ABSTRACT
To expand nursing programs to better meet workforce demands, nursing education must offer nontraditional students more educational opportunities that are flexible, streamlined, and low cost. Accelerated programs, particularly programs tailored to attract individuals with degrees in other fields and looking for career changes, are great examples. The cost factors related to a successful accelerated degree program designed for non-nursing college graduates are described. Based on the experiences with a previously implemented accelerated BSN program offered from 1987-1994 at one university, a revised accelerated option model was developed that included ongoing involvement with four community hospitals, shared budget responsibilities, student stipends, and a 3-year work commitment by graduates at a sponsoring hospital. The investment of approximately $1.6 million over 7 years resulted in the education and graduation of 75 new registered nursing professionals to meet the health care needs of the citizens of the community.
Subject(s)
Cooperative Behavior , Education, Nursing/organization & administration , Budgets , Education, Nursing/economics , Program DevelopmentABSTRACT
Nursing education's challenge in the new millennium is to prepare all nurses as scholars. With many nurse educators feeling like impostors when it comes to scholarship, this is no small task. Turning the millenial challenge into an opportunity, this article describes how a collaborative faculty development initiative is turning a National League for Nursing Center of Excellence school's "scholar-impostors" into teacher-scholars. This Teacher-Scholar Project will interest those in teaching intensive schools of nursing or in teaching tracks in research-intensive institutions.
