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Board of Regents Approves Doctoral Degree in Nursing for Georgia Southern
Following approval from the Board of Regents, Georgia Southern University will offer the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree beginning in the fall of 2008. The DNP program, offered online through the University’s School of Nursing, is one of only two such degree programs in the Georgia, one of only 54 programs in the country.
This is Georgia Southern University’s fifth doctoral degree program. Since being classified a doctoral research university by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching in 2006, the university has added doctoral degrees in psychology (PsyD) and public health (DrPH), and now in nursing practice (DNP). Two doctor of education degrees (EdD) were first offered in 1995.
The DNP program will prepare graduates to provide the most advanced level of nursing care for individuals and communities. This includes the direct care of individual patients, management of care for individuals and populations, administration of nursing systems, and the development and implementation of health policy. This degree, with additional coursework in education and pedagogy, will also prepare graduates to serve as nurse educators in Schools of Nursing. This program will be delivered on-line increasing its reach to the entire state and to states and countries beyond.
This degree program comes at a time when grave shortages in nursing faculty and advanced nurse practitioners is affecting nursing education and the heath care outcomes of the state. With the approval of this program, Georgia Southern will take a leadership role in moving graduate nursing education forward. Interest in Georgia Southern’s DNP program is very high with over 70 individuals currently on a waiting list for admission.
The Georgia Southern DNP program builds on graduate nursing education ranked 11th in the country by US News and World Report from 2004-2007. The graduate programs in the School of Nursing boast a sustained 100% pass rate on certification exams.
Georgia Southern University developed the first graduate Family Nurse Practitioner program in nursing in the state. Almost every program in the state, including MCG, has used graduates of our MSN program as faculty and curriculum developers/consultants. GSU’s Family Nurse Practitioner program—upon which the DNP will be built—is recognized as a model graduate program by the National Organization for Nurse Practitioner Faculties.
T. Maria Smith, assistant professor of nursing, oversees SCRUBS participants (l-r) Heather Parsons, Nikki McKinney, and Candice McGlashan as they learn the proper way to take a patient's blood pressure.
High schoolers get into SCRUBS!
June 8 - Thirty area students exploring a career in nursing came to Georgia Southern University this week for SCRUBS Camp.
SCRUBS is a minority recruitment program aimed at involving potential nursing students all the way from seventh grade through their senior year at Georgia Southern’s School of Nursing. The SCRUBS Camp is just one aspect of the program, which supports academic achievement and helps participants learn more about the health care professions.
Students from Bulloch, Jenkins, Evans, Candler and Screven counties spent the week hearing from nurses on a variety of career topics, trying hands-on nursing activities in the School of Nursing’s skills lab, touring Memorial Health Hospital, visiting Willow Pond Assisted Living Center, and preparing their own presentations. The week concludes today with a luncheon, a talk by guest speaker Willene Beaty, RN, and presentation of certificates to participants.
The SCRUBS program was funded in July 2006 with a three-year grant for $880,000 from the Health Resource and Service Administration. It was developed and proposed by Marian Tabi, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing, who also serves as principal investigator on the grant.
Scrubs Camp staff includes Katoya Bledsoe, SCRUBS recruiter; Scott Denlinger, outreach librarian; Misty Dunn, data coordinator; Jackie Edenfield, preceptor coordinator; Bela Kundu, Health Careers coordinator; Charlisa Osgood, staff assistant;, and Mary Kate Pung, director of the Magnolia Coastlands AHEC.
HRSA funds SCRUBS to increase number of minority nurses
Georgia Southern School of Nursing’s
Dr. Marian Tabi receives $880,000 grant
The under-representation of minorities in the health professions, including nursing, is a well-documented fact. The Sullivan Commission report, Missing Persons: Minorities in the Health Professions (2004), showed that from 1980 to 2000 the number of minority nurses tripled; despite this large gain, only 12 percent of nurses nationwide come from under-represented groups.
