The College of New Jersey Nursing Program Review
Established as New Jersey Normal School in Trenton by a state Legislature in 1855, the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) has come a long way with so much history. The College has had numerous change of name over the years: from a Normal school to a State teachers college, a state college and finally to its current name adopted in 1996. By 1958, it was offering non-teaching programs and this warranted the change of name to New Jersey State College. Currently, the college has academic programs in all disciplines at undergraduate and graduate level
Nursing Programs at the College of New Jersey
The nursing department at the College of New Jersey has various undergraduate and graduate nursing programs on offer. In the undergraduate category, students can choose the traditional Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) program or the Registered nurse to BSN completion program. At the Graduate level, qualified candidates have five areas of concentrations to choose from. There are also a number of Post-master’s Certificate programs for master-prepared candidates. All programs under the department are accredited by the Commission on collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) is a traditional program designed for entry-level pre licensure students. The curriculum consists of 128 credit hours scheduled to be completed in 4 academic years of 8 semesters. Courses are offered on a full time study plan in the traditional classroom setting. Completion of the program leads to the award of a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree and eligibility to write the NLCEX-RN exam to become registered nurses (RN).
RN to BSN Nursing
The RN to BSN program is designed for RNs who wish to complete a baccalaureate nursing degree. Candidates for this program must have current registered nurse licenses to be eligible to apply. Admission occurs once annually in the spring semesters. The transfer of courses conforms to the states articulation model. This means that students cannot transfer more than 80 credits towards the BSN regardless of the number of courses that had been covered previously. Courses being transferred from junior and community colleges cannot exceed 64 credits. In addition, students must take at least 48 semester credits to be eligible to graduate with a BSN degree.
On most cases, students from associate degree programs transfer 16 nursing and 6 general education courses. Students who transfer these 22 courses take approximately 5 semesters of full time study to complete and be awarded the degree.
Master of Science in Nursing Programs (MSN)
There are a number of MSN tracks for both BSN prepared candidates and candidates with any other Bachelor of Science degree.
Bridge Program to the MSN
The Bridge program is meant for RNs with baccalaureate degree other the BSN. Such students must have graduated from an accredited associate or diploma nursing program in addition to having a current RN New Jersey license. After admission, students take about 5 undergraduate BSN courses to be eligible to take the MSN level courses. After bridging courses are complete, students can follow the usual MSN path to choose specialty roles in School Nurse Program, Clinical Nurse Leader and Adult, Neonatal or Family Nurse Practitioner tracks.
Clinical Nurse Leader
This is a program that enables BSN-prepared students to become certified at Clinical Nurse Leaders.
MSN- Nurse Practitioner Tracks
This program is designed for BSN-prepared candidates who wish to earn advanced practice RN status as:
- Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
- Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
- Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
Those taking the ANP and NNP track should expect to complete their coursework of 42 and 37 credits respectively in 2-years of full time study including 2 summer sessions. The FNP curriculum consists of 46 credits designed to be completed in 2 years including 1 summer session. Part time options are also available but all courses must be completed within 6 years after acceptance. While the ANP and FNP coursework is offered at College of New Jersey, the NNP may warrant a Philadelphia RN license since the program is a consortium with Thomas Jefferson University. All specialty courses for this track are offered in the evening at the Philadelphia-based University.
School Nurse Certification
The department of nursing at College of New Jersey offers two options for school nurses certification:
- Non-Instructional school nurse
- Instructional school nurse
Besides the core Master of Science in nursing and nurse educator courses, the Non-instructional school nurse track requires an additional13 credits while the instructional school nurse track requires 23 credits to complete.
Post-Master’s Certificates
Two major post-master’s certificate options are available with several tracks under each
Post-Master’s Nurse Practitioner Certification is offered in 2 options
- Adult Nurse Practitioner
- Family Nurse Practitioner
Post-Master’s FNP Certification Programs for Specialty Nurse Practitioners in 3 options
- Adult Nurse Practitioner
- Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner
- Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Contact:
The College of New Jersey
2000 Pennington Road, Ewing,
NJ 08628
