Bachelor of Science in Nursing at NAU

American Indian program

The American Indian Nursing program at NAU’s School of Nursing is the first and only reservation-based entry-level baccalaureate nursing program. Since its beginning in 1996, more than 150 American Indian nurses have entered into practice as licensed RN’s serving the health care needs of native peoples in reservation settings and adjacent communities.

Currently on the Navajo Nation, students gain classroom and clinical experience in our facilities, in local tribal health care agencies, at the Flagstaff mountain campus, in Indian Health Service facilities, and at hospital and community locations adjacent to the Navajo Nation.

The program admits 10 students each fall semester. It is dedicated to give priority to Native American students who are members of federally recognized tribes.

In this program, you will complete your prerequisite courses through Northern Arizona University or a local community college, then apply for admission to NAU’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.

Like our traditional BSN program, the BSN American Indian program prepares you to provide nursing care for individuals, families, and communities in various urban and rural settings.

Those admitted into the program will have their first two semesters of lecture, lab and clinical conducted on the Navajo Nation. On Monday and Tuesday, there will be lecture and lab with clinicals on Wednesday. There will also be an online class that can be taken anytime Monday through Friday. During the third and fourth semesters, AIP students will be integrated back into the Flagstaff cohort and complete their requirements in and around Flagstaff. In the last semester, AIP students can complete their preceptorship in their own community on the reservation or anywhere in the state of Arizona.

Graduates of the BSN American Indian program are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) and begin their rewarding career in healthcare.

For academic programs that may reasonably be assumed to lead to professional licensure, these disclosures indicate, as of July 2020, the states where the University has determined through reasonable, good faith effort that such programs:

• Do meet the applicable professional licensure education requirements;
• Do not meet the application professional licensure education requirements; or
• Have not been able to to identified as meeting the applicable professional licensure education requirements.

Admission process

Please visit our undergraduate admissions page to review the admission process and download the program application.