As Singapore faces a rapidly ageing population and a growing burden of chronic and complex health conditions, the need to advance the training of a pipeline of specialist nurses is vital. SIT,  the first Autonomous University in Singapore in collaboration with SingHealth, is developing as Integrated BSN-MSN programme, which is contemporary and innovative training curriculum to nurture a new calibre of nurses.

Integrating academic and clinical learning will prepare residents to be "practice-ready" through authentic learning in real-world settings. In addition to providing nursing students with advanced and specialized skill sets that will enable them to pursue a variety of nursing careers, this inaugural program will also offer students an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary learning environments that will allow them to develop digital skills, healthcare design and innovation competencies, as well as implementation science skills. 

The increasing adoption of digital technology in healthcare will allow students to gain a holistic understanding of the evolving role of nursing and be able to pioneer new care pathways. By implementing this programme, Singapore will be able to develop implementable solutions to meet and anticipate future healthcare challenges while enhancing the quality of healthcare here, with well-trained and highly competent nurses practising at the top of their professions.

Integrated Bachelor of Science in Nursing - Master of Science in Nursing (BSN-MSN) programme in Collaboration with SingHealth

The Integrated 3+2-year BSN-MSN programme will adopt differentiated and accelerated learning approaches from existing nursing programmes. A three-year Bachelor's degree course will be followed by a two-year Master's degree course to qualify learners for specialist nursing roles.

Specialisation such as "Medical/Surgical Nursing", "High Acuity Care Nursing", "Peri-operative Nursing" and "Community Care Nursing" are the key domains in BSN-MSN.

The programme’s BSN portion is based on the Term-In-Term-Out (TITO) structure that allows students to alternate their time between the university and a clinical residency in a SingHealth institution (clinical home) every academic year. Students will undertake modules on campus (Term-In) over one to two trimesters, followed by a trimester of clinical residency (Term-Out), where they will apply their knowledge and skills in actual clinical settings. This methodology reinforces SIT’s focus on providing authentic learning environments to its students.

The MSN portion, which adopts the Work-Study model, will enable nurses to remain in practice in the clinical setting while training them to be specialist nurses, which are increasingly needed as health conditions become more complex.