WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – To foster nursing as a career, North Carolina Baptist Hospitals Inc., and Winston-Salem State University have established an accelerated baccalaureate tract for people who already hold non-nursing bachelor degrees.
Students who complete the accelerated 13-month tract will receive a bachelor of science degree in nursing (B.S.N.) from Winston-Salem State University.
N.C. Baptist Hospital will provide full funding of all programmatic costs, a first for accelerated B.S.N. degree programs in North Carolina and one of only three such programs in the United States. After graduation, students will commit to work at N.C. Baptist Hospital for three years.
“This current nursing shortage is like no other that we have experienced,” said A. Patricia Johnson, vice president for operations and chief nurse executive at N.C. Baptist Hospitals. “It is primarily demand-driven so that it is especially important to increase the number of individuals pursuing nursing as a career.”
“The collaboration between Winston-Salem State University and N.C. Baptist Hospital has led to the development of an exciting and innovative tract geared to educate new nurses while meeting a community need for those seeking second career options,” she said.
Twice a year, approximately 20 students will be admitted into the tract beginning January 2003 and again in July 2003 with the first class graduating in February 2004. The university will continue graduating 30-35 students per year. Students will be admitted to Winston-Salem State University and taught by the nursing faculty. Most clinical experiences will be conducted at N.C. Baptist Hospital and Winston-Salem State University’s academic primary care center.
“I am pleased that Winston-Salem State University and N.C. Baptist Hospital have collaborated in such an extraordinary strategy to impact the nursing shortage,” said Sylvia Flack, R.N., Ed.D., dean of the School of Health Sciences at Winston-Salem State University.
“The department of nursing will participate in this groundbreaking innovation designed to address the nursing shortage. This collaboration between nursing practice and education will serve as a model for communities on a national basis,” said Flack.
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For information about admissions, contact Winston-Salem State University at 336-750-2561.
Media Contact Only: Barbara Hahn, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, (336) 716-6877 or Aaron Singleton, Winston-Salem State University, (336) 750-2150.
Media Relations
Main Number: news@wakehealth.edu, 336-713-4587