Jan 27 2010
The University of Texas at Arlington College
of Nursing has added an Academic Partnership: Bachelor of Science in
Nursing program that will substantially increase its capacity to
accommodate qualified applicants.
Working with service provider Higher Ed Holdings, the College of Nursing
has translated its highly regarded nursing curriculum into a
state-of-the-science, media-enriched, online format. This online format
addresses two aspects of the national nursing shortage: a lack of available
faculty and clinical learning space.
The first cohort of 40 students started the 15-month program Jan. 18.
Before gaining acceptance, students had to complete prerequisite courses in
the usual academic disciplines such as history, math, government and
English.
Students in the online program are supported not only by experienced
faculty members, but also by academic coaches and student success
coordinators. Clinical training for this cohort will be done at three
partner facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area: Baylor Health Care
System, Medical City-Dallas and Parkland Health & Hospital System.
"Innovative approaches to enrolling and supporting students into schools of
nursing are paramount as we face a significant nursing shortage," said Dr.
Rosemary Luquire, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Baylor
Health Care System in Dallas. "We are eager to test new strategies with our
UT Arlington College of Nursing partner to assure we meet our communities'
need for health care."
In addition to online course work, each clinical course in the program has
extensive clinical experiences. Each student will receive
faculty-supervised clinical experience at a partner hospital or health
system that has joined the Academic Partnership Network. This supportive
experience makes for a more confident and seamless transition to the role
of the registered nurse upon graduation.
"By working together with hospitals and health systems, this new approach
to nursing education will provide an effective strategy to produce highly
confident and competent new registered nurses," said Dr. Beth Mancini, UT
Arlington College of Nursing associate dean. "The Academic Partnership BSN
program makes the path to becoming a registered nurse more accessible for
students who choose a career in this critical health care profession."
Elizabeth Poster, dean of the College of Nursing, said, "As most
traditional nursing education programs are unable to meet the demand for
greatly increased enrollments, academic partnership models such as this
groundbreaking effort will ensure that we can graduate adequate numbers of
nurses who are meeting the health care needs of our Texas citizens."
Although the program is starting with three health systems in DFW, the
College of Nursing has plans to offer the Academic Partnership Bachelor of
Science/Nursing program to the more than 170 hospitals in the school's
Academic Partnership Network.
SOURCE: Higher Ed Holdings
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