Last Updated: October 3, 2026
Program Overview
Keiser’s campus-based accelerated BSN combines 76 nursing credits, simulation and supervised patient care in a four-semester sequence available at 13 Florida locations.
Keiser University serves applicants with a bachelor’s or graduate degree in a non-nursing field. With approved prior-degree and prerequisite credits, the nursing sequence can be completed in as few as 16 months; the full BSN degree requires 120 credits.
The university promotes a one-class-at-a-time approach. Nursing students still need to attend required laboratories, simulation and clinical experiences, so confirm the actual course and clinical calendar with the campus before planning work commitments.
Florida Locations and Attendance
- Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Lakeland, Melbourne, Miami and Naples.
- Orlando, Pembroke Pines, Port St. Lucie and Sarasota.
- Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
These are the locations listed on the current accelerated program page. Contact the selected campus for cohort availability and attendance requirements; location choice also affects travel to assigned clinical facilities.
Accreditation
Keiser holds institutional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Its current program page identifies baccalaureate nursing accreditation through the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN); confirm the accreditation listing for the selected campus division.
Program completion prepares graduates to apply for the NCLEX-RN. Florida Board of Nursing eligibility and other licensing requirements apply separately from admission and graduation.
ABSN Admission Summary
Academic Requirements
- A bachelor’s or graduate degree in a non-nursing discipline from an accredited institution.
- A 3.0 cumulative GPA in the prior degree, or 3.0 across its last 60 credits.
- A separate 3.0 cumulative GPA in general education and science prerequisites.
- Science prerequisites completed with B or higher before beginning the nursing major.
- Statistics and human growth/development completed with C or higher before acceptance.
- An interview with the program director and/or admissions committee.
Entrance Exam and Application
Applicants must earn at least 23 on the on-site Wonderlic SLE. After an unsuccessful first attempt, the published waiting periods are 24 hours for the second, 60 days for the third and 120 days for the fourth; after four unsuccessful attempts, the testing cycle resets after 12 months.
Admissions are handled through the selected campus. Contact its admissions office for the application, transcript evaluation, testing and interview schedule, and the final application date for an available cohort.
The selected campus’s cohort start and file-completion cutoff govern enrollment. Confirm these dates before planning an immediate start.
Prerequisites — 22 Credits
- CHM 2045 General Chemistry I (3) and CHM 2045L laboratory (1).
- BSC 2085C Anatomy and Physiology I (4) and BSC 2086C Anatomy and Physiology II (4).
- MCB 2000C Microbiology (4).
- DEP 2004 Human Growth and Development (3).
- STA 2023 Statistics (3).
The degree plan also includes a 22-credit general-education transfer block. Have Keiser evaluate previous coursework for equivalency rather than assuming that a completed bachelor’s degree satisfies every science requirement.
After Acceptance
- Complete required health documentation, immunizations, background screening and drug testing for clinical clearance.
- Maintain required BLS and other clinical certifications, including ACLS as specified in the nursing cost schedule.
- Budget for compliance tracking, uniforms, supplies and transportation to clinical sites.
Curriculum
The program-specific accelerated plan contains 76 nursing credits in 18 courses. Assessment, pathophysiology and foundational care lead into adult and maternal/child nursing, community and mental health, advanced care management and professional leadership.
The tables group subjects for readability; they do not assign courses to unverified semesters. Course inclusion and credits follow the accelerated plan in Keiser’s 2026–27 Undergraduate Catalog, with substantive descriptions drawn from its corresponding nursing course entries.
