Eastern Connecticut State University is adding a nursing program to its curriculum. The new major was made possible by a $1.2 million grant the school will receive from the Connecticut Health Horizons project.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced the $35 million Connecticut Health Horizons initiative in 2022 to address the state’s nursing shortage. Connecticut needs about 3.000 new nurses every year, but nursing schools in the state are graduating only 1,900 new candidates, according to the Governor’s Workforce Council.
Dr. Yaw Nsiah, professor of microbiology and chair of the Department of Health Sciences at Eastern, was a lead architect of the university's new nursing degree program.
“We recognized a need for nurses because of our aging population, changing epidemiologic transitions from infectious disease to chronic diseases. And, we can say the COVID pandemic exposed the weaknesses in the health care delivery system,” Nsiah said.
The grant will allow the university to add a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program to the eastern part of the state. Currently, there is only one, at the University of Connecticut Nursing School. Given the exercise and science concentration of Eastern, Nsiah believes this new program will complement the existing curriculum.
“Eastern is a liberal arts institution, but we also believe that to create a workforce, you need a workforce that can actually think critically, be analytical and be evidence-based in the decision making, and being a nurse requires all that, so Eastern is, well, well positioned to organize the nursing program, Nsiah said.
Eastern will use the grant funding for instructional equipment and new faculty positions. Other aspects of the program include tuition assistance for low-income students, nursing school faculty recruitment and employer-higher education partnerships.
In addition to the grant funds provided by the state, Eastern’s BSN program is receiving support from Hartford HealthCare. which plans to construct a clinical simulation lab at Windham Hospital to be used by Eastern students and faculty.
Students who complete the degree will be eligible to take the National Council of State Boards of Licensing Examination-RN. Eastern is scheduled to enroll its first students in the new degree program for the fall 2023 semester.