The School of Nursing at Grambling State University in Louisiana had been offering a bachelor’s degree program for 30 years. But in 2010, the school failed to meet the state guidelines for the percentage of graduates who passed the state licensing examination. In 2015, the Louisiana State Board of Education effectively shut down the bachelor’s degree program in nursing. Graduate programs in nursing were not impacted.
Now the Louisiana State Board of Nursing has approved plans for a new undergraduate nursing program at Grambling State University. If approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents, as expected, the first nursing students would enroll in the bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2018.
To increase the chances of success of nursing students, Grambling’s new undergraduate nursing program would require specific preliminary general education and other courses and a strong academic history before a student could be admitted as a nursing major.
Meg Brown, associate dean of nursing in the College of Professional Studies at Grambling, has led the effort to reinstate the bachelor’s degree program in nursing. “The work to get to this stage has been the process required by the state of Louisiana,” Dr. Brown said. “Now the work of building the program starts.”
Rick Gallot, president of Grambling State University, stated that “we didn’t come this far to stumble and fall. We’re going to work with Dr. Brown to make sure that her nursing vision leads not only to the implementation of this program but to developing scores of successful nurses practicing across northern Louisiana, this state and this nation.”
I received my BSN from Grambling State University in 2000. I have since earned a masters degree and I am currently pursuing a post masters FNP. Many of my classmates have gone on to do amazing things in the field of nursing and it all started in the nursing building at Grambling. I’m beyond excited that the undergraduate program is returning. Kudos to Dr. Brown and President Gallot for working so diligently to reinstate the program.
Fantastic! Keep moving our dear old GSU forward.
Class of 71
I have hired RNs from my alma mater for years.
It was disappointing that the Program was then terminated.
I’m most pleased that the University is rebounding from this challenge.
I’m hopeful the College of Nursing shall implement a prerequisite testing standard as part of its entrance standard. It is proven to be more successful having a selection process that is aligned with the basis of the State certification testing. Prairie View has shown to be a great model for such a program.
I look forward to resuming my recruitment efforts with GSU once again.
Kindly,
Sherry Smith
Class of 1990