An online program that helps registered nurses earn bachelor’s degrees in nursing is poised to double in size this year. University of ֱ at Lafayette administrators predict that 1,000 students could be enrolled in the RN to BSN program by the end of December.
That’s an impressive number for a program that only began accepting students in March 2012, said Dr. Gail Poirrier, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions.
“The online program provides accessibility for many students while working in healthcare practice areas. It certainly addresses statewide, as well as national, demands for increasing the number of BSN-prepared nurses,” she said.
In 2010, the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a report that calls for 80 percent of the nursing workforce to hold at least a bachelor’s degree by 2020.
Additional coursework prepares a registered nurse for a broader scope of practice and provides a better understanding of issues that affect patients and health-care delivery, such as economics and culture, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Research shows that nurses who receive bachelor’s-level preparation have better patient outcomes than nurses who hold associate degrees.
National surveys have shown that a registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree can earn about 10 percent more than a nurse who holds an associate degree. Recent research has also indicated that better-educated nurses have higher levels of job satisfaction.
The rapid growth of the RN to BSN program has necessitated the University’s hiring additional faculty members and academic advisors, Poirrier told members of the Board of Supervisors of the University of ֱ at Lafayette System in June. By the end of May, over 519 students had enrolled in UL Lafayette’s RN to BSN program.
The dean’s observations were made in conjunction with a request to raise the program’s tuition from $8,500 to $9,500. In June, the board approved that increase, effective Jan. 12, 2015.
Diploma- or associate degree-prepared nurses who work at UL Lafayette’s 43 preferred partner organizations may be eligible to receive a tuition discount of up to $1,000 off the program package price. Those partners include hospitals, organizations and health care systems across ֱ. Students who graduated from community college partners also may be eligible for a tuition discount.
Some registered nurses are able to complete the University’s RN to BSN program in as few as 11 months.
As of June 30, over 120 RNs have earned bachelors of science in nursing degrees through the RN to BSN online program.
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