BSN Program Concept-Based Curriculum

Due to the complex nature of health care today, nurses must demonstrate sound clinical judgement, clinical reasoning, and critical thinking in practice. To that end, the University of Portland School of Nursing & Health Innovations is proud to offer an innovative and student-centered concept-based BSN curriculum. This cutting-edge curriculum is built on an active and hands-on approach to learning in classrooms, robust and high-quality simulation experiences, and a range of clinical settings that maximizes simulation science, neuroscience, and concept-based teaching and learning. The School of Nursing & Health Innovations faculty wholeheartedly believe the concept-based curriculum prepares the best possible nursing workforce for the future.

Each nursing course is designed to examine specific concepts, which build on each other throughout the curriculum. There are three types of nursing courses: classroom courses, clinical reasoning seminar (CRS) courses, and professional practice courses. Nursing concepts are taught in the classroom (didactic) courses. Students complete on-campus clinical hours (e.g. lab, simulation) and off-campus clinical hours (e.g. hospital, community, and ambulatory care settings, focused learning activities) in the professional practice courses. The CRS courses serve as a connector between the nursing concepts students learn in the classroom courses and their professional practice experiences.

The classroom, CRS, and professional practice courses that are related to each other are referred to as a “trifecta.” There are five trifectas in the BSN program:

Course descriptions are available here.