This result is confirmed by the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) State Health Workforce Profile — Georgia, which found that 15.7 percent of Georgia nursing school graduates are minorities. It is also confirmed by a Georgia Area Health Education Centers Network survey of Georgia’s registered nurses, which found that 18.5 percent of Georgia’s registered nurses are minorities.
Georgia’s population is 67 percent white, 28.9 percent black, and 5.2 percent Hispanic. Even though statistics on Georgia’s nursing workforce are somewhat better than those for the nation, minorities are still greatly under-represented in the nursing profession.
To address this issue, Georgia Southern University and the Magnolia Coastlands Area Health Education Center established SCRUBS, a program designed to recruit minority students to a nursing career. SCRUBS was funded in July 2006 with a three-year grant for $880,000 from the Health Resource and Service Administration.
“In addition to recruitment activities that will bring potential nursing students into SCRUBS, the program offers students many opportunities to develop long-term mentoring relationships,” said Marian Tabi, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing, who developed the program and serves as principal investigator on the grant. “These mentoring relationships support the retention, progression, and graduation of students, a process that is a priority initiative of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.” Tabi, who served as a nurse retention counselor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, is uniquely qualified to lead SCRUBS.
SCRUBS aims to involve potential minority nursing students all the way from seventh grade through their senior year of Georgia Southern’s School of Nursing BSN program. The program will attract students, support their academic achievement, and help them learn more about the health care professions. Once involved, the program will help students develop long-term mentoring relationships in the health care delivery system.
“We have created a variety of activities for middle and high-school students to promote nursing as a career,” said Tabi, “and we’ll make scholarships and stipends available to pre-nursing and nursing students to assist with the cost of books, uniforms, and other items that are required.”
The SCRUBS program provides
Nursing career awareness
Summer opportunities to build academic skills
Health Careers Academy
SEARCH Camp (career exploration)
A Day in the Life of a Nurse (shadowing)
Academic counseling and tutoring
Career and job placement counseling
PSAT and SAT test preparation
Test-taking skill builders
Mentoring
Financial assistance
National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) Review
Other faculty and staff who are working to implement SCRUBS include
Mary Kate Pung. Director of Magnolia Coastlands Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
Bela Kundu, Health Careers Coordinator, AHEC
Stuart Tedders, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology and Director, Center for Rural Health Research, Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
Maria Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor, Georgia Southern School of Nursing
Asha Anumolu, clinical faculty, Georgia Southern School of Nursing
Cheryl Robinson, clinical faculty, Georgia Southern School of Nursing
Melissa Lickteig, Ph.D., assistant professor, Georgia Southern School of Nursing
For more information about SCRUBS, contact Dr. Marian Tabi at 912-478-5991 or at mtabi@georgiasouthern.edu.
GRADUATE PROGRAM RECEIVES DIVISION OF NURSING GRANT TO ESTABLISH COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST GRADUATE DEGREE
The Graduate Nursing Program at Georgia Southern University has received a program grant to prepare graduate nurses who will provide improved health care services to rural, underserved and vulnerable populations. “The federal Division of Nursing has awarded us a 3 year grant to establish a Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist graduate degree major which will offer diploma, associate degree and baccalaureate registered nurses an opportunity to become leaders in their communities developing and administering programs that will help to establish better health care for the underserved populations in southeast Georgia”, states Dr. Donna Hodnicki, Graduate Program Director and Grant Coordinator.
The Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (CHCNS) major will improve access to a workforce that is diverse, culturally-sensitive, and culturally-competent to provide health care and decrease health disparities in rural, underserved, and vulnerable populations in the SE Georgia area. The major will be offered in several formats to meet the needs of registered nurses in the area. Baccalaureate nurses can earn a Master of Science in Nursing degree (MSN). Diploma and associate degree prepared nurses can earn both a baccalaureate degree (BSN) and a MSN through completion of the RN to MSN degree program. Nurses with a Master’s degree in Nursing can earn a Post-MSN certificate.
The Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist degree will be offered using a unique delivery combination of Saturday class meetings and on-line coursework. While the MSN program has graduated 18 CHCNS and 185 family nurse practitioners since 1988, with 75% providing care to rural and/or underserved populations, there remains a critical need to increase health care access to these populations, to meet diversity needs, and to reduce health care disparities. The catchment grant area is 24 counties in SE Georgia. This combined area has a 71% rate of income below the poverty level with an average per capita income of $17,840. There is a 35% minority and a 11% uninsured rate. Almost all of the counties (92%) are medically underserved areas. Within this large square mile area, GSU offers the only MSN program offering the community health clinical nurse specialist, family nurse practitioner, and women’s health nurse practitioner majors.
The Georgia Southern University School of Nursing was honored with the 2002-2003 State of Georgia Board of Regent’s Excellence Award which was the first Regent’s Excellence Award for the university. The MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program is ranked 11th for 2004 by US News and World Report on Graduate Education. The goals of this graduate program are to provide graduate nurses who are cultural competent and who desire to remain in the SE Georgia area providing health care services. Graduate Record Examination or Miller Analogy Tests results are required for admission. A cohort of 15 students will be admitted this semester to begin coursework in January 2005. Admissions are year round. For further information, interested nurses are encouraged to contact the MSN Program by phone 912-478-0017, FAX 912-478-1679 or e-mail: acelkins@georgiasouthern.edu.
Georgia Southern’s Jean Bartels named President of National Nursing Organization: American Association of Colleges of Nursing
The chair of Georgia Southern University’s School of Nursing, Jean Bartels, has been elected to serve a two-year term as president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Bartels assumed the presidency at the AACN’s annual meeting held late March in Washington, D.C.
“Jean Bartels is a visionary leader whose intellect, courage and passion for professional nursing education will serve the association well,” said Kathleen Ann Long, immediate past president of the AACN. “Dr. Bartels is committed to advancing the AACN’s mission of improving patient care by creating a more highly educated nursing workforce.”
Bartels has served on the AACN Board of Directors since 1995 in the roles of president-elect, secretary, program committee chair, task force leader and columnist for the Journal of Professional Nursing. As the chair of the Task Force on Education and Regulation for Professional Nursing Practice #2, she provided the guidance and leadership needed for the AACN to move forward with the creation of a new nursing role called the Clinical Nurse Leader.
As a member of the Steering Committee for the Creation of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), Bartels helped to lay the foundation for the CCNE to become the leading accrediting body for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. She has presented testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workplace, served as faculty for a national community-based education project funded by the Helene Fuld Health Trust and is a frequent presenter before national groups, including the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce.
Prior to her appointment to Georgia Southern University in 1999, Bartels served in a variety of roles at Alverno College in Milwaukee, including chairperson for nursing from 1990-1999. At the state level, she currently serves on the Georgia Board of Nursing Education Committee and is president of the Ogeechee Area Hospice Board of Directors. Dr. Bartels also provides regional, national and international consultations on accreditation processes, community-based nursing education, outcome assessment, performance assessments and in other areas.
A strong advocate for lifelong learning, Bartels has completed every level of nursing education from the diploma to doctorate. She earned a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee; a Master of Science in Nursing from Marquette University; a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with honors from Alverno College; and a diploma from Columbia Hospital School of Nursing in Milwaukee. Bartels possesses practice expertise and has conducted research in the areas of nursing care for the adult, critical care, chronic care and community-based nursing practice. She has written a number of books, chapters and articles on topics ranging from outcome measurement in nursing education, critical thinking in nursing, nursing education for the 21 st century, service learning and community-based nursing education.
“Professional nursing education and health care practice environments must inevitably and powerfully change if we are to prepare the next generation of nurses to participate as full partners in shaping an improved health care system,” said Bartels. “ As AACN president, I will strive to be a catalyst for positive change, an advocate for federal support for nursing education and research, and a champion for the pivotal role nurses play in health care delivery.”
