.

Florida International University offers a BSN program through the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences that has a didactic curriculum that includes classes focused on nursing practice foundations, pharmacology, psychosocial nursing, and evidence-based nursing and research. To augment what students learn in the classroom, the school provides simulation activities at the Simulation Teaching and Research Center. This 20,000 square foot facility mimics a fully operational hospital and clinic, including a critical care unit and operating rooms with the latest technologies and surgical instruments. Students are trained to provide critical, emergency, obstetric, pediatric, and surgical care during these simulations. Armed with the information they learned in class and the hands-on experiences they gained through simulations, students complete the program by participating in their clinical education, which is offered at one of the healthcare delivery facilities that partner with FIU.

Those who want to be admitted into this program must complete the prerequisite courses, including psychology, ethics, statistics, nutrition, anatomy and physiology; have a 3.25 cumulative GPA, and at least a 70 on the ATI TEAS (Edition VI) nursing entrance examination.

The Chamberlain University’s online RN to BSN program is an 89-credit program that students can finish in three semesters. To be admitted, students must have an associate’s degree in nursing from a college or university that the Council accredited for Higher Education Accreditation or the U.S. Department of Education, at least a 2.0GPA a current; unrestricted nursing license.

When students enroll in this program, they enhance their current skills with a curriculum that focuses on how to conduct patient assessments, provide medications, create treatment plans, and work with patients and their families to implement at-home treatment for their illnesses or injuries. Students can complete 100 percent of their classes online and are not required to log into the system to view lectures at specific times. Students also take a capstone course at the end of the program to get hands-on experience using the concepts they studied throughout the program.

Florida SouthWestern State College offers an online RN to BSN program that can be finished in four semesters. Registered nurses in the program can get higher-level skills through classes on advanced health assessments, multicultural nursing, pharmacology, healthcare informatics, nursing research, and leadership in nursing practice. Students are also required to take general education classes to help them learn additional skills that will strengthen their work performance, including writing and public speaking skills and humanities and social science coursework. Foreign language competency is also required, which students can get through two semesters of coursework if they previously did not take a foreign language in high school.

Prospective students should have an active RN license and at least a 2.50 GPA. Also, students should complete prerequisites in math, science, and communication.