BSN Nursing Transfers Easier After DTA/MRP Curriculum Adopted

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
BIG BEND COMMUNITY COLLEGE

MOSES LAKE — Beginning this fall, new students accepted into the Associate Degree Nursing Program at Big Bend Community College will have a much easier time transferring to a four-year college or university in the State of Washington after graduation.

The Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission (NCQAC) recently approved of the college’s substantive change request to adopt the Nursing Direct Transfer Agreement/Major Related Pathway (DTA/MRP) curriculum.

The Associate in Nursing DTA/MRP pathway offers a broad selection of academic courses that prepare students for their Registered Nursing license examination and for upper-division coursework leading to the Bachelor of Science, Nursing Degree. This degree was the result of a years-long statewide initiative; all of the 4-year schools in the state who offer an RN-BSN program will accept this DTA.

“Community colleges fill a vital role in preparing nurses for their licensure as RN’s, but we encourage our graduates to continue on to earn their BSN,” said Director of Health Education Programs at BBCC Katherine Christian. “This degree streamlines the credits necessary to enter an ’RN-BSN‘ program as a junior.”

The MRP is a specific set of courses needed in professional fields like nursing. Nursing has a list of science classes that must be finished before you can get into the program, so many requirements are in biology, chemistry, and nutrition.

 “A BSN is a requirement to continue on to advanced nursing education (such as that needed for Nurse Practitioner); it is often an advantage when applying to leadership or management positions,” Christian added.

According to the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, “Most Major Related Programs (MRP) help students prepare to transfer into high demand bachelor’s degree programs that require specific courses in the first two years. Business, biology, engineering, and nursing are a few examples. Each MRP is based one of the statewide transfer agreements: Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) or the Associate in Science-Transfer (AS-T) and can reduce the time it takes to complete a specific bachelor degree pathway.”

For more information, please visit the BBCC Nursing webpage, HERE.