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Professional Nursing (RN)

2 Days in Class • 2 Days in Clinicals • 1 Year and 8 Months

So you’re thinking about becoming a nurse?

You’ve thought, “I want a career that’s rewarding…a job where I get to help people in a big way every day.”

Or maybe, “I’d love to make a good income in a career that people really respect. It would be amazing to have job security with employers approaching me instead of always having to scramble for a job or a raise.”

If any of this sounds familiar, you may be in the right place!

2022 RN Job Placement Rate
100%
avg starting hourly wage of 2022 RN grads
$26
2023 first time NCLEX-RN pass rate
100%
hours spent in clinicals
585

Nursing can be a highly rewarding career path for the right person.

Erin Mock, our Director of Nursing Education, put it perfectly, “Nursing is an exciting field that is continuing to grow—there is no limit to where your career in nursing may take you! In addition, according to a recent study, nurses lead as the most trusted individuals by the public. This is because nursing is the perfect blend of a science and an art. Nurses impact the lives of their patients in ways that are meaningful and profound, making it a challenging and rewarding profession.”

On top of giving you a job you can love, the industry is growing by leaps and bounds.

It is typical for almost all of our students to have secured jobs even before they graduate!

There are not enough trained RNs to fill all of the open jobs, so nurses are in a great position to be able to be picky about where they want to work, in what specialty, and even negotiate pay.

There is so much variety in the field of nursing that it’s nearly impossible to get bored. You can tag-team nursing with almost any other career.

  • Do you enjoy traveling? You could be a travel or cruise ship nurse.
  • Like IT? Become a nursing informaticist.
  • Enjoy teaching? Become a nursing educator or school nurse.

The opportunities are almost limitless. You could opt for the fast-paced environment of the ER, a somewhat slower-paced long-term care facility, or anything from clinics to hospitals, education to home health.

What You’ll Learn

1st Semester:

You’ll be learning the basics, skills, and safety, with a refresher on how to study and succeed in school (great for students that have been out of school for a while):

  • Basic nursing skills, communication, and safety then practicing them on computerized mannequins.
  • Medical math, administering medication, electronic health records, and confidentiality.
  • Most of your learning will take place in the classroom and skills/simulation lab where you’ll practice on mannequins. At the end of the semester, you’ll head to long-term care facilities to practice hands-on care tasks on patients with instructor supervision.
  • NCLEX prep : We’ll focus on study habits, test-taking strategies, breaking down problems, and begin taking NCLEX-style tests.
2nd Semester:

You’ll dive into the body systems, illness, and medications and practice our new skills in more real-life, hands-on settings:

  • Learn each body system and do a brief overview of healthcare concerns, tests and diagnostic assessments.
  • Review groups of medications, their actions and uses, therapeutic response, and side effects.
  • You’ll still be in the classroom learning new skills, but you’ll spend more time in the simulation labs and hospital facilities practicing your skills with your instructor’s guidance.
  • NCLEX prep : You will apply the test-taking strategies specific to disease, disorders, and medications.
3rd Semester:

The third and fourth semester function like part A and part B of the same categories. You’ll cover half of the body systems in depth now, and the rest in depth next semester:

  • Diving deeper into each body system and the diseases, disorders, and treatment plans.
  • Assessing situations individually and using critical thinking and clinical judgement.
  • Disorders related to mental health, treatment plans, assessments, and evaluations.
  • Continued study of medications, their actions and uses, therapeutic response and side effects.
  • You’ll demonstrate your skill knowledge and clinical judgement at hospitals and mental health facilities with more complex patient care and patient teaching.
  • NCLEX prep : You’ll be testing on mental health and preparing with video patient scenarios.

*This is where the RN Bridge students will join the RN group after completing a summer “Transition” semester. If you’re currently an LPN and interested in the RN Bridge program, click here.

4th Semester:

During your final semester, you’ll be getting into the final body systems, looking at nursing from conception through adolescence, leadership in nursing, and preparing for entering the workforce:

  • You’ll cover the remaining body systems and the diseases, disorders, and treatment plans.
  • Conception to adulthood and the diseases, disorders and care needed for those ages.
  • Working on leadership, management, and entering the workforce with resume, interview, and job-related skills.
  • You’ll job-shadow a nurse for 48 hours and work with them, so you can experience their specialty in-depth.
  • You’ll practice skills in a variety of locations such as Peds/OB Clinics, Labor and Delivery, Walk-In Clinics, ER, OR, ICU, Wound Care, Cancer Center, Dialysis and more.
  • NCLEX prep : You’ll be taking NCLEX-style tests in all the major subject areas as well as the NCLEX Predictor, which should reflect your outcome as if you were to take the real NCLEX. You’ll then get tutoring specific to any weak areas you may have – all during the program!
3Months17Days3Hours

until next Professional Nursing (RN) program starts

We'll help you every step of the way.

Apply now for 2025!

