The MGH Institute of Health Professions, an academic affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital, has announced a new, 14-month Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program for individuals who already hold a baccalaureate degree in another field.
Building on its success over the last two decades in preparing non-nurses to become nurse practitioners through its three-year direct-entry master’s program, the MGH Institute developed the second-degree BSN curriculum to help fill the pipeline of registered nurses (RNs) who are in high demand across acute care and community care settings. The number of students with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than nursing who enrolled in second-degree nursing programs nationwide jumped from 6,860 in 2003 to 12,347 in 2006, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The introduction of the MGH Institute’s accelerated BSN comes at a time when many nursing programs in the Commonwealth are at capacity. It is estimated that more than 1,200 qualified applicants were turned away from other Massachusetts baccalaureate programs last year due to space limitations or faculty shortages.
Published research has demonstrated that registered nurses with at least a bachelor’s degree deliver better care and improve patient outcomes. As a result, employers and many professional nursing organizations increasingly recognize the BSN degree as minimum preparation for entry into nursing practice.
Faced with a shortage of nurses, Thomas Smith, RN, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Cambridge Health Alliance, is already planning to hire graduates of this program. “We’re looking forward to the first accelerated BSN class from the MGH Institute because we can be confident they will be bright, highly motivated, and fully prepared to manage the complexities of patient care today,” says Smith. Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, MS, Senior Vice President and Chief Nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, concurs. “The Accelerated BSN will help MGH and other Partners HealthCare hospitals meet our nursing workforce needs and eventually expand nursing capacity,” according to Erickson.
Alexandra Paul-Simon, PhD, RN, assistant director of the new BSN program, explains: “Having a liberal arts education clearly informs the ability of people to make good decisions as a nurse. The experience of earning a prior undergraduate degree provides the accelerated nursing students greater ability to understand and relate to patients, which directly translates into better care.”
In addition to having a bachelor’s degree in any field, candidates for the full-time Accelerated BSN program must also have completed certain prerequisite courses. The 14-month curriculum includes 54 credits of instruction over three semesters, followed by a seven-week role immersion/clinical internship. Graduates can then sit for the NCLEX-RN exam to become licensed registered nurses.
The MGH Institute expects to admit 50 students into its first Accelerated BSN class, which will begin in May 2008. The applicant pool will be a mix of recent college graduates, as well as mid- to late-career changers from professions outside of health care, according to Dr. Paul-Simon. The deadline for applications to the first Accelerated BSN class is November 1, 2007. Additional information is available online at bsn.mghihp.edu or by emailing [email protected].
The MGH Institute of Health Professions is an innovative and independent graduate school that operates within the frame‧work of Partners HealthCare System. A progressive leader in developing compre‧hensive models of health care education, the MGH Institute prepares advanced practice professionals in the fields of nursing, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, clinical investigation and medical imaging through a distinctive combination of academic study, clinical practice and research. An average of 800 students are enrolled in post-baccalaureate degree and certificate programs, with an increasing number of courses available online. The Institute is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.
[Editors: Our style preference is to not spell out ‘MGH’ on a first reference to our name, as it incorrectly implies the Institute is a department within the hospital. Alternately, we recommend, “The MGH Institute of Health Professions, an academic affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital…”]
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