CORBIN — Times-Tribune Staff Report

A new nursing program at Union College is aimed to address a shortage of BSN nurses in rural Kentucky, where only about 15 percent of the nurse workforce holds a bachelor’s degree.

Union received approval to move forward with an RN-to-BSN nursing program, with the first cohort of students to begin in August.

Nurses interested in the program can apply at any time, though fall classes begin Aug. 24.

The program has been approved by the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The accreditation process with the Council on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) begins when the first class enters and will be completed within two years.

The RN-to-BSN program is for practicing registered nurses with an associate of applied science in nursing or a diploma in nursing from a hospital program. Graduates will earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Classes are structured so nurses may continue to work full-time as they pursue the BSN on a part-time basis.

Ed de Rosset, Union’s president, said the program will help meet a critical need for bachelor’s-prepared nurses and, hopefully, primary care providers.

“As we researched this program, it became clear that the southeastern Kentucky region is in need of nurses with bachelor’s degrees for two key reasons: the increase in the quality of care provided, and the need for nurses who are prepared to seek graduate-level degrees,” de Rosset said.

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice recommends that at least two-thirds of the nurse workforce hold a bachelor’s degree.

In Kentucky, that number is 30 percent. In rural Kentucky, it is closer to 15 percent.

Betty Johnson, Ph.D., the consultant who helped Union develop its RN-to-BSN program and who serves as its interim dean, said research shows a clear link between degree attainment and quality of care, including “lower mortality rates, fewer medication errors and quality outcomes.”  

Union College officials also considered health care professional shortages in southeastern Kentucky as they planned for the program. Nurses with a bachelor’s degree, says Dr. Johnson, can take advantage of graduate and doctoral programs that can lead to becoming nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are able to serve as primary care providers.

Four of the 14 counties in Union’s target market for the RN-to-BSN program are federally designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), in part because primary care providers are in short supply. The HPSAs are Jackson, Leslie, Owsley and Wayne counties.  

In 2008, Union led a needs-assessment process that included a survey of practicing nurses in the 14-county area. Dr. Johnson says 46 percent of surveyed nurses said they are interested in earning the BSN. Of those nurses who are also interested in advanced degrees, over 40 percent indicated a desire to become nurse practitioners.  

The first groups of nursing students at Union will study in the Miller Science Center.  By 2012, the college expects rehabilitation of the former Knox County hospital building to be complete.  It will serve as the permanent home of Union’s Department of Nursing and Health Sciences.  

To learn more about the new nursing program, visit www.unionky.edu/nursing.