Since 2019, Oklahoma has ranked 48th nationwide in health care, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Oklahoma State University hopes its new program can change that trajectory.
Beginning this fall, OSU will offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing on the Stillwater campus.
OSU says this program is critical for the state.
“At most states, I believe it's somewhere around 1,100 nurses per 100,000 individuals, and for our state, it's around 780, I believe, nurses per 100,000, so we fall far below the national average," said Jon Pedersen, dean of OSU's College of Education and Human Sciences.
And hospitals statewide are feeling the impact.
“It shows every day we go into work, we're understaffed, overworked," said nursing student Jeffery Fowler.
“We've also had to look to external travelers to supplement our staffing," said Hillcrest Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Carla Yost. “We are actively recruiting for nurses to fill our positions.”
That’s why OSU’s new Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree is so timely. Students can now earn the four-year degree all at OSU.
“There just simply is a great need for nurses and this program is going to be able to provide that to the state," Pedersen said.
Students had to outsource to earn their associate's degree.
Fowler transferred from OSU to Tulsa Community College to continue his nursing degree but says he would’ve stayed had OSU offered the program earlier.
“I could get all of my pre-requisites, do everything I needed to, but I couldn't join a BSN program affiliated with OSU," Fowler said. "So, I think it's a great source of revenue for OSU as well. They no longer have to outsource students to, you know, other [medical] schools. We can keep it in the family.”
In the program’s inaugural year, OSU aims to admit 50 students. The program will grow the number of professional nursing students to 100 in the second year.
“The fact that we will provide more nurses for the profession, that we'll be able to go to different areas of the state and certainly be part of hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices across the state in terms of supplying the needs of those communities," Pedersen said. "So, it really is going to improve the overall, I believe, health and wellness of the state by providing these additional nurses.”
Green Country hospitals agree.
“If more nurses are practicing really, ultimately, leads to better patient outcomes and also a better environment, and for nurses to practice," Yost said.
The university is renovating space on campus to create a new, fully equipped simulation lab for the program, targeted for completion in 2024.
Applications for fall 2023 are now open. For more information or to apply, click here.