Nursing

The Intercollegiate Nursing Alliance (INA) is a partnership of three schools: Eastern Washington University (EWU), Washington State University (WSU) and Whitworth University. The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is offered at the WSU College of Nursing located in Spokane, WA. This partnership enables students to complete undergraduate degree requirements and nursing prerequisite courses at one of the participating universities before applying to the WSU College of Nursing to finish the BSN degree. Students applying from one of the participating universities have priority in admissions to the BSN program. Typically, freshmen enrolling at EWU will need at least two years of course work to prepare to apply to the BSN program. Students who are admitted to this competitive program will take an additional two years of course work through the WSU College of Nursing to complete the BSN degree.

Admission to the WSU College of Nursing is competitive. Not all eligible students from EWU who have successfully completed the undergraduate degree requirements and the nursing prerequisite courses will be admitted to the BSN program. The WSU College of Nursing admits approximately 90-100 students each term (fall and spring semesters). A majority of the students admitted come from the partner universities while a small number of seats are available for transfer students coming from other schools. Minimum admission requirements are listed below. Currently, however, successful applicants generally have GPAs well above 3.0. Due to the limited number of admissions to the BSN program, students are encouraged to apply to multiple nursing schools to increase their chances of being admitted to a program leading to a degree.

In order to be eligible to apply to the Intercollegiate Nursing Alliance through EWU, students must complete three quarters of full-time course work and a minimum of 36 credits at EWU. Students who do not meet this requirement may apply to the BSN program as a transfer student directly through WSU.
 

BSN Admission Criteria:

• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the BSN prerequisite courses, with a minimum grade in any individual course of at least 2.0. Pass/Fail grades and AP test scores are not accepted to meet BSN prerequisite requirements.
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all college-level course work from all schools attended.
• A required, in-person interview for all students invited to this stage of the admission process.

Preparation for BSN Prerequisite Courses and College-Level Course Work:

High school students are encouraged to take biology, chemistry and math courses (algebra or higher) during their junior and senior years to prepare for the BSN prerequisite courses and starting college-level course work.

Transfer students and those with previous college credit should consult the EWU Transfer Guide to see how courses taken at other schools may meet the BSN program prerequisites and undergraduate degree requirements.

MATH104 (or its equivalent) is a prerequisite to both CHEM161 and CSBS320 at EWU. Freshmen and those transferring without a math course are strongly encouraged to take the APTP Mathematics Placement Test prior to meeting with an academic advisor and registering at EWU.  Students transferring with a successfully completed math course (minimum grade of 2.0) should consult with their academic advisor about their math placement. 

All students considering the BSN program are encouraged to apply for admission to EWU well in advance of the quarter they plan to start classes.

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING
PREREQUISITE COURSES

EWU COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE	PREREQUISITE(S)
PSYC100: General Psychology (5)	none
PSYC 201: Life Span Development (4)	none
SOCI101: Introduction to Sociology (5)	none
CHEM161: General Chemistry for the Health Sciences (5)	Concurrent enrollment in or completion of MATH104, MATH105, MATH115 or equivalent. A high school chemistry course or CHEM100 is highly recommended.
CHEM162: Organic Chemistry for the Health Sciences (5)	CHEM161
CHEM163: Biochemistry for the Health Sciences (5)	CHEM162
BIOL232: Human Anatomy & Physiology (5)    *Generally offered fall quarter only	One course in college- level chemistry.
BIOL233: Human Anatomy & Physiology (5)    *Generally offered winter quarter only	BIOL232
BIOL234: Human Anatomy & Physiology (5)    *Generally offered spring quarter only	BIOL233
BIOL335: Elementary Medical Microbiology (5)    *Generally offered spring quarter only	Completion of, or concurrent enrollment, in BIOL234 & CHEM163.
FNDT356: Nutrition (5)	CHEM162
CSBS320: Introductory Statistics for the Social Sciences (5)	MATH104 or mathematics clearance by test. MATH115 recommended.

Prerequisite Courses:

• The Anatomy/Physiology series (BIOL 232, 233 and 234 at EWU) should be completed at one school.
• Biology, chemistry and statistics courses used as BSN program prerequisites should be no more than 5 years old at the time of application to the Intercollegiate Nursing Alliance; this helps to ensure that students are well prepared to begin the upper-division nursing courses. 
• Advance Placement (AP), CLEP and International Baccalaureate (IB) scores may not be used to meet the BSN program prerequisites.
• All EWU undergraduate degree requirements must be completed prior to starting courses at the WSU College of Nursing. In order to complete EWU undergraduate degree requirements and BSN prerequisites efficiently, students should carefully plan out their schedule from the time of entry to EWU through the completion of all requirements. Some courses have prerequisites, must be taken in a specific order and/or may only be offered once a year. Planning and academic advising is essential!

Financial Details:

Students pay EWU tuition rates while attending classes through EWU. Once admitted to the WSU College of Nursing, registration is completed through WSU and WSU tuition rates apply (either in-state or out-of-state). Once admitted to the College of Nursing, students will work with WSU for all financial aid and scholarship purposes. Funding for the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) program is not available to EWU students while attending the WSU College of Nursing. 

Additional Information:

Please read through the EWU Catalog for updated information relating to nursing and EWU undergraduate degree requirements. General questions about entering the BSN Program through EWU can be directed to the EWU General Undergraduate Advising Office (GUAA) at genadvising@ewu.edu. GUAA advisors are happy to meet with students who are admitted and have confirmed their intent to enroll at EWU. Please contact the EWU Office of Admissions for details about applying to EWU.

Information about preparing for and applying to the WSU College of Nursing and updates about pre-nursing at EWU are available through the EWU Pre-Nursing Blog. Check out the blog to see the latest information or submit your email to get updates sent to your inbox.

 

A Bachelor of Science in Nursing is available through the Intercollegiate Nursing Alliance.  The WSU College of Nursing in Spokane, WA also offers a Master of Nursing (MN) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) for those planning an advanced degree.

Students with the BSN become a licensed, registered nurse, eligible for positions as a registered nurse, nurse manager or supervisor, a community health advocate, a medical case manager and many other careers.  Nurses are hired in hospitals, medical clinics, care facilities, insurance companies, private homes, international health organizations and many, many more places.

Those interested in becoming a nurse practitioner or going into another advanced nursing field should consider furthering their education after completion of the BSN degree.