The Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The BSN prepares nurse generalists to plan, deliver, lead and manage person-centered care with a focus on illness prevention, health promotion and population health. Graduates learn to coordinate quality, fiscally responsible care with the full health care team and leave academically prepared for graduate programs.
The degree totals 135 credits: 74 credits of general education and prerequisite courses in the first two years, then 61 credits of upper-division nursing coursework.
Program Goals
- Prepare safe, competent professional nurse leaders through education, scholarship and evidence-based practice
- Deliver and manage person-centered care focused on prevention and population health
- Coordinate care with the health care team for communities across the lifespan
- Build a commitment to lifelong learning and graduate education
Applying to the Nursing Program
Students apply to the nursing program after admission to HPU. Applicants need a 3.0 cumulative GPA, a C or better in every prerequisite and an ATI TEAS score at the 60th percentile or above. Review the admission requirements.
Business Skills for Nurse Leaders
Along with clinical preparation, HPU nursing graduates develop the business skills needed to lead and manage in a range of health care settings.
Interprofessional Learning
A dedicated senior-level course brings nursing students together with the Congdon School of Health Sciences in athletic training, exercise science, medical science, physical therapy and physician assistant studies. Nursing students can also collaborate with the Kahn School of Law and the Workman School of Dental Medicine.
Required Nursing Courses
Upper-division nursing coursework begins in the junior year, after students complete their general education and prerequisite courses with a C or better.
Junior Year
- NURS 3101 Introduction to Concepts and Clinical Judgement for Professional Nursing Practice (1 credit)
Introduces the nursing concepts, critical thinking and clinical reasoning behind sound clinical judgement. - NURS 3201 Pathophysiology for Professional Nurses (2 credits)
Covers the disease processes that alter human physiologic function across the lifespan. - NURS 3301 Health and Physical Assessment in Professional Nursing Practice (3 credits)
Builds comprehensive assessment skills, from health histories and review of systems to the physical exam. - NURS 3302 Pharmacological Applications in Professional Nursing Practice (3 credits)
Teaches safe medication administration and the pharmacology behind nursing care. - NURS 3411/3412 Introduction to Professional Nursing Practice and Lab Practicum (4 credits)
Introduces professional nursing roles, core patient-care skills, documentation and practice standards, with lab practice. - NURS 3102 Concepts and Clinical Judgement for Professional Nursing Practice II (1 credit)
Builds on NURS 3101, pairing clinical reasoning with the nursing process to strengthen clinical judgement. - NURS 3303 Introduction to Research and Evidence-Based Practice (3 credits)
Introduces nursing research and the nurse’s role in evidence-based practice. - NURS 3511/3512 Nursing Management for Adults with Medical-Surgical Needs and Practicum (5 credits)
Foundational care of adults with acute and chronic medical-surgical conditions, with a clinical practicum. - NURS 3413/3414 Nursing Management of Mental Health and Practicum (4 credits)
Psychiatric mental health nursing and the principles of human behavior, with a clinical practicum. - NURS 3415/3416 Reproductive Health and Maternal Newborn Nursing Care and Practicum (4 credits)
Care of the childbearing family through the full maternity cycle and newborn care, with a clinical practicum. - NURS 3417/3418 Nursing Care for Pediatric Populations and Family and Practicum (4 credits)
Child- and family-centered care for infants, children and adolescents, with a clinical practicum.
