BSN Honors

What is University of Pittsburgh Nursing Honors Program?

While the traditional BSN program provides a rigorous didactic and clinical curriculum to help students meet the essential BSN competencies, the Nursing Honors program is designed to enrich this experience and provide more applied training and immersive experiential learning in translating evidence into nursing practice. This program introduces students to competencies beyond the BSN level—opening doors for additional career opportunities beyond direct clinical care (e.g., graduate school, leadership roles, etc.). By completing the Honors Program, students earn a dual degree from the School of Nursing and the David C. Frederick Honors College, designated as a BSN-H degree.

Why enroll in the Nursing Honors program?

As a nursing honors student, you will learn how to become a lifelong learner and detective, possessing a toolkit necessary to advance the nursing discipline and impact patient outcomes through the creation and application of scientific knowledge and evidence-based practice. You will also develop a competitive career portfolio for employers and for admission to top-tier graduate schools.

How does the Nursing Honors Program differ from the URMP program?

The Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program (URMP) provides a venue for undergraduate students to work with faculty nurse researchers on the researcher’s active research studies. In this program, URMP students work 5-20 hours / week and are paid hourly for their effort (per diem). In the Nursing Honors Program, however, students work with nurse researchers on their very own project idea (mentored-research experience). Many Nursing Honors students work with their mentors as URMP students as well, but duties for each experience are mutually exclusive.

Is the Nursing Honors Program right for me?

Completing the Nursing Honors Program can be a very rewarding and mutually-beneficial experience for both the student and faculty mentor. The Nursing Honors program is designed to equip students with essential skills that will help them become future leaders who will foster impactful change in nursing discipline. Many students participating in the URMP program are already on track to complete most the requirements of the Nursing Honors Program, and thus would benefit from enrolling in the Nursing Honors program. You can learn more by listening to these testimonies by former Nursing Honors students.

Heather Rose describes her experiences with the Honors Program, and what she's gained by doing advanced courses.

Eleanor Turi, BSN '16, discusses what she learned from participating in honors work, and the research experience she gained at Pitt Nursing.