Required Courses and Credits
Foundations and early care management — 21 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 4825 — Professional Nursing I & II for ABSN | 2 | This foundational course introduces students to the nursing profession and its core concepts, including various nursing roles and specialties. Students explore the program’s conceptual framework, core values, and degree requirements while learning about collaborative skills, professional standards, governing bodies, and essential nursing competencies. The course also provides strategies for effective study techniques and test-taking skills specific to nursing content. |
NUR 3129 — Pathophysiology for BSN | 4 | Students examine pathophysiology related to human illness using a systems-based approach, focusing on biological theories that explain alterations in normal physiological functioning from conception to end of life. The course emphasizes critical thinking skills to analyze client presentations of pathophysiologic changes in biological and psychological systems and their relationship to diagnostic procedures and nursing interventions. |
NUR 2065C — Physical Assessment in Healthcare | 3 | This hands-on course develops systematic and accurate health assessment skills across diverse populations including children, adolescents, and adults. Students learn to complete comprehensive health databases, utilize effective communication techniques, perform physical examinations, and identify health conditions while considering cultural and sociological influences on patient care. |
NUR 2243 — Clinical Decision Making in Evidence Based Practice | 2 | Students learn to synthesize history and physical assessment data to create evidence-based, culturally responsive, patient-centered nursing care plans. The course builds competencies in assessment, implementation, and evaluation processes that promote optimal healthcare outcomes through systematic clinical reasoning. |
NUR 2032C — Care Management I | 8 | This course focuses on fundamental nursing care management for adults, emphasizing health promotion, protection, restoration, and maintenance. Students develop proficiency in essential care management skills and technologies through classroom learning and interprofessional clinical experiences in acute care, long-term care, and community-based settings. |
NUR 2833C — Nursing Quality and Safety in Healthcare | 2 | Students apply principles and skills that promote quality and safety outcomes in healthcare delivery. The course integrates materials from QSEN, IPEC, and IOM Quality Chasm series to develop competencies necessary for effective participation in interprofessional healthcare teams focused on patient safety and quality improvement. |
Adult, family and community nursing — 31 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 3219C — Care Management II | 9 | This advanced course addresses nursing care management for diverse adult and elderly populations experiencing acute physiologic and psychological illnesses. Students gain proficiency through classroom and clinical experiences focusing on conditions that significantly impact quality of life, with emphasis on interprofessional collaboration and patient advocacy. |
NUR 2140C — Nursing Pharmacotherapeutics | 4 | Students master essential pharmacology concepts and principles for safe, effective medication administration in nursing practice. The course covers therapeutic drugs including herbal and complementary medications, with critical emphasis on dosage calculations and medication administration skills that must be performed without error for course completion. |
NUR 3829 — Ethical and Legal Issues in Healthcare | 3 | This course explores contemporary bioethical and legal challenges facing healthcare providers across various settings. Students examine legal and ethical principles that guide decision-making processes in nursing and healthcare delivery, developing critical thinking skills for complex ethical situations. |
NUR 3870 — Information Technology for Nursing | 3 | Students develop information management and patient care technology skills through analysis of healthcare information systems applications. The course covers theoretical models, data acquisition, nursing vocabularies, organizational change management, and ethical considerations in healthcare and consumer information technology. |
NUR 3411C — Care Management III | 8 | This specialized course focuses on nursing care management for children, families, healthy mothers, and newborns with emphasis on health promotion, protection, and restoration. Students develop proficiency through classroom learning and interprofessional clinical experiences in various pediatric and maternal-child health settings. |
NUR 3047C — Health Promotion, Disease Prevention: A Community Perspective | 4 | Students utilize evidence-based recommendations from WHO, CDC, and NIH to examine population-focused nursing with emphasis on primary prevention. The course covers epidemiology, social determinants of health, vulnerable populations, emergency preparedness, and various community health nursing interventions including surveillance and screening programs. |
Evidence, advanced care and professional transition — 24 credits
| Course | Credits | What you study |
|---|---|---|
