Newswise — To help fulfill the increasing demand for nurses in the Piedmont Triad, Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) has received $5.4 million for North Carolina Baptist Hospitals Inc., (NCBH) to renew their previous collaboration to offer an accelerated baccalaureate track designed to recruit people with non-nursing bachelor degrees into nursing careers.
The five year-agreement to offer the Accelerated BSN Option between WSSU and NCBH will allow students to complete on accelerated 13-month program to receive a bachelor of science degree in nursing (B.S.N.) from WSSU.
Students who are accepted to receive the scholarship by Baptist will be guaranteed a job at NCBH. NCBH will provide full funding of all programmatic costs. The renewed five-year agreement, initially established in 2003, was one of the first accelerated B.S.N. degree programs in North Carolina and one of the first in the United States.
The new program begins in January 2008 with its first class graduating in February 2009. After graduation, scholarship recipients will commit to work at NCBH for three years.
According to the North Carolina Center for Nursing, this current nursing shortage is "driven by demographics and will likely endure for a decade", said A. Patricia Johnson, Vice President of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer at NCBH. "Our program with WSSU addresses one of the recommendations of the North Carolina Center for Nursing"¦ to 'increase collaboration between all types of healthcare facilities and schools of nursing.' We are excited to be continuing this partnership for another 5 years."
According to Dr. Peggy Valentine, WSSU School of Health Sciences Dean, "We are pleased with the renewal of this collaboration between Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina Baptist Hospital. This effort has led to the development of an exciting and innovative way to educate new nurses while meeting a community need for those seeking second career options. Its success has been an inspiration for other communities."
The university will continue graduating 30-45 students per year. Students will be admitted to WSSU and taught by the nursing faculty. Most clinical experiences will be conducted at NCBH and WSSU's academic primary care center.
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