Nursing is extremely challenging. Nothing comes easy in this major. You will be giving up nights out, your Non-nursing friends will joke that they never see you, and you may end up a little sleep deprived. BUT I can think of no other major as rewarding as nursing. You can literally get a job anywhere in the world doing any type of nursing you want. You can go into grad school and get your doctorates or even end up teaching the classes you never thought you would pass while in school. The best part about it is though, you’ll be a forever member of the most trusted profession in the world. And while this major is challenging, you will never face those challenges alone. It may be a hard journey, but it is beyond worth it in the end.

Sarah Wohld ’15 | Nursing

As a freshman, you’ll find yourself launching head-first into a rigorous nursing curriculum. With the support of an experienced nursing faculty adviser, you’ll receive academic and professional guidance throughout your four years in the program. You will also have direct access to a full range of student-life activities on and off campus. After you’ve completed your studies, you’ll sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), prepared with the skills and knowledge to apply for entry-level professional nurse positions.

At Shenandoah, our role is to help you prepare for success in this challenging and satisfying health profession. As a student here, you will have opportunities to share and learn from your fellow students, faculty and practicing nurses, from within the classroom to a range of clinical environments including hospitals, medical practices and pharmacies.

Our programs are challenging, but the rewards of completing your degree and entering this critical profession are many. We are committed to providing an outstanding education to nurses at all levels—from people entering the profession with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing, to advanced practice nurses seeking doctoral-level training. Our programs are dynamic and responsive to the needs of our students and the health care industry. 

Role players, trained as actors in Shenandoah University’s world-renowned Shenandoah Conservatory, help make our simulation experience unique. While we use mannequins in state-of-the-art and easily reconfigured simulation spaces, our students also learn by working with acting students who role-play simulated patients.

This mutually beneficial arrangement allows nursing students to interact with real people, and provides acting students with a variety of skills, from applying moulage, or wound-mimicking makeup, to gaining a greater understanding of how portray people with a variety of ailments, after learning about symptoms from our nursing faculty, who are experts, who remain practicing nurses.

Our program also utilizes the capabilities of the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning, which features a role-player workforce and augments programs with 360 video and augmented and virtual reality technology. 

Nursing is the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S. and the demand is expected to rise through 2020. Graduates enjoy high starting salaries and flexible schedules in terms of hours and locations. As a nurse, you’ll have numerous opportunities for specialization and career advancement.

The B.S.N. degree is the entry-level degree for many health care organizations. It prepares you to perform clinical practice in today’s high tech health care environment, using clinical reasoning and critical thinking along with a caring demeanor.

The Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing prepares you to deliver, manage and lead nursing care in a variety of health care settings and participate in personal and professional development. You will be ready to do this in many settings, such as hospitals (acute care), clinics, medical practices, health departments, hospice and the military. You can work in international care, home care, trauma care or school nursing (you may teach in vocational LPN programs) and pursue graduate studies in advanced practice nursing, nursing education and research.

Career and Salary Examples for Nursing Majors:

• Nurse with BSN:$50,000-$75,000
• Nursing Manager: $81,831
• Nurse Case Manager: $67,342
• Family Nurse Practitioner (NP): $87,866
• Clinical Nurse Manager: $77,671
• Emergency Room Nurse: $67,546

In my senior year, Shenandoah’s School of Nursing helped me land my dream job with everything from resume development to interview skills, and helped me prepare for the NCLEX with a comprehensive review program. At graduation, I felt very confident, already having a job lined up, and I felt prepared to pass my boards!”

Anne O’Hare ’18 | RN-to-BSN

Inova Fairfax Surgical Telemetry Unit

Every aspect of the nursing program has helped me be prepared for my first nursing job. From basic nursing skills, to job interviews, and how to prevent burn-out, SU’s program takes you step by step through everything you need to know! I have accepted a nursing position on the Pulmonary-Renal Unit at Valley Health’s Winchester Medical Center.

Courtney Short ’16 | Nursing

I loved all of my classes at SU, but if I have to pick just one it definitely would be my Transitions into nursing class taught by Professor Rawls Bryce. This class walked us through the steps of applying and preparing for the NCLEX, applying for our first job, interviewing, building a portfolio etc. It was a little intense to realize that our time in school was over and the real world was right around the corner, but it made it a lot less scary to have her and all of our other professors by our side to guide us. Rawls Bryce even got recruiters from major hospitals like UVA, Valley Healty and INOVA to come to SU to take out the anxiety of travel from the interview process. It was a fantastic class that helped us explore where we really wanted to start our nursing careers. I currently work at INOVA Fairfax in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as a RN. SU prepared me unbelievably well for this job.

Sarah Wohld ’15 | Nursing

The Career Services Office provides a comprehensive range of services and resources to assist Shenandoah students in their career search. Services offered include resume and cover letter building, mock interviews, and professional dining etiquette workshops.

 

Career Services at Shenandoah

Our Nursing program has small classes, and focuses on Ethics and Genomics which is the future of nursing. We also offer Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief courses which is very rare. Many schools have one skills lab, whereas our students complete three. We don’t just teach skills, we give a reasoning behind the skills, and then perform them in real world simulations.

You’ll learn to:

• analyze knowledge associated with professional nursing practice and membership within the nursing profession
• demonstrate skill in the delivery, management and leadership of professional nursing care
• demonstrate values consistent with the ethical delivery of professional nursing care
• exemplify unique meanings associated with professional nursing
• actively and intellectually engage in professional nursing experiences

I am a nursing major with the goal of becoming a shock trauma nurse because I run on adrenaline and I am able to easily understand emergency concepts. I love caring for patients in high stress situations and letting them know they are in good hands. I like how there is emergency medicine incorporated into all of my core nursing classes as well as multiple clinical days in the emergency department at Winchester Medical Center to get hands on experience.

