Lenoir-Rhyne University Nursing School Review

Lenoir-Rhyne University (LRU) is a small liberal arts college with almost 2,000 students enrolled in programs at the college. Lenoir-Rhyne is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The university has received awards in several categories, including teaching, community, and others. The School of Nursing at the university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Nursing Programs

Pre-Licensure (BSN) Program

In this program, students can earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Students must first apply to the university. This program is competitive and not all students in pre-nursing are admitted to the nursing program when they apply to it at the end of the second year of studies. Factors that affect whether or not the applicant is accepted are the overall grade point average in the courses that were completed during the first two years at the university and the pre-nursing test score. Students must have completed 60 credits in the pre-nursing curriculum or be close to completing 60 credits with a minimum grade point average of 2.7 in their first two years at the university.

Students attending other universities may also transfer into the pre-nursing program at any time during their freshman or sophomore years. They must have completed all prerequisite courses and have earned a minimum grade point average of at least 2.7 in them. Students accepted into the program complete upper level general education requirements and mostly nursing courses, including clinical experience. The university also has a simulation lab where students practice nursing skills before beginning their work with actual patients. At the completion of the senior year, graduates take the NCLEX-RN to obtain their licenses as Registered Nurses.

Gateway Program

This program is a Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program designed for those with an Associate Degree. Applicants must have a current license as an RN. They must also have finished 56 semester hours of pre-nursing courses before beginning the BSN program, and a minimum grade point average of 2.5 must be attained. RNs may challenge 2 clinical nursing courses and 5 non-clinical courses that they may be exempt from if they meet the criteria to bypass these courses.

Master of Science in Nursing

A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is also offered at Lenoir-Rhyne University at two of the university’s locations in Hickory and in Asheville. There are two tracks that RNs may choose from, which are Education or Administration. The MSN Administration concentration prepares students to work in administrative roles in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The MSN Education concentration prepares nurses to teach students in nursing schools, colleges, and universities in a variety of nursing programs. Applicants to the program must have a minimum grade point average of 2.7 in the last 60 hours of the program and no grade lower than C in the prerequisite courses of statistics and nursing research. If an applicant has graduated with a BSN within the last 6 years, the GRE is not required. Each track of the MSN program consists of nursing graduate core courses plus direct care core courses. The remaining 18 credits consist of courses related to the advanced nursing specialty of either Administration or Education. A Capstone Project or Thesis is 6 of the last 18 credits before graduation.

Contact:
Lenoir-Rhyne University
625 7th Avenue NE,
Hickory, NC 28601
(828) 328-7300