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A brand new registered nursing program has been approved by the State of Louisiana, and the school will immediately begin enrolling students for the program, which will have its first classes this fall. Approval of the program was given by the State Board of Nursing in Louisiana recently, and allows the school to begin accepting students right away.
In the initial stages the program will only be admitting 40 students, however, there are plans already in place to expand it to 60 students in the coming semesters according to the dean of Nursing, Allied Health and Safety.
The Lafayette Economic Development Authority as well as several major hospitals and nursing facilities throughout the city of Lafayette donated more than a half million dollars to the program in 2013. The money was used to pay faculty and administrative salaries, purchase equipment, and pay for other logistical elements necessary to launch the program.
Students who enroll in the new nursing program will be taking classes and completing coursework in pursuit of an associate’s degree in nursing and will be eligible upon completion of the program to take the registered nursing licensing exam that is administered by the state.
The program’s launch date was dependent upon a number of factors that were overseen by the Louisiana Nursing Board. Some of those factors included the proper placement of qualified faculty prior to the development of a curriculum.
According to sources, the school was met with myriad challenges when trying to find qualified faculty for the program due to its requirements for experience in curriculum development and implementation, a master’s degree, and sufficient and recent clinical experience. Representatives from the state Nursing Board visited the campus after faculty members were hired back in January of this year.