Loyola, Ochsner partner in four-year nursing program

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

With an eye toward reducing a critical shortage of nurses in Louisiana as well as in the U.S., Loyola University New Orleans and Ochsner Health announced Oct. 21 a four-year, pre-licensure program, beginning in the fall of 2021, that will lead to a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree in 2025.

The BSN program will offer academic courses on Loyola’s campus, including coursework in a new $500,000 simulation lab financed by an anonymous donor, as well as clinical rotations in the students’ third and fourth years at one of eight Ochsner medical facilities throughout the metropolitan area.

“The profession of nursing embodies the Jesuit mission of Loyola,” said Tania Tetlow, Loyola’s president, who called nurses the “heroes” of health care during the pandemic. “(Nurses) are essential to the quality of care. Our country has a critical need for more nurses. We heard the call, and we answered it together – to educate students at the highest level of health care, ethics and passionate commitment.”

Tetlow said the university is hoping for an initial class of 90 students – “or building up to that as quickly as we can.” Loyola currently offers post-licensure nursing education and graduate programs for nursing. The new program marks the return of undergraduate nursing education to Loyola.

Attracting students who would consider nursing as a career should not be difficult, said Warner Thomas, president and CEO, Ochsner Health.

“COVID-19 has highlighted the need and importance of having a strong and skilled workforce,” said Thomas, who added there are 175,000 openings for registered nurses across the country each year, largely tied to older nurses retiring.

“In 2019, 37% of licensed registered nurses were 50 years old or older, and 17% were 60-plus,” Thomas said. “With so many nurses reaching retirement age, there is a clear need for  nurses entering the workforce. There’s never been a more important time to invest in health care, education and workforce development.”

Loyola said the partnership will combine “patient-centered clinical care with an academically-competitive liberal arts curriculum.” The Jesuit mission of “cura personalis” (care of the whole person) will be threaded throughout the program, Tetlow said.

The new BSN program, Thomas said, takes a “significant step” because the Loyola nursing students will receive “not just some but all of their clinical training under the umbrella of one health care system,” which will allow students to “gain familiarity” with Ochner and encourage them to remain in the New Orleans area after graduation.

“These will be nurses that we hope will stay and work right here in Louisiana,” Thomas said. “It’s an amazing career opportunity to make a real and lasting impact.”

The new program has been given Step 2 approval from the Louisiana State Board of Nursing is expected to have accreditation soon from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

“Students will study alongside their peers with pre-nursing (courses) in Year One, and then move seamlessly to a nursing science focus,” said Dr. Laurie Anne Ferguson, dean of Loyola’s College of Nursing and Health. “In the second year, they will learn by doing through simulation (lab) and direct-care experiences in a safe and controlled environment. 

“Finding clinical placements and faculty can be an enormous challenge, and this removes that barrier. We are offering a creative solution based on the best of higher education and the best health care education in our region. Our students will be receiving education from those at the top of their profession.”

Using computerized mannequins, the nursing simulation lab will be able to mimic real-life medical situations such as childbirth and heart attacks, and the room will have video equipment to review “what went well and what didn’t go well to ensure the quality of the experience,” Ferguson said.

For more information on the BSN program, go to loyno.edu/bachelor-science-nursing.

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