Nursing (Bachelor of Science)

Successful nurses tend to have the following qualities:

• Knowledge-seekers
• Able to manage time and stress
• Professional in demeanor and behavior
• Committed to learning
• Able to work as part of a team
• Creative and critical thinkers
• Becoming a Registered Nurse: Requisite Skills and Abilities

Every semester, supervised clinical experiences in a variety of health care settings will help you apply what you have been learning. Practicum locations include hospitals and community facilities throughout the Lower Mainland. Bachelor of Science in Nursing students are required to have their own transportation or to independently find their own transportation in order to travel to health care agencies, community agencies, professional organizations and meetings.

Students must be able to attend clinical practicums which can occur any day of the week (including weekends). The shifts can be 8 or 12 hours long and may start as early as 0630 am. 

The BSN program at Douglas College is a full-time, 1+3 structure Bachelor's Degree program. There are two intakes per year: September (Fall) and January (Winter).

All classes are held at the David Lam Campus in Coquitlam.

Due to the nature of the program, the Bachelor of Nursing is not offered on a part-time basis. It is a full-time, four-year program.

There are a limited number of seats reserved for Indigenous students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. Please note that all admission requirements must be met in order to qualify for a seat.

Interested students should self declare when applying for the program on Education Planner BC.  For questions and support, please contact Indigenous Student Services for further details.

Upon graduation, you will be able to work in a variety of settings including hospitals, nursing homes and community health settings. Nursing careers are diverse and include practice, education, administration and research.

For more information on nursing demand in Canada, visit the Canadian Nursing Association.

After graduation from the Douglas College Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, you can apply to the College of Registered Nurses to become a Registered Nurse (RN) in British Columbia. This requires proof of graduation and a written exam.

For more information on becoming an RN, see Becoming a Registered Nurse, Prerequisites and Abilities on the Student Resources page.

• Attend a free information session
• Contact us

A nursing career can be physically and emotionally demanding. Anyone considering a nursing education should be able to cope with stress and have the resilience to contend with the emotional labour of nursing.

Nurses are role models whom the public holds in high esteem. As such, nurses must adhere to best practices based on scientific evidence and be willing to follow guidelines and recommendations to protect the public.

Nurses are at the front line of protection of public health, even when there is a personal risk in doing so, as is evident in the current pandemic.  Furthermore, nurses must be comfortable with physical contact and possess excellent communication and relationship building skills.

https://www.bccnm.ca/Documents/competencies_requisite_skills/RN_requisite_skills_abilities.pdf

Yes, a regular program review revealed a decrease in the successful completion of the BSN program, as well as a decrease in the pass-rate of the national licensing exam required to practice as a registered nurse after graduation.

Further assessment determined that admission requirements contributed overwhelmingly to the overall success in the program, and that current admission requirements did not adequately prepare prospective nursing students for the rigor and demands of this intensive program.

All students applying for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for Fall 2022 onwards must meet the updated admission requirements published in the September 2022 program guideline.

If you are not offered admission to BSN before the changes come into effect, yes, you would be subject to the new Admission requirements.

If you have not been accepted into the BSN program and are reapplying to be admissible for Fall 2022 onwards, you would be subject to the new criteria.

There are a limited number of seats available for each intake of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.  Typically there are more qualified applicants than space available, therefore Enrolment Services - Admission must send out offers in ranking order of first qualified, first admit with priority to those in the Academic Foundations for Nursing program.  For those that completed within the same term, they would be ranked in order of their Academic Foundation for Nursing requirements GPA, based on all course attempts. Those that were not offered a seat in the program, would have to re-apply and would be ranked against the applicants for the next intake they apply.