A hybrid program built around working adults — online lectures paired with evening and weekend clinicals, plus credit for prior learning and work experience to shorten the path.
Walsh University’s Fast Track BSN is a hybrid, accelerated nursing program designed for busy working adults. It combines the flexibility of online coursework with in-person laboratory and clinical experiences scheduled on evenings and weekends, so students can keep working while progressing toward a nursing career. Delivered through the Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing in North Canton, the program can be completed in as few as 24 months, covers 120 credit hours, and starts new cohorts each Fall and Spring.
Walsh emphasizes affordable, transparent tuition, a Military Friendly designation, payment-plan and deferment options, and credit for prior learning, work experience, and professional training.
Admissions
The Fast Track BSN is designed for motivated adult learners ready for an accelerated schedule. Requirements:
- Be 21 years of age or older (younger applicants may appeal)
- Minimum 2.0 GPA; transfer coursework accepted at C− or higher
- Submit high school and college transcripts and a resume
- Free application (no application fee)
- Complete the FAFSA (Walsh school code: 003135)
Admission is reviewed by the Byers School of Nursing, and an enrollment manager helps assess transfer credits and credit for prior learning.
Prerequisites and Transfer Credits
Prerequisite courses must be completed before admission (all available at Walsh in a hybrid, accelerated 8-week format at the reduced program tuition rate):
- CHEM 120: Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry — 4 credits
- BIO 209: Anatomy & Physiology I with Lab — 4 credits
- BIO 210: Anatomy & Physiology II with Lab — 4 credits
- NS 207: Nutrition — 3 credits
- NURS 220PL: Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice — 3 credits
All science prerequisites must be completed within the last seven years. Note the grade requirement depends on where they’re taken: prerequisites completed at a community college must earn a B or higher to transfer, while those at another institution require a C or higher.
Curriculum
The curriculum covers nursing and general education courses, with nearly every nursing course including hands-on lab and clinical components. Representative nursing courses:
NURS 230 Health Assessment & Promotion
Focuses on comprehensive nursing assessments, including physiological, psychosocial, and cultural aspects of adult clients. Students use critical thinking and clinical tools like health history and physical examinations to identify nursing diagnoses, integrating therapeutic communication, leadership, evidence-based practice, informatics, and ethics.
NURS 245 Dosage Calculations
Develops proficiency in medication dosage calculations using dimensional analysis, ratio-proportion, and formula methods, covering various medication forms across patient populations and reinforcing critical thinking through real-world clinical scenarios.
NURS 220PL Theoretical Foundations for Nursing Practice
Introduces nursing concepts including the nursing process, therapeutic communication, and foundational theories, exploring ethical and legal considerations, leadership skills, and the role of informatics in healthcare.
NURS 260 Pathophysiology/Pharmacology
Introduces pathophysiological processes and pharmacology principles, including medication mechanisms, effects, and administration. Students analyze lab values, symptoms, and pharmacotherapeutic agents to enhance clinical decision-making and patient safety.
NURS 310 Foundations
Examines physiological and psychosocial responses of older adults, emphasizing health promotion, disease management, and end-of-life care, integrating critical thinking, therapeutic interventions, interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical decision-making, informatics, and leadership.
NURS 330 / 335 Acutely Ill Adults
Prepares students to care for acutely ill adults across multiple systems (including cardiovascular, neurological, and immune), emphasizing safe environments, therapeutic interventions, interdisciplinary communication, evidence-based practice, and ethical decision-making.
NURS 340 Nursing with Families I
Explores health responses in childbearing families, covering pregnancy, neonatal care, and specific health issues in men and women, integrating interdisciplinary collaboration, ethical decision-making, and leadership in family-centered care.
NURS 320 Mental Health
Covers assessment and management of mental health conditions across the lifespan, focusing on therapeutic communication, evidence-based interventions, interdisciplinary collaboration, informatics, and leadership in diverse healthcare environments.
NURS 410PL Nursing Research
Examines the role of research in nursing practice and improving health outcomes. Students analyze evidence-based literature and apply research strategies to enhance quality, safety, and person-centered care, integrating nursing informatics within complex systems.
NURS 420PL Population-Focused Nursing
Focuses on nursing care of community populations defined by social determinants of health, emphasizing disease prevention, risk reduction, and health promotion. Catholic social teachings are integrated, and population health principles are applied through a service-learning project.
NURS 425PL Nursing with Families II (Pediatrics)
Emphasizes nursing care of children within the family unit, applying evidence-based principles to developmental, physical, and psychosocial needs, with developmentally appropriate assessment, communication, professionalism, and interdisciplinary partnerships.
NURS 430PL Nursing Leadership
Centers on person-centered care within complex healthcare systems, emphasizing the leadership role, care coordination, and evidence-based plans that support self-care management, synthesizing leadership and professionalism through the nursing process.
NURS 440PL Nursing with Critically Ill Adults
Focuses on the multifaceted health concerns of critically ill adults, exploring clinical decision-making through evidence-based therapeutic interventions and family-centered care, with leadership, informatics, and ethical and legal principles.
NURS 450PL Nursing Capstone
Prepares graduating seniors for professional practice and the NCLEX-RN through self-analysis of professional development, emphasizing person-centered care for diverse populations and the use of informatics and technology for safe, competent care.
More detail is available in the Fast Track BSN catalog and curriculum map.
Clinical and Hands-On Training
Nearly every nursing course includes hands-on lab and clinical experiences in state-of-the-art facilities designed to mirror real hospital environments, with clinical placements at healthcare facilities throughout Northeast Ohio that advance in complexity as students progress. Representative regional partners include systems such as Cleveland Clinic, Summa Health, and Akron Children’s. Clinicals are scheduled on evenings and weekends to fit working students’ schedules.
Tuition
Walsh offers a discounted accelerated-program rate of $510 per credit hour. For the 120-credit program, the estimated total is about $64,260:
- Tuition: $510/credit × 120 = $61,200
- Technology fee: $50/semester × 6 = $300
- Barnes & Noble learning materials: $23/credit × 120 = $2,760
- Application fee: $0; general fees: $0
Actual cost varies with transfer credits, prior-learning credit, and aid, so confirm a customized estimate with admissions.
See the official tuition and fees page for details.
Accreditation and Outcomes
Walsh University is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), and the nursing programs in the Gary and Linda Byers School of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). A high percentage of Walsh nursing students pass the NCLEX-RN and go on to practice at local and national healthcare facilities, and graduates can continue into Walsh’s Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).
Online and Hybrid Learning
The Fast Track BSN is a hybrid program, with lectures delivered online and clinical training completed in person, allowing students to maintain work and personal commitments while progressing toward the degree.