SCHOOL OF NURSING OPENS
COMMUNITY NURSING CENTER
The School of Nursing at Georgia Southern University announced the opening of its new Community Nursing Center on January 23, 2004. The Center is located in the Nursing and Chemistry Building, Room 1004.
Initial services for the Center will be available for University faculty and staff, as well as citizens within the community. The Center provides the following services: blood pressure checks; body mass index calculations; laboratory testing for blood glucose, total cholesterol, hemoglobin and hematocrit; cardiovascular, diabetes, stroke, glaucoma, and osteoporosis screenings; bone density measurements; nutritional counseling; hearing and vision checks; and well child and adult physical exams.
In addition to providing health care services for faculty, staff and the community, the Center is a clinical practice and research site for faculty and students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
“The Community Nursing Center, which is part of the School of Nursing’s Rural Nursing Outreach Program, received federal funds through the Office of Rural Health Policy in the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration,” said Jean Bartels, Chair and Professor of the School of Nursing. “We received two grants from this Office for a total of $560,000 through 2006.
“The two grants will help the new Community Nursing Center purchase equipment and supplies and also fund an expansion of the nursing education programs to meet the need for education additional nurses and advanced practitioners in rural Southeast Georgia,” Bartels added. “Additionally, we received $75,000 from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation to support our Rural Nursing Outreach Programs.”
The Rural Nursing Outreach Program is designed to provide nursing care services to an underserved rural area while generating practice, service, and research opportunities for faculty and students in the School of Nursing. Program initiatives include the Rural Nursing Community Center in Portal, GA; migrant care outreach services in the Georgia counties of Tattnall, Toombs, Evans, and Screven; and partnerships to deliver episodic care and health promotion and preventive services to schools in the area as well as industries.
At this time, services are free of charge. The Center will be open every Monday and Friday from 10 am to 2 pm. Appointments can be made by calling 478-5166, but walk-ins are welcome.
FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER PROGRAM APPEARS IN
U.S. & WORLD REPORT RANKINGS
The Family Nurse Practitioner Program (FNP) at Georgia Southern University was ranked as one of the best graduate school health programs in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in May 2003.
One of three Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs offered by the University’s School of Nursing, the program is No. 11 on the magazine’s 2004 list of the top FNP programs in the country.
Georgia Southern’s FNP program is ranked ahead of similar programs at the University of California at Los Angeles, Vanderbilt University, Boston College, the University of Virginia, and the University of Texas.
Emory University, which is tied for No. 21 in the rankings, is the only other Georgia institution to appear on the magazine’s list of the best FNP programs in the nation.
“Our Family Nurse Practitioner program has been a national model since its inception,” said Fred Whitt, the dean of Georgia Southern’s College of Health and Human Sciences, which houses the School of Nursing. “We have an extremely gifted and nationally recognized faculty, and our students consistently score at the highest levels on the national exams.
When you are ranked ahead of such programs as UCLS, Emory, and Vanderbilt, you are doing something special.”
Whitt pointed out that the ranking is consistent with Georgia Southern’s Strategic Plan which calls for the University to become a nationally recognized comprehensive university.
Whitt also noted that this marks the second time the School of Nursing has earned a place in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. The school was No. 26 on the magazine’s 1999 list of the best graduate programs in the nation.
“We are extremely honored to have our Family Nurse Practitioner program recognized by the U. S. News & World Report as a program of excellence,” said Jean Bartels, the chair of the School of Nursing. “This ranking reinforces the significance of the program to Georgia Southern University and recognizes the dedication of the School of Nursing’s faculty and graduates to improving health care received by rural Georgians.”
In addition to the FNP program, the School of Nursing’s MSN program offers tow other tracks that prepare nurses for advanced nursing practice: Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner.
“The program is designed to focus on the delivery of advanced nursing practice to individuals in rural communities, “ Bartels said, “particularly those from under-served backgrounds.”
In order to be a nurse practitioner in Georgia, a registered nurse must graduate from an appropriate MSN program and pass the national nurse practitioner certification examination.
