WKU Creates School Of Nursing To Meet Public Health Needs

February 08, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - A new School of Nursing may be just what the doctor ordered as Western Kentucky University responds to the growing need for nurses.

 Effective July 1, WKU’s four nursing programs – associate degree nursing program (ADN), bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), Post-RN to BSN, and master of science in nursing (MSN) – will operate under the new structure. The change was approved by the Board of Regents on Jan. 26.

“A School of Nursing will increase our capacity to address the need for professional preparation of nurses,” said Dr. John Bonaguro, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, which will house the School of Nursing. “All four nursing programs will be operational under one unit which will enable us to more efficiently use our resources across all programs. In addition, it will help us to increase nursing research by having all of our faculty working together to improve nursing outcomes.”

The associate degree nursing program will remain at WKU’s Bowling Green Community College but will link administratively with the bachelor’s and master’s programs as part of the School of Nursing.

Donna Blackburn, head of the Department of Nursing, said the change will make all the programs more effective and enhance the visibility of the nursing program.

“Having a School of Nursing will make WKU more attractive statewide and nationally to prospective students and to faculty members,” Blackburn said.

In the past, the nursing programs on the main campus and the community college have competed for faculty members, she said. In the new school, the programs would work together organizationally and make better use of resources to meet the needs of students.

“We’re committed to enrollment growth to meet the demand for new nurses and the School of Nursing will maximize our resources to respond to the challenge,” Blackburn said.

Kacy Harris, interim director of the ADN program, agreed. “The Associate Degree Nursing Program believes that the formation of a School of Nursing at WKU is a tremendous opportunity,” she said. “It will allow all nursing programs from the associate degree to the master’s degree to maximize their potential in faculty/staff resources as well as learning resources. Overall, we are very excited about the changes anticipated for our program of nursing.”

The School of Nursing also will improve communication within the university and among the community, Harris said. “All nursing program questions can be directed to a single School of Nursing rather than trying to figure out which program, director or campus to contact,” she said.

In the fall of 2005, the ADN program and the BSN program were No. 2 and No. 3 on WKU’s list of top 25 undergraduate majors with 564 and 512 students, respectively. Those numbers had grown from 381 in the ADN program and 294 in the BSN major in 2001. The MSN program was ninth among WKU’s top 15 graduate programs in fall 2005 with 70 students.

Blackburn said she hopes WKU can boost enrollments in its nurse educator program and its certificate programs for school nurses and public health nurses to respond to needs in those areas.
               
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Donna Blackburn at (270) 745-3579 or Kacy Harris at (270) 780-2510.