Prerequisites

  • BIO 111    Anatomy & Physiology I          4
  • BIO 211    Anatomy & Physiology II         4

Requirements for Program

  • Pre-requisite classes completed by application deadline
  • General entrance exam
  • TEAS exam
  • Background check
  • Official High school/GED/College transcript

Gen-Eds and how they work at BTC

Unlike other colleges, the bulk of your education here is focused on nursing. We do not waste your time with excess general education courses.

By default, our gen-ed classes are built in and taken during your program. This is so you can complete the whole program in a shorter timeframe and get back into the workforce quickly.

Some students prefer to take gen-ed classes before their program begins to lighten the course load for later semesters when the schoolwork gets more intense, but we leave that decision up to you! 

How We Set Our Students Up For Success

Job Placement

BTC does not have a specific job placement guarantee, but we do everything in our power to help you find and get a job during your last semester of school. As shown by our high placement rates, this is a job we take seriously. It is typical for almost all of our students to have secured jobs even before they graduate! We help prepare our students for the workforce by :

  • Giving class time and instructor help with writing resumes, practicing interview skills, and other skills related to job searching.
  • Having local recruiters and healthcare professionals visit your classroom and talk to all students about their facility and any jobs available.
  • Constantly alerting students to upcoming career fairs and networking opportunities.
  • Passing along job opening information from local healthcare facilities that approach us requesting qualified candidates.
Clinicals

Classroom learning is pointless if you’re not confident practicing your skills in real-life. We wouldn’t want to throw you to the wolves as a new nurse without any hands-on practice, so we make sure that after learning skills in the classroom you have plenty of time and various scenarios to practice those skills…whether on a computerized mannequin that simulates real-life symptoms or on real patients at healthcare facilities under instructor guidance. You’ll practice your skills in a variety of scenarios at many different locations including Peds/OB Clinics, Labor and Delivery, Walk-In Clinics, ER, OR, ICU, Wound Care, Cancer Center, Dialysis and more.

NCLEX prep

We know it’s important for you to be confident in passing your licensure exam (the whole reason you’re taking the program to begin with)! Since it’s so integral, we built the NCLEX preparation into the program so you’re practicing for it throughout your entire time at BTC. This is one of the reasons our students typically have VERY high pass rates: 2023 RN class – 100% and 2022 LPN class – 100%.

After the conclusion of the program we have a NCLEX prep specialist come to our campus and spend 3 days going over material and practice questions.This is a resource that is unique to BTC because of our complete partnership with ATI. This NCLEX review session really boosts our students’ confidence before taking the exam.

Simulation and Skills Labs

Our campus opened in January 2016 and when we moved to our new building, we were able to include an advanced simulation and skills lab. Our lab includes several rooms, which allows our students to feel like they’re operating in a real-life hospital or clinic setup. From a separate control room, instructors can make the high-fidelity mannequins show symptoms specific to certain health problems, while the students react and practice nursing skills on the mannequin. This helps students learn safely and allows them to make plenty of mistakes before practicing on a real patient.

Why BTC?

We’re a small school with small class sizes, close to home, and where everyone really does know your name. At some larger schools, you’re stuck in giant classrooms with an impersonal atmosphere and no help in sight, but at BTC you’re a name, not just a number.

Help is always available and our staff and faculty bend over backward to help out with whatever you’ve got going on as we help you navigate the waters of a nursing program.

Student Story

“When I started looking for nursing schools my main focus was that I could get in and get it done while still getting a good education. I didn’t have to have any prerequisites to get into BTC’s RN program, and I could complete the gen-eds as I went through the program. Plus, the new facility was just really top notch as far as materials and access to things.”

-Shawn Mock, RN Class of 2017

Read More

Program Details

Academic Associate of Science Degree in Nursing

The Professional Nursing (RN) Program is designed for students who have chosen to pursue a career as a Registered Nurse. The program consists of 72 credit hours with clinical in various health care facilities. A student will be prepared to take the NCLEX-RN and upon successfully passing the NCLEX and upon State licensure, can become a Registered Nurse (RN). Professional Nursing (RN) from Bolivar Technical College will provide the students with training in: Fundamentals of Nursing, Pharmacology, Medical-Surgical, Maternal/Child Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and Leadership and Management. Successful completion of the Professional Nursing program does not guarantee licensure (see section 335.066 RSMO).

Program length: 4 semesters / 64 weeks

Program prerequisites:

BIO 111 Anatomy & Physiology I       4

BIO 211 Anatomy & Physiology II      4

Program Objectives

  • Historical and present views of professional practice.
  • Physical assessment and client interview.
  • Health promotion and current health trends.
  • Critical thinking as part of the nursing process.
  • Evidence-based practice and the role of the professional nurse.
  • Nursing research and care issues.
  • Integration of theoretical content of general education classes with nursing theory and practice.

Employment Opportunities

  • Hospital
  • Home Health
  • Nursing Home
  • Clinic RN
  • School Nurse
  • Most Medical Facilities

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