Texas A&M to Open Nursing School
Monday January 14, 2008
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The addition of a new Texas nursing school will help to quell a long-standing problem of a lack of space for nursing students. By 2010, the nursing shortfall in Texas is expected to skyrocket to 27,000 registered nurses, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. Last year in Texas, more than 11,000 qualified nursing-school applicants were turned away from nursing schools due to a lack of classroom space.
The idea for Texas A&M Health Science Center’s new nursing school sprang from both a community need and a need for faculty for the six other nursing schools in the Texas A&M system, said Alicia M. Dorsey, PhD, Texas A&M HSC’s vice president for communication and program development.
“Two years ago the leaders of the regional hospitals came to us and said there was a great need here in this region for baccalaureate and graduate education in nursing,” she said. “Slightly earlier, the deans and directors of the other nursing schools in the Texas A&M system came to us with faculty needs.”
The new school is a significant development for the area, said Tom Jackson, chief executive officer of College Station Medical Center.
“The opening of a four-year nursing school, with the future promise of master’s and PhD programs, is one of the most significant developments for our medical community in recent years,” Jackson said. “From a medical infrastructure point of view, it is a milestone achievement.”
Pending final approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Health Science Center plans to open its nursing school to 40 students seeking one of two tracks: a bachelor’s of science in nursing degree or an accelerated program for students already with a bachelor’s degree who need to complete the nursing curriculum and required clinical experiences.
A third planned track will be an RN-to-BSN program for registered nurses with associate’s degrees to complete additional course work for the BSN. The program already has received necessary approval from the Texas A&M System Board of Regents. A master’s of science in nursing degree is planned for 2010, followed by a collaborative doctoral degree with other A&M system nursing programs, Dorsey says.
The Health Science Center projects the nursing school will grow to 250 students within 10 years, Dorsey said.
“We need to graduate 100-plus nurses a year just to meet our own nursing needs,” Jackson said.
Initially, the new nursing school will be housed in facilities at the Health Science Center, including a 45-person classroom; skills lab with eight hospital beds, nursing station and medication room; and three rooms designed to simulate a hospital environment equipped with computer-programmed manikins. The center has been given 200 acres from the City of Bryan for a new campus that will break ground in January 2008, Dorsey said.
Several components of the Health Science Center, including its college of medicine, public health and new nursing school, will be housed on the new campus.
“That will allow for inter-professional activities,” Dorsey said. “We will have nurses, doctors and pharmacists all training in the same mock environment.” The new campus will be built in three phases over the next 20 years.
The three hospital systems in Bryan/College station have been supportive of the new nursing school, including financially supporting the development efforts for the new school, Dorsey said.
“Nurses that were here for spousal or family reasons came to us and said they would love to be involved in teaching,” Dorsey said. “We’re already fortunate to have built a core faculty.”
Teresa McUsic is a freelance writer. To comment on this article e-mail editorSC@nurseweek.com.
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