The nationwide nursing shortage extends beyond a lack of nurses to work with patients. A shortage of nurse educators to prepare the needed nurses is also critical. A new nursing program at the University of St. Francis will help ease the shortage of nursing faculty, and provide educational benefits for registered nurses who have non-nursing bachelor degrees.

A federal grant has helped USF initiate the "RN to MSN: Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Health with Nurse Educator Concentration" which began last year.

"Just about everyone knows there is a nationwide shortage of nurses, but of equal concern is a shortage of qualified nursing faculty," said Maria Connolly, dean of USF's College of Nursing and Allied Health. "Last year, nationwide some 16,000 potential nursing students were turned away because there was not enough qualified faculty members to teach them." USF's new program will prepare registered nurses to become nurse educators, she added.

Connolly noted that USF has received a federal Department of Health and Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant of some $672,000 over three years. The grant is to support the university's "RN to MSN" program is for registered nurses presently in clinical practice who have bachelor's degrees in areas other than nursing. The program offers undergraduate online coursework so those nurses can then move seamlessly into the master of science in nursing (MSN) program.

RNs who complete the program will become clinical nurse specialists in adult health who are also prepared to be nurse educators, explained Connolly, who added the program will be offered completely online with clinical practicums with qualified preceptors. This federal grant-supported "RN to MSN" degree is unique because it produces an advance practice nurse eligible for second licensure who is also prepared to teach in academia and staff development health care agencies. Once nurses complete the program, they will be eligible to sit for the American Nurses Credential Center (ANCC) national certification exam for medical-surgical clinical specialists.

To be eligible for the program, licensed RNs must be in current practice and hold a bachelor's degree with at lease a 3.0 grade point average for undergraduate work.

Illinois will be the first target audience. The university also hopes to attract minority students to the program, said Connolly. "We believe that all persons have a right to quality health care. It is part of our mission to bring education to diverse populations."

The University of St. Francis has received another federal grant award to promote the education of nurses bringing the total of funds received to almost $1 million in grant monies during the past two years to support innovative programming in the area of geriatric health, to support scholarships and now to support programming addressing the shortage of nurse educators.

"The nursing shortage and its effects on quality health care are being experienced by patients throughout the country. These grant funds are supporting the University of St. Francis' efforts to produce nursing professionals who will be leaders in health care and education," said Connolly.

"Our goal is to continually improve the quality of the nursing profession by providing educational opportunities for nurses, who are central to effective and responsive health care," said Connolly. The University of St. Francis offers the bachelor of science (BSN) in nursing for both traditional and transfer students, an online B.S.N. Fast Track program for R.N.s with a diploma or A.D.N., as well as allied health programs in medical technology, nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy and radiography. The master's degree in nursing is offered with two tracks of study: nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist. In addition the College of Nursing and Allied Health offers master's degree programs in physician assistant studies and family nurse practitioners in Albuquerque, N.M.

The School of Nursing at North Park University has successfully prepared professional nurses to practice in dynamic and challenging healthcare settings for decades. This tradition of success is grounded in our unique philosophy of nursing education.

With a solid grounding in the three North Park distinctives of Christian perspective, urban commitment, and global/international recognition, the graduate programs in nursing are designed to fully prepare nurses for the transformations that will shape the future of healthcare delivery.

The program prepares professionals for an advanced nursing role, to provide leadership in health care and in the nursing profession, and to participate in the formulation and refinement of nursing science.

Students will learn how to lead, manage, collaborate, and practice using advanced level critical thinking and scientific inquiry. Students will also be prepared to apply knowledge of the healthcare system and nursing issues to the practice and advancement of the profession.

Here are some of the items that make North Park Nursing programs unique:

• New programs: FNP and RN to MS programs
• Small classes taught by expert faculty who take a personal interest in each student
• Courses may be completed on a part-time or full-time basis
• Convenient weeknight courses offered in Chicago for BS for RN program and graduate programs
• Graduate courses offered approximately every other weekend (Friday evening and Saturday) at our extension site in Arlington Heights for graduate students
• Affordable - generous scholarships available for qualified applicants
• NO GRE, or recommendation forms required for Graduate Nursing students who have higher than a 3.00 GPA (grade point average)from their undergraduate degree.
• Monthly Open Houses to find out more information about the programs.

Our next open houses are November 16th and December 15th at 6:00 p.m. on the Chicago campus, 3225 W. Foster Ave, Chicago, IL. More information and directions to the campus can be found on line at www.northpark.edu/nursing or by contacting Trevor James at (773) 244-5508.

The healthcare field today demands people with the latest knowledge and advanced skills, but that’s only part of what nurses need in today’s dynamic environment. As one might expect from a former Air Force nurse, Linda Niedringhaus, Ph.D., can boil it down to a single word – leadership.

"Nursing today needs leadership: leadership for clinical practice and leadership in nursing education," said Dr. Niedringhaus, director of the Diecke Center for Nursing at Elmhurst College, who, prior to beginning her teaching career, worked as a staff nurse and clinical nurse specialist. She served as a flight nurse with the United States Air Force and as the nurse clinician for a pain management program in St. Louis, Missouri.

To help develop more nursing leadership, Elmhurst College will begin offering a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in August 2005. Graduate students will have a choice of study tracks – either clinical nurse leadership or nursing education.

"These are the two shortage areas in nursing that need immediate attention," said Dr. Niedringhaus. "We did a survey of nurses in the surrounding region and found that they view these areas as useful for their career growth."

Elmhurst has designed their MSN classes to be small for a reason. The faculty – all clinical nurse specialists with advanced degrees – will work closely with each student to better ensure success. Flexible scheduling of classes to accommodate working professionals is not just a convenience but a necessity, as the MSN program really requires a practical knowledge of nursing in all of its forms.

"Graduate programs are built on clinical expertise," agreed Dr. Niedringhaus. "This way, students have already committed to a specialty area and have a foundation for growth and continued development in their chosen area."

Elmhurst has worked hard to develop ties to local hospitals and healthcare agencies. Dr. Niedringhaus says this is a relationship that benefits more than just the student.

"Working relationships with local healthcare agencies provide sites for student clinical practice, access to a pool of potential students, and access to future employment for graduates," she said. "The partnerships are beneficial to both sides – education and practice." Ultimately, Dr. Niedringhaus believes graduate programs such as the MSN program at Elmhurst benefit many more people than the students.

"Workforce development and continued workforce participation are definitely related," she said. "New knowledge and skill competency moves employees to new levels of career commitment and allows each person to see new ways to contribute. The goal of our graduate program is to prepare nurses to accept additional responsibility for improving not only the environment of care but also the outcomes of care for groups of patients, not just individual patients."

While the environment nurses work in currently can be challenging on the best of days and frustrating on a bad day, Dr. Niedringhaus believes that is all the more reason for nurses to pursue graduate degrees – to influence the field for the better.

"Nurses who feel that they could contribute more, who want to have a greater influence on how nursing is practiced or how policies are determined that affect patient care should consider a graduate degree in nursing to give them the additional knowledge and skills to contribute at an advanced level," said Dr. Niedringhaus. "We believe our MSN program will capture the essence of nursing's issues concerning the shortage and need for professional workforce development to keep nurses in nursing."