NUR 3165 — Nursing Research for Evidence-Based Practice | 3 | This course examines nursing research history, methods, and processes while exploring the application of research to evidence-based practice. Students analyze research applications, prepare research reports, and understand the relationship between theory development and nursing research for practice improvement. |
NUR 3525 — Mental Health Concepts in Nursing | 2 | Students evaluate biological-behavioral concepts, therapeutic communication, and practice standards for psychiatric mental health nursing care. The course emphasizes critical thinking and evidence-based approaches to stabilization and long-term maintenance strategies while integrating legal, ethical, cultural, and developmental considerations into patient and family-centered care. |
NUR 4108 — Public Policy and Risk Management in Nursing | 3 | This course analyzes the impact of social and political dynamics on professional regulation and health policy, examining government roles in healthcare financing and quality maintenance. Students explore current health policy issues affecting nursing, patients, and healthcare delivery while learning to identify, assess, and reduce risks to patients, staff, and institutional assets. |
NUR 4717C — Advanced Care Management | 11 | Students develop expertise in managing patients with chronic, complex physiological and psychological health issues, including high-risk, high-cost, and emergent conditions in intensive care, emergency, and trauma settings. The course emphasizes resource prioritization and develops leadership skills for interprofessional care management teams across various healthcare settings. |
NUR 4888 — Nursing Leadership in Systems of Healthcare | 3 | This course focuses on leadership, management, and administrative concepts within diverse healthcare delivery systems at local, regional, national, and global levels. Students explore leadership styles, decision-making processes, planned change, conflict resolution, communication strategies, and evaluation methods for effective healthcare leadership. |
NUR 4828 — Professional Nursing III | 2 | This capstone course facilitates the transition from student to professional baccalaureate-prepared nurse, focusing on skills needed for professional excellence as leaders, communicators, and citizens. The course emphasizes lifelong learning principles, professional presentation skills, and the development of nurse citizenship for ongoing professional growth. |
Progression and Graduation
Students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and earn B or higher in nursing core courses to progress. The 120-credit BSN includes prior general education and preparation; it is not 120 credits of new accelerated nursing coursework.
Advanced Care Management addresses complex, high-acuity patient care. Professional Nursing III supports transition to the baccalaureate nursing role, professional communication and lifelong learning; it is distinct from supervised clinical care.
Clinicals
The curriculum integrates nursing theory with laboratories, simulation and clinical learning. Its care-management sequence covers adult, pediatric and maternal/newborn care, with community-focused learning and advanced management of complex conditions.
- Clinical facilities and placements depend on the campus and available affiliates.
- Confirm required travel and whether clinical assignments include early, evening or weekend hours before enrolling.
- Laboratory, simulation and direct patient-care hours are different components; course credits alone do not establish a total of direct clinical hours.
- Clinical clearance and site requirements must remain current throughout the program.
Tuition and Required Fees
$64,540 is a conservative current-rate tuition budget, calculated as four semesters at the 2026–27 full-time-plus rate of $16,135 for 18–24 credits. It is an estimate based on that billing assumption, not a university-published ABSN package price.
Keiser also publishes a $12,908 semester rate for 12–17.99 credits. The nursing plan totals 76 credits across four semesters but does not publish each semester’s load; if an assigned term falls in the lower band, its tuition is $3,227 less. Request the campus’s term-by-term registration and billing plan before comparing offers.
- Nursing education fee: $980 per semester × four = $3,920.
- Nursing resource fee: $642 per nursing-core semester × four = $2,568.
- Application and initial registration: $55 + $145 = $200.
- Tuition plus these stated charges: $71,228 under the four-full-time-plus budget, before books, health insurance and clinical clearance expenses.
- Books: the catalog allows up to $2,000 per semester; actual course requirements vary.
- Health insurance: the catalog lists $2,169 annually, with waiver available for qualifying coverage.
The current nursing cost schedule also lists an NCLEX-RN examination payment of $200, background screening around $60, drug screening/vaccination expenses of $50–$150, TOPS screening of $90, BLS of $35, ACLS of $200 and tracking services of $40–$150. Compliance modules include OSHA, bloodborne pathogens/HIV, HIPAA/medical-error prevention, domestic violence and human trafficking; confirm which charges apply to the selected campus.
These costs exclude prior prerequisites, housing, living expenses and transportation. Rates may increase in future academic years, and additional or repeated coursework changes the bill. Active-duty military applicants should request their campus’s applicable tuition policy rather than assume a special rate covers every nursing charge.
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