Nursing Agreement
Daemen, Trocaire, Niagara County Community College to Begin Innovative Collaboration in Nursing Education
The Daemen College Nursing Program has entered into innovative collaborative partnerships with both Trocaire College and Niagara County Community College, an agreement which will allow students to earn both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in nursing in the time that it typically takes to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN).
The collaborative agreement, which will highlight instructional strengths of all three institutions, does not duplicate any nursing education programs in Western New York. Under the agreement, qualified high school students seeking a bachelor’s degree in nursing can complete their first year of college, with a focus on liberal arts and science courses at Daemen. The students will then select either Trocaire or Niagara County Community College to complete their second and third years of the program. Upon completion of third year, students will earn an Associate Degree in Nursing.
"Students will then be eligible to sit for the professional licensure exam in nursing, which, upon passing, will enable them to seek employment as Registered Nurses," noted Daemen Professor of Nursing Dr. Mary Lou Rusin, RN. "This is an amazing opportunity for the students to begin working as an RN while completing their final year at Daemen, to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree.
"The students will have the benefits of learning from each faculty’s strengths – Niagara Community College’s and Trocaire’s clinically expert nursing faculty, for example. And our nursing faculty’s strengths in research, evidence-based practice, and theoretical concepts, where we are focused on needs of adult learners," Dr. Rusin added. "This single program uniquely blends the expertise of all three institutions’ faculties."
"We welcome innovations of this type, collaborations between institutions offering nursing education," noted Connie Vari, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Kaleida Health. "There is a significant nursing shortage in New York State – nine percent now, and it is estimated to rise to 15 percent by 2015, and 24 percent by 2020.
"Moreover, the average age of New York nursing practitioners is also rising. It is 47 now. That means we have a limited window of opportunity to get as many new nurses into the field as possible, before more of our current practitioners retire. And we are very supportive of efforts to increase the number of nurses with BSN degrees who enter the field – better-educated nursing practitioners help to drive overall quality-of-care outcomes higher."
"With this program, we are trying to break down some of the barriers to nursing education," Dr. Rusin noted. "These include a lack of clinical placements, as well as a lack of qualified nursing faculty. Last year, more than 3200 qualified applicants were turned away from baccalaureate nursing programs in New York State due to a lack of qualified faculty. These partnerships between Daemen and both Trocaire, and NCCC, represent an effort to change that."
"We always encourage our students to go beyond their associates’ degree," noted Dr. Carol Fanutti, head of the Trocaire College Nursing Program. "This collaboration will enable nursing students to do that, to earn their B.S.N., and it will also reduce the number of competing programs in the WNY area."
Dr. George Bishop, Academic Vice President for NCCC, added that another advantage of the collaboration will be students will enter their first year of nursing curriculum better prepared, and committed to the field.
"Nursing course material is very challenging, and students will have a much better chance of success once they have completed a freshman year taking the basics. They’ll have a good idea of their own personal strengths as students, which will increase their chances of success in earning their associate’s degree and eventually their B.S.N."
The Daemen/NCCC/Trocaire "1+2+1"collaboration will assist qualified high school students in their transition to college, while providing a gradual shift to the demanding course load of the upper-level nursing curriculum. All three colleges will share technology resources, such as the use of Blackboard online learning; tele-videoconferencing; and web-based and web-enhanced courses. Students interested in pursuing careers in nursing through the Daemen/NCCC/Trocaire collaboration can obtain additional information on the program from the Admissions Offices of any of the three schools.
For more information, contact Mary Lou Rusin, Chair of the Nursing Department, at 716.839.8387 or via e-mail: mrusin@daemen.edu