QCC, WSU team up on B.S. in nursing program
Two Worcester colleges are collaborating on a program that would allow students who achieve registered-nurse certification to go on to earn a bachelor of science in nursing.
The presidents of Worcester State University (WSU) and Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) on Wednesday signed the agreement at QCC’s Healthcare and Workforce Development Center downtown.
Students in the 3+1 Nursing Program will take three years of coursework at QCC, then attend a year at WSU to complete the requirements for the B.S. degree.
“We are committed to addressing the workforce need for more bachelor’s-holding nurses and to providing a high quality, student-friendly pathway for achieving that in cost effective way,” WSU President Barry M. Maloney said in a statement from the two schools announcing the program.
Students can earn R.N. certification with an associate’s degree, but growing consensus in the profession points to the need for a more highly educated nursing workforce, the statement said, citing increasing complexity of hospital care and non-hospital nursing situations.
In a 2010 report, the Institute of Medicine issued a report calling for 80 percent of the nursing workforce to be prepared at the bachelor of science level by 2020.
“We are delighted to offer this new program for our nursing students who want to advance their careers. Demand for nursing care is increasing as our population ages, and employment for nurses is projected to increase substantially over the next 10 years,” QCC President Gail Carberry said in the statement.
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