Fairfield University has formed a new partnership with Bridgeport Hospital to make it easier for those completing an RN at Bridgeport Hospital to seamlessly transition to Fairfield for their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN).

"Partnerships such as this one with Bridgeport Hospital and area two-year colleges encourage RNs to come here to earn their BSN degree while working," said Carole Pomarico, assistant professor of nursing at Fairfield's School of Nursing. "Unlike other area BSN programs, ours is a hybrid, allowing students to take some classes online if that suits their needs, while scheduling the majority of nursing in the classroom so students benefit from relationships with other students and can network with faculty."

Partnerships like these which guarantee admission to Fairfield University upon completion of the Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) are important in helping nurses meet the standards set forth by the 2010 IOM Future of Nursing Report, which urges all nurses to have a bachelor's degree by 2020.

For new nurses, the bachelor's is essential. "Younger nurses are having difficulty getting hired into acute care in Connecticut without a bachelor's degree anymore," said Pomarico.

Fairfield is also known for its commitment to individualized advisement, so students have the opportunity to devise a customized program that best meets their needs and goals. It's not at all unusual for those in the RN-BSN program to continue on to the master's level, said Pomarico. "And in our first Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) graduating class, we have one student who first entered Fairfield through one of our partnership agreements."

For more information about Fairfield's School of Nursing, visit http://www.fairfield.edu/son/ or call (203) 254-4000, ext. 4150.

Image: Suzanne Campbell, Ph.D., dean of Fairfield University's School of Nursing teaching students.

Posted On: 03-28-2012 11:03 AM

Volume: 22 Number: 244