Regionally Increasing Baccalaureate Nurses (RIBN) Project

Visit the RIBN website to learn more!

FOUNDATION FOR NURSING EXCELLENCE: NORTH CAROLINA REGIONALLY INCREASING BACCALAUREATE NURSES (RIBN)

RIBN is coordinated statewide by the Foundation for Nursing Excellence with financial support from the Duke Endowment, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the NC Area Health Education Centers Program.

Mission of RIBN: To improve the health and health outcomes of North Carolinians by increasing the educational preparation and diversity of the nursing workforce.

Vision: By 2020, the RIBN pathway will be an educational option across all regions of North Carolina for students to achieve a baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) at the beginning of their nursing careers.

Unique Value: RIBN brings a unique value through educational partnerships between community or private colleges and state or private funded universities that will increase the proportion of BSN prepared nurses in our workforce in an economically-feasible and community-focused manner.

Each key stakeholder/partner benefits from RIBN’s unique value as follows:

• Nursing Student: has an affordable and accessible option for obtaining a baccalaureate degree while remaining in one’s home community; a longer career with increased earnings and career options; and increased educational opportunities for graduate education at the masters and doctoral levels.
• Academic Institution (Community College, Private College, and University): maintains a dual-admission, dual-enrollment educational program that meets all accreditation requirements, utilizes scarce faculty resources efficiently and effectively; and builds the pipeline for future faculty.
• Employer: hires higher proportion of entry level BSN-prepared RN staff to meet standards of care; experiences significant cost savings related to educational assistance and retention.
• Patient/Family/Community: Receives care from RN who is better prepared to provide care in complex situations and settings.

RIBN Definition: A partnership between community or private colleges and universities that utilizes a dual enrollment and four-year shared curriculum pathway for students to achieve a Bachelors of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN) at the beginning of their nursing careers.

STUDENTS IN THE RIBN TRACK:

• Are dually admitted both to the college and the university;
• Complete the first three years home-based at the community or private college with prerequisite, general study courses the first year and then nursing courses the second and third years, while also taking a university course per semester;
• Receive their Associate Degree in Nursing at the end of the third year, successfully pass the NCLEX-RN to be eligible to progress into fourth year of the program;
• Complete the fourth year at the university with particular emphasis on gerontological, community health nursing, use of evidenced-based nursing knowledge, and leadership development to complete the BSN degree.
• During the 4th year, RIBN students have the option to work part-time as a Registered Nurse while completing their BSN degree.

RIBN FacT Sheet

Baccalaureate Nurses: Studying and Prospects

Bachelor of Nursing (BN) is a junior academic title awarded to graduates of the corresponding bachelor’s degree in countries with a Bologna higher education system, as well as in the Commonwealth states.

Studying a Bachelor of Nursing: what’s it like?

In order to enroll in a bachelor’s degree in nursing, the applicant must provide a certificate with high marks in biology and the results of passing tests in English. In some universities, additional biology testing is conducted upon admission. Applicants entering the bachelor of nursing can be divided into three categories:

• high school graduates;
• practicing (technical) nurses, that is, nurses without higher education;
• certified bachelors of other specialties.

Usually, when entering, practicing (technical) nurses have some advantages over other applicants.

As a rule, a bachelor of a nursing program takes four years. Special attention is paid to the study of:

• biology;
• human anatomy;
• physiology;
• the science of healthy nutrition;
• sociology, family problems;
• the basics of nursing.

In some universities, there is an opportunity for graduate bachelors of other specialties to study for an abbreviated program. In this case, they may not study those disciplines (for example, languages or mathematics), which they have already passed when they received their first bachelor’s degree.

Prospects for Bachelor of Nursing

In most countries, technical (practitioners) medical nurses without higher education do not have the opportunity to climb the career ladder. A bachelor’s degree allows the holder to register with the Nursing Association of the relevant state and obtain the status of a registered (accredited) nurse. Such nurses or paramedics have higher earnings and career prospects. In addition, only registered nurses (nurses) with higher education can participate in various research works, occupy high administrative positions. At the end of the bachelor’s degree in nursing, graduates can work in the following fields:

• outpatient care;
• medical and surgical care;
• cardiovascular care;
• obstetrics;
• neonatal care;
• pediatrics;
• oncology;
• orthopedics;
• after-surgery care;
• forensic medicine;
• psychiatry;
• geriatrics;
• occupational safety and health;
• military medicine.

Graduates who have completed a bachelor’s degree in nursing with a high score can continue their education (at least one more year) and receive the title of bachelor of nursing with distinction. During this year, the student gets the right to participate in various studies. The title of bachelor of nursing allows its holder to enter the senior courses of a magistracy or directly to doctoral studies.

Graduate nursing bachelors can enter magistracy.