Miami Dade College, Benjamin Leon School of Nursing, “The College of Opportunity”

Miami Dade College (MDC) is the largest most diverse college in the United States. MDC known as the “college of opportunity” is an AshokaU academic institution promoting professional development, social mobility, and civic participation that enriches workforce readiness as a change-maker institution of higher learning aligning both the two and four- year degree education pathway for a seamless quality education student experience. “Launched in 2008, Ashoka offers the Change-maker Campus designation to leading institutions in social innovation education. These institutions share the vision for higher education to become the next global driver of social change by transforming the educational experience into a world-changing experience”, (AshokaU, 2019). MDC fifty years ago created a nursing program to meet the rapidly growing need for registered nurses (RN) in Miami Dade County. The Benjamin Leon School of Nursing (BLSON) at MDC today has graduated nearly 20,000 nurses who are proud to say that they received an excellent nursing education. BLSON alumni are working in every hospital including most of the outpatient facilities in the South Florida region. Many of the BLSON alumni have gone on for their Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Nursing Practice and/or PhD degrees in Nursing. Many of the BLSON award winning faculty members are also proud graduates of MDC nursing school programs.

 

The BLSON offers an Associate of Science Degree in Nursing (ASN) and an RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program reflecting on building interpersonal relationships with students as a commitment to academic excellence in support of the values as set by Miami Dade College and The Benjamin Leon School of Nursing for excellence in professional nursing practice The Associate of Science Degree in Nursing offers a comprehensive program of study through several options (Generic, Bridge, and Accelerated Options). The BLSON programs are offered in full time and part time preferences to accommodate students’ personal and professional responsibilities. Upon completion of any of the ASN options, graduates are eligible to apply for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) to practice. In addition, once graduated from MDC’s BLSON ASN Program, the students may apply to MDC’s BSN program which is designed for Florida-licensed registered nurses who have already earned an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) degree. The BSN opens doors to career advancement and post-baccalaureate education through a focus on professional nursing practice addressing cultural and global awareness, research and evidence-based practice, conceptual and theoretical exploration, leadership training, and management professional skills. Students are motivated to write scholarly within a conceptual and theoretical perspective engaged in intellectual dialogues on key principles to improve nursing standards. Research and Evidence- Based Practice at MDC promotes great student satisfaction associated with a strong evidence-based clinical focus on subject matter proficiency when connecting the knowing with the doing. MDC, BLSON has become an undergraduate center for best pedagogical practices providing a quality education serving our South Florida Community with nursing professionals ready to advocate and provide excellence in nursing care. Last year, The RN to BSN Program presented at the 2018 Haitian American Nurses Association Leadership Convention, the 2018 Florida Nurses Association South Region Awards and Symposium Ceremony with five subsequent project presentations for 2017, 2018 at Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. In 2019, we will continue to foster positive student experiences addressing patient oriented evidence that matters promoting quality of care awareness as an academic, clinical and evidence-based practice educational institution. This shows the dedication of our faculty and students in the ASN/ BSN Programs fostering a vision for student centered learning and teaching best practices in a productive learning environment where students get to practice with a quality enhancement vision “Do the Write Thing” addressing writing principles in academic scholarship, professional communication and business writing. The entire nursing program has a high regard to academic scholarship and nursing leadership while building a culture for quality and safety incorporating evidence-based clinical competencies for the innovative clinical nurse to a most essential BSN nurse professional. We welcome you to come study with us, building great relationships that promotes an outstanding education experience with compassion, understanding and professional caring as servant leaders of our most beloved Miami Dade, South Florida community. Let MDC, BLSON be your college of opportunity, one student at a time. MDC “The Dream Factory”, an equal opportunity, one student at a time.