It’s not unusual to spot a student on campus wearing scrubs on their way back from clinical duty at a hospital. Others are studying biology in Cafe O’Bears or learning how to start an IV in class.

With a total of 1,876 students for the Fall 2010 semester, the School of Nursing has become a prominent aspect of both the university and the community, as prospective students vie for a spot in the program.

Admission and acceptance

Admittance into the nursing program is a multi-step process that includes prerequisite courses like chemistry, biology and psychology, and minimum grades in those courses.

“Applying to the program was nerve-racking,” second-year nursing student Lindsay Shugars said. “You have to complete a few semesters of prerequisites before applying. Once you apply, you have to wait for a few months to find out if you have been accepted or not.”

After acceptance into the program, students are put onto the waiting list until it’s their turn to start.

“From the time I began taking my prerequisites, then being on the waiting list, until now, has been four years,” Shugars said.

In the past, the nursing school has allowed for direct-admittance into the program straight from high school for students that met high GPA and ACT score requirements.

Meeting these requirements didn’t guarantee admittance, but it allowed accepted students to forgo the waiting list. Because of the growing waiting list for other students, the direct-admittance track has been put on hold for now.

In comparison, some other schools, such as Western Michigan University, don’t use a waiting list for their nursing school and instead admit applicants each semester on a competitive basis.

“Students can re-apply if they don’t get in the first time, but will be evaluated with all other applicants,” Mary Lagerwey said, a professor and chair of the Student Affairs Committee at Bronson School of Nursing at WMU. “The advisor will recommend re-taking classes that they have not done well in before reapplying.”

Shugars said she prefers OU’s waiting list because it allowed her to work on her general education requirements while waiting for her turn to enter the program.

Interim Associate Dean Darlene Schott-Baer notes that no matter what the application process is, admittance is still competitive.

“Getting into nursing programs is highly competitive and the admission criteria is the minimum criteria, and of course we try to take the applicants who have the best chances of being successful,” Schott-Baer said. “It is not uncommon for programs in high demand in the job market to have a large applicant pool so they try to admit only the best qualified applicants.”

Changes to the program

The state of Michigan determines the amount of students that can be admitted into the nursing school each year, a contributing factor to the limited amount of space in the program.

“It depends on how many full time faculty there are, clinical placement opportunities — there’s a lot that goes into that,” Marketing Coordinator Amy Johnson said. “If you have an unlimited number of nursing students, you only have a limited number of hospitals, a limited number of people to teach those students and you can’t have huge numbers of clinical students. Now that you have other colleges opening up nursing schools too, it just causes an influx of non-opportunities.”

In order to cut down on the wait time for students, which can reach a few years, the school has been implementing several alternative programs. Many of these programs cost less than a bachelor’s degree, take less time and allow for advancement

Students that already have a bachelor’s degree can join the accelerated second degree program.

“It’s a one-year program because they’ve already taken their pre-reqs from their previous bachelor’s, so they will be certified and registered as a nurse in one year,” Johnson said.

Another alternative is the Riverview Institute of OU, a facility in Detroit with an advanced simulation lab that trains students for certification in jobs like a Certified Nursing Assistant and Patient Care Technician, in courses taught over a matter of months, rather than years.

“Those are entry-level positions that will allow you to be hired into a hospital and you’ll be making $13-16 an hour,” Johnson said. “You can get into the hospital and from there you can go up to a (Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Nurse, Bachelor of Science in Nursing or a Masters of Science in Nursing). You can move up the ladder.”

Advancing technology and facilities

To develop their nursing skills before involving live patients, the students use simulation technology available in the nursing labs.

The patient-dummies cost between $15,000-$200,000, depending on the advanced technology, and give the students an opportunity to simulate real nursing-care situations.

“They are helpful to learn with because you can calibrate the machine to change the blood pressure for something like an irregular pulse,” first-year nursing student Cassie Cianciolo said. “They’re good to learn on because you feel the pulse — they have an actual pulse in their wrist. That’s how we get tested, because the instructors can set the rate to whatever the blood pressure would be.”

The simulation labs ensure that students know what to do before they work with live patients, eliminating many mistakes.

“We like to have the students learn first in simulation before they actually go out and work with patients,” associate professor Karen Dunn said. “We’re very safe. We emphasize safety in our teaching.”

The new Human Health Building, slated to open in fall of 2012, will offer even more advancements to the nursing program.

“We are looking forward to double the lab and simulation space, expanded room for the graduate programs and better research space and support for the faculty and doctoral students,” Schott-Baer said.

The 161,000 square-foot building will also house the School of Health Science and allow for the expansion of both schools with the most up-to-date technology.

For the future

The Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 22 percent increase in employment of registered nurses from 2008-18, a promising outlook for students graduating after their three years in the nursing program. Part of that increase is attributed to the Baby Boomer generation.

“That’s a huge chunk of the population that will require acute care in order to preserve their lives, to ensure that the last part of their lives are healthy,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for nurses to get a very holistic approach rather than just a medical or certain aspect of it.”

Dunn specializes in this holistic-style of care and emphasizes that for students to be successful in nursing, they need to focus on the social aspect of the profession and not just the technical side.

“That therapeutic relationship that you devolve with people brings about better health outcomes along with the technical skills,” Dunn said.

Second-year nursing student Jennah Stevens hopes to use these skills in the Detroit area after graduation.

“I would like to work in Labor and Delivery, but that may change after experiencing various departments,” Stevens said.

Shugars has similar aspirations for her upcoming career.

“I want to begin my life,” she said. “I want to first get a job, get married, start a family and then live happily every after.”

She recommends that students make sure that they are truly committed to becoming a nurse before they devote their time in college to the program.

“Be patient, confident and sure that nursing is for you,” Shugars said. “Make sure that your passion is caring for people. If you don’t have that passion, you will not enjoy your job.”

For more detailed information about the School of Nursing, the programs that it offers and the application and acceptance process, visit www.oakland.edu/nursing