SHSU The Woodlands set to offer Bachelor of Science in Nursing next year

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - Although the College of Health Sciences, the newest college at Sam Houston State University, has only been open for ten months, they are already taking great strides to bring forth new health professionals to take care of future patients.

Dr. Michael Lacourse, the Dean of the College of Health Sciences, stated that the college was officially established in September 2013. The college offers programs such as the school of nursing, which offers a Bachelor's Degree in nursing only available at SHSU. However, the Dean announced that in September of next year, they will offer what is known as RN to BSN: where students who earned their associate's and are licensed nurses, can continue their education and earn their Bachelor’s Degree.

“It is important because the nursing profession is moving towards the Bachelor’s degree anyway and some employers, large hospitals, are hiring only Bachelor’s-trained people," said Dr. Lacourse. "So we’ll have the post-licensure Bachelor’s degree in nursing available beginning in September and then next January we’ll open up our pre-licensure Bachelor’s degree in nursing at The Woodlands campus. Our degree program will provide a bridge from associate to bachelor’s degree."

Many aspiring nurses who live in The Woodlands will be pleased to learn that last piece of news; as it has become harder to commute forty-five minutes to Huntsville from The Woodlands with growing construction and traffic. It will be an easier commute to just attend classes at the SHSU center off of Lonestar Community college’s campus on 242, which is also conveniently near St. Lukes and Memorial Hermann. Lacourse also mentioned that the College of Health Sciences will eventually add Public Heath, Health Care Administration, and Wellness Management programs down there. They are also developing other programs at the graduate level to be offered at The Woodlands location in the near future.

Looking to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is noted that, “employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 19 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations.”

“Nursing has gone through some cycles, and if you go back about ten years, there was a significant shortage," said Dr. Lacourse. "What happened is a lot of people built new programs or expanded existing programs to address that shortage. So now you have a greater supply of nurses, but still there will be a continuing growth and demand for nurses. I think in the Houston and metropolitan area, and particularly in The Woodlands, the hospitals are finding the nurses they need, but there’s going to be a large wave of retirements coming up, plus expanded access in the Affordable Care Act, and increased population, so there will be continued growth and need for more nurses.”

Lacourse went on to inform Woodlands Online that the nursing program has about 160 students, Kinesiology has about 1000 students, and Family and Consumer Sciences, which is moving over to the new college in September will bring in about 300 students.

“We’re launching a brand new department in September, the department of Health Services and Promotion. Right now Health and Kinesiology is one department and we’re splitting them into two. So Kinesiology would be by itself and then Health Services and Promotion would be a new department.”

The Dean was asked whether the students or faculty participated in any service projects to help others in need of extra medical assistance.

“We have students that just came back from Costa Rica," said Lacourse. "So we have a partnership in San Jose, Costa Rica with the medical school, so we sent a group of students down there, and we’ll do that every year. We have a really strong student organization and a faculty that supports those organizations, and they’re involved with a lot of service activities. There is a lot of service going on in our college in every department and the faculty are leading that for sure. Of course we’ve had students that are very successful in getting jobs in a competitive environment and we are certainly proud of those accomplishments.”

125 to 150 students will apply for the nursing program with only 40 spots to fill (20 when The Woodlands program starts), so Lacourse was asked what his faculty looked for in applicants beyond their academic potential.

"Obviously students with a competitive environment and have to have good grades, but that’s not enough. You really need to have a level of caring and strong interpersonal skills to be successful.”

The Woodlands center will have weekly advising sessions and information sessions if anyone is interested in the nursing program at SHSU. For more information regarding the program and to view a schedule of upcoming Information Sessions, visit the link provided below.