Since its first FNP class graduated in 1990, Georgia Southern has produced 176 Family Nurse Practitioners and 98.8 percent of these graduates passed the national certification examination. Fourteen graduating classes had all of their members pass the exam on their first attempt.
The MSN program at Georgia Southern was one of three programs selected by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties to mentor faculty from across the nation on the integration of community nursing practice content in nurse practitioner programs.
“The program was cited as exemplary in providing a rural focus and extensive clinical experience hours to assist students to understand the unique health care needs of the rural environment, “ said Donna Hodnicki, MSN Program Director.
The University of California-San Francisco tops the U.S. News and World Report’s rankings of the best FNP programs in the nation. The University of Washington is second, the University of Pennsylvania is third, Yale University is fourth, Oregon Health Sciences University is fifth, the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is sixth, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is seventh, Columbia University is eighth, and the University of Illinois-Chicago and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor are tied for ninth.
Each year U.S. News & World Report ranks graduate programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, the fine arts and selected health fields. The health rankings are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline.
SCHOOL OF NURSING RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS
BOARD OF REGENTS' TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD
FOR NURSING PROGRAMS
The Georgia Southern University School of Nursing is the proud winner of the 2002 Regents' Teaching Excellence Award. This system-wide award is given to one program nominated from all regional and state universities and two year colleges. The award committee sought evidence that nominated departments or programs promoted, supported and recognized excellence in teaching and in service to students. The kinds of evidence sought are illustrated by the following examples:
1. Individual and collective faculty efforts to improve teaching and student learning.
2. Comprehensive assessment of student learning and use of the results to inform teaching practices and curricular development and revision.
3. Efforts to enable faculty to use innovative and effective forms of pedagogy and technology.
4. Strong links between good teaching and various rewards, e. g., compensation, promotion, tenure, grants, leaves, travel, departmental or program-based awards, etc.
5. Departmental/unit policies that encourage collaborative faculty efforts, including team teaching, teaching discussion groups, interdisciplinary courses, mentoring, etc.
6. An on-going process for reviewing and reshaping curricula so that achieving academic excellence and serving the needs of all students remain as top priorities.
7. Exemplary programs for advising, mentoring, recruiting, and retaining students; co-curricular work with students; out-of-class learning.
8. Successes of the department's or program's students, e. g., graduation, job placement, acceptance in graduate schools, etc.
See the University of Georgia Systems announcement: http://www.usg.edu/news/2002/050702.phtml
Leaving a legacy Update!
$400,000 gift establishes Bulloch County Hospital Foundation Chair in Nursing and funds are matched by the Board of Regents Eminent Scholar Fund
Georgia Southern President Bruce Grube accepts the check from Bulloch Health Care Foundation President Connie Averitt as Vice President for Advancement Jim Britt and Health & Professional Studies Dean Fred Whitt looks on.
A $400,000 gift from the Bulloch Health Care Foundation, Inc. and matching funds from the Board of Regents Eminent Scholar Fund and approved by the Georgia Legislature will establish the first endowed chair in nursing at Georgia Southern University.
"This award not only benefits the educational environment for future nurses, but also will have a significant impact on the quality of health care within the southeastern Georgia communities where our nurses will practice:' said Fred Whitt, dean of the College of Health and Professional Studies. He noted that 80 percent of the school's graduates are employed in rural Georgia where there is a critical shortage of nurses. The nursing program also operates health outreach centers in rural communities such as Portal, Ga.
The health care foundation was formed more than 25 years ago to aid then-Bulloch Memorial Hospital and contributed substantial funds to the pediatrics department before the county-owned facility was purchased by Health Management Associates, Inc.
After the sale of the hospital, the foundation sought other ways to use the remaining gifts and investments to benefit health care in the county. Its membership unanimously decided to use the proceeds to create the Bulloch County Hospital Foundation Chair, which will bring a prestigious professor in health care to Georgia Southern's School of Nursing.
