What Do You Learn in BSN Nursing Programs?

By Dr. Kristen Richmond 

For aspiring nurses and those interested in the medical field, you are probably wondering what nursing programs are like. In short, I tell my students that a degree in nursing includes rigorous medical training, both in the classroom and in the community, to prepare for their future careers. At Grace, this training is designed to blend academic excellence with compassionate, hands-on care. 

What is Nursing School Like?

A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is a standard four-year degree in nursing that prepares you for work in healthcare. While you can get an associate degree in nursing and become a Registered Nurse (RN), a BSN provides you with more career options and graduate school and higher-level healthcare opportunities and positions. 

In nursing programs, your classes will start with the basics, such as patient care. You’ll learn how to brush their teeth, comb their hair, give them a bath, and complete other simple duties. While working through the foundations of nursing, you’ll discover how to properly treat every patient from a newborn baby to the elderly, whether they are healthy or sick. And don’t forget the exciting task of filling out paperwork!

As you progress through nursing programs, your classes will build upon these essential skills through increasingly intense training in patient illness and injury management. You’ll move on to more advanced or critical care procedures, such as analyzing heart rhythms, assessing chest tubes, or taking care of patients with more serious issues, like a drug overdose or heart failure. By your senior year, you’ll be equipped to address everything from mild injuries to critical patients. 

At Grace, we also look at patients in a spiritual way. Our nursing majors are trained to see every person as a unique patient who is created by God and displays His image. Nursing students are taught how to meet someone where they’re at, both physically and spiritually. This could mean bringing them another blanket or a drink, or spending a few extra moments to let the patient know you truly care about them. As Christian nurses, we aspire to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our work.

What to Expect in Clinical Rotations 

A nursing clinical rotation is integrated into your degree to give you practical, hands-on training for the workforce. My best advice is to approach nursing clinicals as a learner to truly build your nursing experience. 

Usually, you’ll start bright and early in the morning at nursing clinicals. You’ll receive your patient or patients’ information and report to the nurse in charge of the patient’s care. Then, you’ll review the patient’s condition, complete a head-to-toe assessment, distribute medication under supervision, and provide general care. You’ll typically start with a shorter shift, like four or five hours, and work up to 12-hour shifts to acclimate yourself to a nursing unit environment. 

At Grace, our nursing majors complete their nursing clinicals in various settings, including local hospital environments, retirement homes, and community clinics, many of which are located within a 10-mile radius of campus. Nursing students will also have access to Grace’s contemporary nursing simulation lab, where they can practice their skills in a life-like environment. 

Following your time at nursing clinicals, you will have a post-conference to discuss and help you understand interesting things that happened during your clinical. It’s a great chance to learn from other nursing students and prepare for your next shift. 

Our goal at Grace is to help nursing majors get exposed to several different clinical settings and areas to find a place that you like, and maybe find the ones you don’t like. This can be a great way to learn what area of nursing you enjoy and would like to pursue. 

Taking the Next Step

Some nurses know exactly what area they want to study when they enter nursing programs. I personally knew I wanted to work specifically as an obstetrics nurse from the beginning. But not everybody knows that, and that’s okay. In Grace’s nursing program, we hope to help you find the area that you are really passionate about to discover your calling. 

If you are looking for career options after you earn your BSN, read What Can I Do with a Nursing Degree? for helpful information and tips. Check out How to Succeed in Nursing School to learn how to thrive in nursing programs. 

Dr. Kristen Richmond serves as the Assistant Professor of Nursing and the Director of Nursing at Grace College. She received her BSN and MSN from Ball State University and earned her DNP from Regis College. Her area of expertise is maternity nursing. Her research for her doctoral degree, titled “Coping Skills Assessment and Training for Newly Graduated Registered Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was published in 2022.