West Penn Hospital School of Nursing Partnership

PennWest Clarion Pittsburgh is a partnership with West Penn Hospital School of Nursing (WPHSON) located at 4900 Friendship Avenue in the Bloomfield section of Pittsburgh.

The WPHSON program will give you a greater number of clinical/hospital hours and a larger number of hands-on experiences before you graduate. Simulation experiences are used to enhance learning but do not substitute for hospital clinical experiences—actual hospital clinical experiences far outweigh simulation within the program.

Patient Interactions & Clinical Experience

By about the fourth week into the program, you will begin to interact with patients.  By the end of our first 10-week term, you will know not only how to talk with patients to obtain a health history but also how to:

  • Perform a basic nursing physical exam
  • Perform skills such as taking vital signs, bathing, and doing blood sugar testing

Diverse clinical/hospital experiences are arranged to cover a variety of nursing specialties, including:

  • Emergency Room
  • Operating Room
  • Neonatal Intensive Care
  • Home Health
  • School Nursing
  • Other basic nursing specialties such as Medical-Surgical, OB, and Pediatrics

Upon graduation, you can enter a nursing job in the specialty of your choice.  You can then build on the RN by earning a BSN and higher degrees.  Transition right into PennWest Clarion's Diploma to BSN program, and you are more than halfway to earning your BSN.

Choose the program that's right for you

RN Diploma Program

  • On-site articulation with PennWest Clarion
  • On-site financial aid and daycare
  • Only Pittsburgh diploma school with on-site housing
  • Sponsored by the region's first Magnet-recognized hospital

RN-to-BSN

  • Online program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
  • Rolling admissions and 7-week semesters
  • Complete part-time in just 15 months
  • Graduate nurses may be admitted to the RN-BSN program on a provisional basis while awaiting NCLEX results.

Courses

  • RN Diploma program
  • Nursing in Transition
  • Culture and Care in Nursing
  • Clinical Thinking in Nursing
  • Health Literacy in Nursing Practice
  • Trends and Issues in Professional Nursing Practice
  • Research in Nursing
  • Leadership in Nursing
  • Promoting Healthy Communities
  • Advanced Concepts in Professional Nursing
  • Maternal & Child Health
  • Mental Health
  • Adult Health

Have any questions?

Contact:

Kevin Debow, MS
Pittsburgh Site Coordinator
412-578-5239