Foundation Chair Connie Averitt said the foundation wanted to make a gift which would become "a legacy to health care in the community:'
The $400,000 gift will be more than doubled by matching funds to build the $1 million endowment required for a university chair. Georgia Southern will raise the additional $100,000 needed to qualify for a $500,000 grant from the Board of Regents Eminent Scholars fund.
President Bruce Grube called the chair "a magnificent gift."
"This University has long been a national advocate for improving rural health, a specialty we have practiced locally through our rural nursing emphasis and our outreach to under-served communities:' Grube said. "This chair will generate additional attention and support for that important cause. An eminent scholar will also spotlight Georgia Southern's academic distinction in a field where we have been building a national reputation for nearly 20 years."
Whitt said the eminent scholar will be "a nationally recognized faculty member with exceptional clinical and research expertise in health promotion and disease management."
$24 million Science and Nursing Building takes shape
Education key in helping to meet the growing need for nurses
With an eye to the evolving educational needs of the 21st Century, Georgia Southern
University broke ground in 2000 on a new Science and Nursing Building designed to bring the latest in high-tech learning to Southeast Georgia.
Located at the intersection of Forest Drive and Akins Boulevard, near the College of Education, construction on the $24 million project was completed in Fall 2003. The multi-level facility of 125,000 square feet will be one of the largest buildings on campus, and sport a red brick veneer with Southern architectural accents. Features will include:
Fourteen chemistry labs and 19 smaller research labs
A 150-seat lecture hall and two tiered classrooms with data lines at every seat
Two nursing skills labs
A distance learning classroom
A community nursing center
"This state of the art facility will allow us-in a time of increased demand for nurses-to recruit larger numbers of students and offer them additional educational opportunities," said Jean Bartels, professor and chair of the School of Nursing; Bartels said that the community nursing center in particular will allow the University to enhance its Rural Nursing Outreach Program and offer valuable health services to the region while integrating critical educational experiences for students.
"This building will enable us to continue our disease prevention and health screening initiatives, two important areas as we work to improve rural health," Bartels said.
The new home for nursing is the next step in the evolution of a successful educational program, said Fred Whitt, dean of the College of Health and Professional Studies.
"Twenty years ago, we had five faculty and 15 students," Whitt said. "Now, we have approximately 300 students and more than 20 faculty. We graduate 85 to 95 students annually in undergraduate nursing programs.
"U.S. News and World Report recently ranked our Family Nurse Practitioner graduate program in the top five percent nationally, ahead of such programs as Duke University and Boston College," Whitt added. "Our undergraduate pass rate on state licensure exams is among the highest in Georgia, and our graduate Family Nurse Practitioner pass rate is 100 percent on certification exams.
"But what we are particularly proud of is that 80 percent of our students come from, and return to work in, the rural areas of Southeast Georgia," Whitt said. "We are indeed building a
national reputation with a regional and rural mission."
University President Bruce F .Grube called the new facility the latest milestone in the institution's journey to expand and enhance its educational offerings, pointing to the renaissance
in campus construction experienced during the past five years.
"It will take all this new construction and more to embrace the present and future growth of Georgia Southern's enrollment, the breadth of our academic programs and the reach of our responsibility for the development of southern Georgia," Grube said. "No other university matches Georgia Southern's capacity and commitment to be a partner and a major player in enhancing the intellectual capital, the economic environment and the quality of life in this region."
COMMISSION ON COLLEGIATE NURSING EDUCATION
ACCREDITATION SITE VISIT
The School of Nursing hosted an accreditation site visit by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) October 1-3, 2001. The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education is the premier specialized accrediting body for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in the United States and is fully approved by the Department of Education (DOE) and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation(CHEA). Accreditation by this body assures the public that the School and its programs meet high standards for nursing education. The routine accreditation visit by CCNE presents the School, its faculty and students with an opportunity to reflectively study the program and the curriculum.
The Board of Directors of CCNE granted full accreditation without recommendations to the School of Nursing through June 2012.
Additional information regarding the accreditation status of the School of Nursing can be found under Accreditation Status on this website.
