Southern Adventist University’s School of Nursing is helping alleviate the state and nationwide nursing shortage by offering a pilot program known as the Summer Study Option (SSO). This week, 15 students will graduate from the program.
“These are students who otherwise would not have been able to become nurses,” said School of Nursing Dean Barbara James.
Every year, Southern’s School of Nursing must turn away potential students because of limited space in the program. However, faculty were determined to find a way to help more students achieve nursing degrees. From this desire came the idea of offering an intensive program in which students could complete their RNs over the course of three summers.
“Students said the SSO was the only option available for them to take nursing,” Ms. James said. “It was a schedule workable with their life.”
Ms. James said that faculty will fully evaluate the success of the program before deciding whether to offer another SSO. However, with the increased number of students the School of Nursing will be able to accommodate in the new center for nursing, which is scheduled for groundbreaking this fall, there may not be a need to continue the SSO.