University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

CSUN to Offer an Accelerated Degree in Nursing Beginning This Summer

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., May 16, 2007) — Cal State Northridge’s College of Health and Human Development has been given initial approval by the California Board of Registered Nursing to begin offering an accelerated bachelor’s degree in nursing beginning next month.

The program, which compresses 56 semester units of classes and clinical work into an intense 15 months, targets people who already have a non-nursing bachelor’s degree but want to pursue a nursing career.

"Because CSUN is the only state university located in the San Fernando Valley, it serves a unique mix of urban and rural areas as well as a highly diverse population with significant health needs and disparities," said Martha Highfield, director of CSUN’s nursing program. "People who already have a bachelor’s degree, but not in nursing, often may have to go to a community college for an associate degree in nursing if they want to pursue a nursing career. CSUN’s accelerated bachelor’s degree provides a new and needed professional alternative."

Each summer and fall, a cohort of 18 students will be admitted to the four-semester program for classroom work and clinical rotations. As part of the program’s requirements, the students will learn in a variety of nursing units in the San Fernando Valley at varying times and days of the week. The first group of students starts the program in June. Beginning in 2008, two cohorts of 18 students will be admitted per year—one in summer and one in fall.

The program’s demanding workload does not allow time for students to hold down a job, university officials said. But at the end of 15 months, the students will be eligible to receive a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) from Northridge, to take the RN licensing exam and to apply for a Public Health Nurse certificate.

"At CSUN, we want to provide nursing education in the Valley and for the Valley and beyond," Highfield said. "The goal is to strengthen the health care system in California by providing caring, skilled and professionally educated nurses who are prepared to meet the challenges of today’s dynamic health care system."

The university has partnered with local hospitals—Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and Kaiser Permanente—to ensure that the students get hands-on nursing experience. Valley Presbyterian Hospital also has lent its support to the program.

"I am delighted that we will begin offering this innovative program with outstanding support from CSUN and health care community leaders," said Helen Castillo, dean of the College of Health and Human Development and also a nurse. "This is an exemplary effort of community-based support designed to meet our regional health needs and challenges."

The university will continue to offer its existing RN-to-BSN and school nurse credential tracks. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the students in the RN-to-BSN program go on to pursue graduate degrees and enter educational, clinical or management positions. The school nurse credential graduates fill a need in local school districts.

The new accelerated program is designed to help in meeting a "critical shortage" of nurses in the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding regions, Highfield said.

For more information about the program, visit its Web site at http://www.csun.edu/~nursing/.