Senior Year
- NURS 4103 Concepts and Clinical Judgement for Professional Nursing Practice III (1 credit)
Applies the nursing process, evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning to sharpen clinical judgement. - NURS 4301 Nursing Leadership (3 credits)
Leadership and management concepts and skills for nurses in a range of health care settings. - NURS 4412/4413 Community and Public Health Nursing and Practicum (4 credits)
The nurse’s role in community and public health, with a clinical practicum. - NURS 4512/4513 Nursing Management for Adults with Medical-Surgical Needs II and Practicum (5 credits)
Builds on NURS 3511/3512 with health promotion and management of acute and chronic conditions in adults, with a clinical practicum. - NURS 4104 Concepts and Clinical Judgement for Professional Nursing Practice IV (1 credit)
Integrates and evaluates the nursing process and clinical reasoning to complete the clinical judgement sequence. - NURS 4105 Senior Nursing Seminar (1 credit)
Builds analytical and self-evaluation skills and prepares students for licensure benchmarks. - NURS 4209 Global and Population Health Across the Lifespan (2 credits)
Population and global health issues, including health policy and care for vulnerable populations. - NURS 4514/4515 Interdisciplinary Nursing Care for Adults with Medical-Surgical Needs and Practicum (5 credits)
Care of adults with complex multisystem health conditions, with an interdisciplinary practicum. - NURS 4516/4517 Transitioning to Professional Nursing Practice: Capstone and Practicum (5 credits)
Capstone that brings together the professional nurse’s role in patient care management, with a clinical practicum.
See the full four-year plan and course requirements or read the complete course descriptions in the HPU Undergraduate Bulletin.
Parkway Commons
The School of Nursing occupies Parkway Commons, a 50,000-square-foot facility. The Nursing Skills Lab uses a 16-bed layout with 18 low- to high-fidelity simulators, and three high-fidelity simulation suites prepare students in adult health, maternal-newborn and pediatric nursing.
“We have state-of-the-art facilities with mannequins and all the up-to-date technology that you see in the hospitals today, which was really important for me starting my job.”
Madi Kee, a pediatric emergency department nurse at Brenner Children’s Hospital
Clinical Practicums
HPU has clinical practicum agreements with leading health care organizations in the Piedmont Triad. The campus sits within an hour and a half of North Carolina’s five most populated cities, giving students and faculty access to more than a third of the state’s population for clinical and research partnerships.
Senior capstones place students on hospital units. David Lombardi completed his capstone in the Cone Health emergency department that hired him after graduation.
“One of the most impactful moments at High Point University was during my clinical experiences, when I was able to apply everything I had learned in the classroom to real patient care and truly see the difference I could make.”
Abbie McNeill, a new graduate emergency nurse at Cone Health
Global and Community Health
- Eleven nursing students served patients in Belize in May 2026 on a service-learning trip with International Service Learning, led by Dr. Alexis Best-Rhodes and Professor Amber Scott.
- Seniors in the Global and Population Health Across the Lifespan course have learned from Samaritan’s Purse how large-scale disaster relief is coordinated and delivered.
- Nursing students give free health screenings on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and have served at the N.C. Missions of Mercy clinic alongside dental and pharmacy students.
“Working alongside healthcare professionals during home visits, assessments, vitals and patient care showed me the reality that many underserved communities face when access to healthcare is limited.”
Erikah Freeman, nursing student
Nursing Leadership
In the Nursing Leadership course, seniors present professional development projects at the school’s Nursing Executive Leadership Panel, first held in September 2025 with nurse executives and health care leaders.
Health Literacy Research
Founding Dean Dr. Racquel Ingram studies how health literacy and social determinants of health affect underserved populations. The Princeton Review gives High Point University a 95 out of 99 rating for professor accessibility, based on its student surveys.
Nursing in the News
Dr. Lorrie Davis-Dick
Research and Innovation: October 2025
Davis-Dick also was principal investigator of a recently published study in HPU’s publication of The Lighted Lamp titled, “Examining Junior Nursing Student Self-Efficacy in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Clinical Simulation Experience.”
HPU’s Dental, Pharmacy and Nursing Schools Provide Free Care at Two-Day N.C. Missions of Mercy Clinic
Faculty and students from HPU’s Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy and the Teresa Caine School of Nursing also assisted at the clinic, which treated more than 600 patients.
Explore Nursing at High Point University
See the program’s rankings and where HPU nursing graduates work.
Accreditation & Awards Careers & Organizations
Questions about the program? Email Dr. Racquel Ingram, founding dean of the Teresa B. Caine School of Nursing, at [email protected].