For more than 40 years, Rogers State University has delivered excellence with regards to its nursing program.
Since transitioning from exclusively associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees, the nursing program’s offerings have increased exponentially, as has the volume of interested students, so much so that for the first time, a new class of RSU nursing students will begin classes for the spring semester 2023, adding an annual spring start date to the fall cohort of students that begins classes every August.
“For most of the (nursing) program’s history, we admitted only a fall cohort, but with the recent growth of and demand for the program, we’re admitting both a fall and a spring cohort,” said Dr. Carla Lynch, department head, Department of Health Sciences. “Our numbers have expanded – by about 50 percent, which is significant, but even so, we still hope to eventually increase them even further.”
To date, RSU has graduated two traditional (pre-licensure) BSN (Bachelor of Science Nursing) classes, the first in 2021, with several factors contributing to the growing demand to allow more cohorts into the program.
“First and foremost, we have an exceptional level of education and instruction offered at Rogers State – I feel that has always contributed to the success of the program,” Lynch said, “but secondarily, we’re at a great location. We’re close enough to Tulsa that we can utilize all the big Tulsa hospitals, but we still have easy access to the outlying suburban and rural facilities. Really, we’re the only BSN program this far north in the state.
“Additionally, in the last two years, we’ve added 10 new clinical contracts, while still using the ones we had before, so we have a wide variety of places our nursing students can go and experience (nursing) care – community settings as well as acute care settings and more,” she continued. “There’s a broad array of places for our students’ clinicals. Not everyone is meant to be a hospital nurse, and there are so many other places one can work as a nurse.”
As the deadline to apply to the BSN program for the fall 2023 semester is Feb. 1, 2023, Lynch encourages those interested in the program to submit their applications soon.
“We’re the only public university in this region that has the kind of on-campus opportunities we offer,” she said. “Students can do a full college career here where they also get the complete college experience of student life, living in the residence halls, etc. It’s truly an exceptional program that produces the highest quality graduates, fully prepared for their future career in nursing.”
RSU’s BSN program is a “two-plus-two” program – students complete two years of prerequisite, foundational classes, and two years of nursing program coursework to earn the BSN. Nursing coursework includes a combination of lecture, lab, simulation, clinical rotation, community activities and online assignments. Students receive individualized attention from expert faculty to help them succeed.
To apply, an individual must first be accepted to RSU, after which, he or she is eligible to apply to the BSN program. Entry into the program is now biannual – in the fall and spring semesters. All transcripts must be submitted to be considered for admission.
For more information, or to apply, visit www.rsu.edu/ApplyBSN