Nursing Program at LU: The Plan

By Meredith Johnson

Rotunda ReporterOn February 2, 2009, Longwood University sent out a press release announcing a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program to begin in the fall of 2009. Since this program was announced, the Longwood administration has been working diligently to staff this new program and to spread the word about what the nursing program will be like for accepted students.

Dr. Wayne McWee, vice president of academic affairs, said, "We have made an offer for a department chair and are waiting to hear back from the candidate." He also said, "We are moving forward in a three-year-period to hire as many as seven professors in the department, including the department chair." McWee said there will be part-time people working with the programs in addition to those seven professors.

Dr. Jean Sorrells-Jones, project director for the nursing program, said, "Because of the design of the curriculum, the first three semesters are primarily sciences and general education courses which will be taught by existing Longwood faculty. The nursing faculty will be recruited in a staggered manner from now until 2012. The first two full-time nursing faculty will be arriving in fall 2009 semester, and the final two or three will come in 2012."

The target is that 35 students will be admitted each fall and there will be 120 students in the program when the full four years are functioning. Freshman Kaitlyn Stolte said, "I am currently on the waiting list for the program but hope to be accepted so that I can pursue a career as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner." Since the program only accepts approximately 35 students each fall, it is already a very competitive program to get into at Longwood.

Longwood's nursing program will be held on the second floor of the Stevens building. Kristin Windon, assistant project director, said, "Stevens is under renovation. Students will not be in a nursing class with a laboratory component until fall 2010. The technology is extreme. We will need computers, high-tech audio visual equipment, human patient simulators, skills trainers, patient mannequins, hospital beds, patient supplies and equipment, and all of the equipment that makes the lab or simulation area feel like a hospital room or clinical setting."

Not only will the nursing students be studying in the Stevens building, they will also have clinical experiences at many healthcare agencies across the area. Sorrells-Jones said, "It is our goal to assure that the nursing students experience clinical nursing in a wide range of sites, so they understand the spectrum of health services from home, community, and hospital, urban and rural." She also said, "We will be collaborating with many regional healthcare providers, including Southside Community Hospital, the two Centra hospitals in Lynchburg, Piedmont Geriatric Hospital in Burkeville, community-based care providers like Crossroads Community Services Board, Piedmont Health District, The Woodland, and others." In addition, "Students will also have selected clinical experiences in schools, including Prince Edward and Cumberland County schools, Hampden-Sydney College, and Longwood's own Health and Wellness Center," Sorrells-Jones said.

The Longwood Nursing website states that not only will the program offer classroom courses, but it will also include a summer externship. In the final semester, there will be an individually designed intensive clinical practicum that will prepare students for their first position as a professional nurse. Windon said, "the summer clinical externship course emphasizes the role of direct and indirect care provider but also expands the student's focus to include issues related to coordination of care, inter-professional collaboration, quality and safety. Clinical experiences take place with an assigned preceptor or as part of a precepted summer externship."

Windon said, "the intensive practicum course consists of a 280 hour clinical practicum experience with an experienced clinical preceptor. It assists students to begin the transition to the practice world and refine their clinical skills, particularly in the areas of decision making, organizing and managing care to groups of patients, setting priorities, and delegating care responsibilities appropriately." She also said, "the focus of the course remains on the professional role of care provider, but there is increased emphasis on the role of care coordinator and manager, and the opportunity to develop a more mature identity as a member of the nursing profession."

The Nursing program is a four-year degree program. Sorrells-Jones said, "The degree will be a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. It will take four years and meets all the general education courses and science courses requirements for a B.S. degree. Additionally, it meets all the requirements of the Virginia Board of Nursing and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, as outlined in the 'Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice.'"

For first-year students applying to the program, Windon said an advanced high school diploma is required. Students should be proficient in both science and mathematics courses. The program is also selective regarding GPA and SAT scores.

Students may transfer into the BSN program for the fall of their sophomore year as space permits, as long as all required first-year courses have been successfully completed. External transfer applicants are expected to have completed at least 30 credits with a minimum cumulative 2.5 GPA.

Freshman Kerry Moore said, "I am planning on applying to the Nursing program next fall. I am excited that Longwood now has a nursing program. I look forward to having the opportunity to apply." The Nursing website states that they are no longer accepting applications from transfer students. Windon said, "we are waiting to hear from the students we have accepted to determine exactly who intends to enter the nursing program in the fall. So we will have more exact numbers in May."