Reacting to a national dearth of nurses, the School of Nursing is set to embark on an accelerated bachelor's nursing degree program, approved by the Academic Council in December.
The program, which is set to take its first class of 40 students in fall 2002, will be for students who have already earned a bachelor's degree at an undergraduate institution.
"It's a significant effort for us," said Dean of the School of Nursing Mary Champagne, who added that the national nursing shortage has created a need for more training--especially the kind of fast-paced training as the 16-month accelerated program aspires to provide.
Instead of a standard four year course of study, the students will finish all the work in two years. Within those four semesters, nursing students will take graduate course work as well, finishing with 15 graduate credits, one-third of a master's degree.
"The program is designed to make strong clinical leadership," said Terris Kennedy, academic dean at the school.
Michelle Renaud, director of the program, noted that its rigorous nature will increase the quantity of nurses while also attempting to help students become leaders in the field.
"There's a huge shortage now," Renaud said. "Within the Duke system, there is a great need for strongly prepared clinical nurses. [We hope to] prepare nurses who [already] have very strong clinical skills, and we'll have opportunities to develop their leadership skills as well."
The program must still be approved by the Board of Trustees and this month, the North Carolina Board of Nursing will also begin its accreditation process.
Renaud said that until a new building can be constructed for the School of Nursing, the baccalaureate program will have space on Ninth Street in Durham to accommodate the students and faculty.
Currently, the School of Nursing does not offer a traditional bachelor's degree in nursing, but rather a master's degree. Graduate nursing students at Duke have already received a degree at another institution. Accelerated bachelor's programs, said nursing school administrators, have been very successful at academically rigorous schools, such as the Johns Hopkins University.
At Duke's nursing school, which also hopes to increase research, the new program adds more depth to its curriculum.
"Any time you bring students from all different backgrounds together to do something, it will benefit students and the institution," Renaud said.
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