Grace Dunklin, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
The Berry Office of Admissions joined forces with the new nursing faculty on Sunday to present the first of several informative events about the new nursing major.
Since the events take place in the lobby of the admissions office, attendance has been kept small and RSVP only. Eleven interested students and family members gathered for the first meeting, with increasing numbers expected for the other events, said Starr Boylan, Senior Admissions Counselor of the admissions office.
Dean and Professor of Nursing Vanice Roberts, and two other nursing faculty, Visiting Lecturer Ann Hook and Visiting Assistant Professor Pam Dunagan were speakers at the event, which was structured as an open discussion forum.
Hook said the goal of the informational event was to “educate the community and those that are interested in the nursing program and to answer any questions that they might have.”
Boylan spoke briefly on the ways in which applying for the nursing program will differ from other majors on campus.
Boylan said that, unlike other majors where you enter the department when you enter school, the nursing program will have to be applied to separately from Berry itself. Students intending to enter the program will have to apply the second semester of their sophomore year. In addition, they will not be applying via the normal admissions process, but to the School of Nursing itself.
Roberts showed the prospective students the floor plans for the area that will become the nursing classrooms, a 6,000 square foot section of second floor Evans Hall. Not only are there classrooms and offices, but there will also be simulation rooms for the students to practice in a real world environment.
“As we develop this [program], we are looking at what is missing [from other programs] and why that is missing, and how can we create a learning process that uses simulation and clinical experience to fill those gaps that are notoriously seen in nursing programs,” Dunagan said.
She said the best part about building a program from scratch is that they can build the program the way they want it to be instead of altering an already existing program.
“We are working really hard to be current and cutting edge in the way we teach our nursing students so when they go out in this ever-evolving healthcare system they are ready to anticipate what is ahead,” Hook said.
Students in the nursing program will be expected to use an iPad or an iPad Mini for their textbooks and homework. Hook said this decision stemmed from the fact that in real-world, “technology is the number one method that is used to keep healthcare safe, so we have got to integrate it into [the students’] learning.”
Apart from the technology, the nursing program is also doing some of its classes in a different manner. In addition to four solid semesters of nothing but nursing classes, students will be expected to go on a cultural immersion trip. For now, the trip will take place in Costa Rica, but Bulgaria may be a second option, said Dunagan.
Roberts said the nursing program will be accepting 32 students the first year and hopefully raise that number over the next few following years. Prospective students will be able to apply between April and July 2013, with the first class starting the program in Spring 2014, with anticipated graduation in May 2015.
More information about the nursing program can be found at their site via the main Berry site as well as on an information brochure available in the Office of Admissions.