Associate Degree Nursing

The Nursing program provides an integrated nursing curriculum that assists students in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to function as beginning practitioners of nursing. The curriculum includes classroom, skills lab, simulation lab, and clinical courses. Students must satisfactorily complete all the nursing courses in each semester concurrently in order to progress to the next semester of the program, and all semesters must be taken in sequence.

Upon completion of the program of study, the student will have earned an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing. Graduates of the program may then apply to the Board of Nursing to take the licensure exam to become a Registered Nurse. To qualify to take the licensing exam, students must meet eligibility requirements stipulated by the Texas Board of Nursing. Applicants who have reason to believe they may be ineligible to take the licensing exam due to criminal background issues may petition the BON for a declaratory order. This should be done prior to entering the nursing program, since these eligibility issues also prevent the student from enrolling in the clinical courses. Information about eligibility is available in the RN Information Packet and on the website for the Texas Board of Nursing.

Detailed information about the program is provided in an information packet, available by sending an email request to nursing @grayson.edu. The applicant should request the RN Information Packet. This packet will be sent to the applicant via email. Completion of this information packet is required for all applicants to the program. More information about applying to the program and the selection process can be found on the Future Students page.

Mission of the ADN Program

The mission of the Grayson College Associate Degree Nursing program is to prepare graduates to practice professional nursing in a variety of health related settings.

Philosophy of the ADN Program

The Nursing Faculty supports the vision, philosophy, and mission of Grayson College. The Faculty believes that the community college provides an optimal setting for nursing education. The College provides an atmosphere in which nursing education is complemented through the study of other disciplines.

The Faculty ascribes to the following beliefs:

Nursing is a profession that uses a comprehensive approach and evidence-based practices in assisting patients across the lifespan to achieve and maintain optimal health.
Health and illness are relative states reflecting how patients perceive their ability to function and interact with their environment. The environment refers to all the internal and external factors affecting the patient and the nurse. The patient’s state of health fluctuates on a continuum.
The patient is the recipient of nursing care and includes individuals and families who may receive nursing care in institutional or community-based settings. Although patients share common needs, each may experience unique responses. Patients may have multiple complex needs with either predictable or unpredictable outcomes.

The registered nurse with an associate degree fulfills the overlapping roles of Member of the Profession, Provider of Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety Advocate, and Member of the Health Care Team. Within these roles, the registered nurse utilizes assessment and analytical skills to plan, implement, and evaluate nursing care. The registered nurse prepared at the Associate Degree level functions as a professional in both autonomous and collaborative practice.

Nursing education is a continuous learning process empowering students to grow from learners to novice practitioners. To help achieve this, the program is built upon the ideas of cognitive constructivism to assist in the delivery of content and in student evaluations. The faculty plan and facilitate learning experiences which promote the application and integration of concept-theoretical knowledge necessary to achieve the program outcomes.

Major concepts integrated throughout the program of learning include: professionalism, personal accountability, advocacy, clinical decision making, patient teaching, caring approach, skill competency, resource management, safety, risk reduction, communication, coordination, and collaboration. The program of study prepares graduates to demonstrate the essential competencies of graduates of Associate Degree Nursing Education Programs as defined by the Texas Board of Nursing.

Opportunities are provided for individualized instruction, evaluation, guidance, and academic counseling, but the student is ultimately responsible for meeting learning outcomes and establishing a plan for lifelong learning as a professional

End-of-Program Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the ADN program the student will have achieved the following outcomes, becoming a Member of the Profession, Provider of Patient-Centered Care, Patient Safety Advocate, and Member of the Healthcare Team:

Member of the Profession:

Demonstrate professional attitudes and behaviors.
Demonstrate personal accountability and growth.
Advocate on behalf of patients, families, self, and the profession.

Provider of Patient-Centered Care:

Use clinical decision making skills to provide safe, effective care for patients and families.
Develop, implement and evaluate teaching plans to meet the needs of patients and families.
Integrate a caring approach in the provision of care for diverse patients and families.
Perform skills safely and correctly in the provision of patient care.
Manage resources in the provision of safe, effective care for patients and families.

Patient Safety Advocate:

Implement measures to promote a safe environment for patients, self, and others.
Formulate goals and outcomes to reduce risk using evidence-based guidelines.

Member of the Health Care Team:

Initiate and facilitate communication to meet the needs of patients and families.
Collaborate with patients, families, and health care team members to promote quality care.
Function as a member of the interdisciplinary health care team.

Program Accreditation

The Grayson College ADN program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and approved by the Texas Board of Nursing (BON). Following successful completion of the program the graduate is eligible to take the National Licensing Examination (NCLEX-RN^®) to become a Registered Nurse.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)

3343 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 850

Atlanta, Georgia 30326

Phone: 404.975.5000

Fax: 404.975.5020

Texas Board of Nursing

333 Guadalupe #3-460

Austin, Texas 78701

Phone: 512.305.7400

Fax: 512.305.7401