New four-year nursing program launches with accelerated path to workforce

The health care industry faces a growing shortage of trained, qualified nurses. Retirements and industry trends are contributing to the challenges and innovative approaches are needed to turn the tide. To meet this dire need, Rowan-Virtua Salva School of Nursing & Health Professions (Salva SNHP) has introduced an innovative freshman entry-level Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program that will enable students to enter the workforce early as they complete their studies.

The program, launched in the fall of 2024, enables students to earn both a nursing diploma through Virtua Health’s Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing and a BSN through Salva SNHP. This joint path allows students to enter the workforce earlier than traditional programs.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than 100,000 registered nurses left the profession between 2020 and 2021. This shortage is expected to worsen over the next decade as more nurses retire, making increased nursing education opportunities critical to help well-trained nurses enter the workforce as quickly as possible.

One key benefit of the program, and the unique partnership between Rowan and Virtua, is the extensive real-world clinical experience students will graduate with. By the time they complete the program, students will have gained several hundred hours of clinical practice, far exceeding the typical requirements for many nursing programs.

"Our students receive over 736 clinical hours in the diploma program alone,” explains Mary Ellen Santucci, head of the Department of Nursing at Salva SNHP. “That hands-on experience is critical in preparing them for real-world health care environments.”

Students also benefit from interprofessional collaboration with other health professions students in the Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences of Rowan University.

“We’re able to utilize opportunities like case studies and shared learning labs, where our nursing students can educate medical students on critical topics like infectious disease precautions,” Santucci says. “This interprofessional education allows students to see different perspectives of health care, and it’s something our students find invaluable.”

After 2.5 to three years in the new four-year bachelor’s degree program, students will earn their diploma and— upon passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)—start working as registered nurses while completing their BSN at Salva SNHP.

“What parents really love about this is that it gives their students an opportunity to work in the profession prior to receiving their baccalaureate degree,” says Dean of Our Lady of Lourdes School of Nursing, Shirley Denise Richardson. “By taking the best parts of what Virtua does through our school and the best of what Rowan does through its nursing program and bringing those two things together, this program provides a quicker return on investment and ensures a smooth transition into the nursing profession.”

In addition to its clinical focus, the program addresses a shortage in nursing education capacity. Prior to the partnership, both Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes and Salva SNHP’s nursing programs were at full capacity, limiting the number of students who could enter the field. The combination of these programs now allows for an additional 120 nursing students to enroll each year.

The program’s leaders have ambitious plans for the future. In addition to expanding the number of students it admits, the program will soon have a home in Salva SNHP’s new state-of-the-art nursing facility on Rowan’s West Campus in Glassboro, NJ. This new building will provide a home for the nursing program and offer cutting-edge resources and technology to faculty and students.

“The new nursing building will be a tremendous asset to the program,” said Peter Rattigan, founding dean of the Salva School of Nursing & Health Professions. “We’re excited about what this means for the future of nursing education at Rowan and Virtua.”