Alice Davenport ’19 | Nursing

For nursing students, skills labs are everything you want to do but are too afraid and inexperienced to perform in real life. These labs are taught by the best group of experienced nurses, who genuinely want you to succeed. The class helps you practice difficult and meticulous skills on SIM people and equipment. It’s a great hands on class that really keeps you on your toes – you never know when you’ll be thrown a curve ball!

Courtney Short ’16 | Nursing

 

Learning support services are available to all students in every course at Shenandoah. Free peer tutoring with a student who has previously succeeded in the course is available for any course across the university. The Writing Center is available for every stage of the writing process from thesis development to proofreading and bibliography assistance. The Math Enrichment Center is available for math and science assistance. Professors and Academic Advisors across the university also have office hours and open door policies to ensure Shenandoah students succeed academically.

Learning Support Services at Shenandoah

I think tutoring is a very beneficial resource because it helped me understand the material more, so I could do well on my exams!”

Maria Shellenberger ’18 | Nursing

 

 

The best thing you can do for yourself is to take advantage of the FREE tutoring services here at Shenandoah. The tutors here were able to make even the most complicated and challenging material, fun and easy to understand.

Aaron Seagle ’17 | Nursing

Students interested in this program should also look into these other majors, graduate degrees, minors, and certificates.

These minors complement this program well:

• Spanish
• Chemistry
• Public Health

Continue your education by earning a graduate degree:

• Family Nurse Practitioner
• Nurse-Midwifery
• Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurse Practitioner
• Doctor Of Nursing Practice

Shenandoah University works on rolling admissions and accepts applications throughout the year. Applications are reviewed individually and holistically.

Submit your application, review required admissions materials, and find our admissions standards.

Application Information

 

I chose SU for two main reasons: the small class sizes and direct admission into the nursing program. I was able to shadow a nursing student while in high school and being able to experience SU before committing really helped my decision. Being accepted directly into the nursing program was the deciding factor that made me want to commit to SU.

Alice Davenport ’19 | Nursing

 

Freshmen must complete the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) by the end of the freshman year and must achieve a minimum overall score of 65 percent (may be subject to change) to continue in the nursing program. Candidates may retake the exam only once.

Registration deadline is one week prior to each exam.

No late registrations accepted. Students must arrive no later than 15 minutes before check-in. Please be prompt, students arriving LATE will NOT be permitted to test.

Register for the TEAS Exam

 

 

BSN-Level TEAS testing will be offered at:

Health & Life Sciences Building
1460 University Drive
Winchester, Va. 22601

Scholar Plaza, Loudoun
44160 Scholar Plaza, Suite 100
Leesburg, VA 20176

 

Academic Enrichment Center

Disability support services are available to students with documented disabilities. To arrange for such services, at least two weeks prior to the test date , contact the Academic Enrichment Center, at 540 -665 – 4928.

Call the Shenandoah University’s Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing at 540-678-4374, if you have questions about the TEAS exam.

Make studying abroad the highlight of your college experience! Whether you go for a year, a semester, or just a few weeks, you will never forget learning in another culture! The Center for International Programs is here to help you plan your study abroad experience. Start your planning early to ensure the courses you complete abroad count toward your degree and you graduate on time.

Learn About Education Abroad

 

Global Experiential Learning (GEL) Program

The Global Experiential Learning (GEL) Program offers Shenandoah students a short-term, faculty-led, study-abroad experience for academic credit.  These short-term, credit-bearing, faculty-led programs are offered winter break, spring break, and during the summer. If a course is not within your major, it might be used as an elective.

GEL Courses Currently Offered

I have traveled to Brazil with SU on a GEL trip. This was one of the best experiences of my life. I went with nursing students and faculty and spiritual life faculty. We lived on a hospital and mission boat and traveled along the Amazon river providing physical and spiritual care to those who live in remote areas. I was able to see my professors use the concepts and skills they teach in the classroom. While providing care, I learned about the culture and how it differed from the city to the rural villages. The food was prepared by locals and most of the dishes were traditional Brazilian dishes. We also got the chance to go to a market before getting on the boat and to finish of the trip we swam in the Amazon River! This opportunity was eye opening and one I will never forget.

Alice Davenport ’19 | Nursing

It is very hard to pick a favorite part of my GEL trip to Uganda since we did so many new and amazing activities. If I had to pick just one, however, I would choose administering fluoride treatments to the 233 students at Nyaka Primary School in Uganda. Many of the students will never receive any other dental treatments and so it was a joy to do something that will hopefully protect the children’s teeth. I hope that are our actions will make a difference in the lives of these children. I know that taking the time to serve in this way made a difference in mine. It was such a beautiful country and I love how simple their lifestyle was. Even though I am glad to be home, part of my heart will always be in the small African country of Uganda.

Heather Lilley ’18 | Nursing

Study Abroad

Shenandoah University is a member of the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP), a global network of 300 universities. This partnership allows students to study for a full semester or year at other member campuses abroad. By working closely with their academic advisors and the study abroad advisor, students can take classes taught in English abroad while receiving Shenandoah credit.

Shenandoah University also maintains direct partnerships with several universities around the world.  These relationships allow students from SU to study abroad as exchange students and students from these universities to study at SU.  All partner universities offer courses taught in English.

Study Abroad Course Catalog