Abstract

As the demand for registered nurses continues to rise, so too has the creation of accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs for second-degree students. This article describes an 11-month Accelerated Career Entry (ACE) Nursing Program's innovative curriculum design, which has a heavy emphasis on technology, professional socialization, and the use of a standardized patient experience as a form of summative evaluation. In addition, challenges of this program are presented. Since 2002, the ACE Program has graduated over 500 students with an average first-time NCLEX pass rate of 95-100%. Although the number of graduates from accelerated programs does not solve the severe nursing shortage, the contributions of these intelligent, assertive, pioneering graduates are important for health care.

Submitted: May 16, 2007 · Accepted: July 6, 2007 · Published: January 30, 2008

Recommended Citation

Suplee, Patricia D. and Glasgow, Mary Ellen (2008) "Curriculum Innovation in an Accelerated BSN Program: The ACE Model," International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1, Article 1.
DOI: 10.2202/1548-923X.1447
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijnes/vol5/iss1/art1