St. Mary's launches new, on-campus RN to BSN

Nurses with a two-year degree have a new way to work toward a bachelor’s degree.

The University of St. Mary plans to launch an evening RN to BSN program at its Overland Park campus this August.

“We’ve had the online RN to BSN program for three years now and have had periodic discussions about offering an on-campus option,” said Rebecca Cahill, DNP, RN, director of the nursing program for the University of St. Mary.

This on-campus program will take place at the university’s Overland Park campus, next to St. Thomas Aquinas High School, near College Boulevard and Pflumm Road.

Cahill said the program reaches out to nurses who do not prefer online classes.

“There are just some nurses that are more comfortable with learning in a classroom environment because it’s more familiar to them,” Cahill said.

St. Mary’s on-campus RN to BSN program will be offered as an accelerated program. Classes will meet once a week for eight weeks. Courses are slated to start in August, January and May. The program, designed for working nurses, allows participants to receive a bachelor’s degree in as little as 18 months.

“We hope to start with at least 10 (students) the first semester and then to move on from there,” Cahill said.

With such a close proximity to Johnson County Community College, Cahill said, she anticipates an interest in the program from community college graduates.

“We were getting feedback that there was a need and a demand for an on-campus program for the RN to BSN,” Cahill said. “We’ve had preliminary discussions with both Johnson County Community College and Kansas City (Kansas) Community College.”

Jill Hackett, Ed.D., University of St. Mary vice president for the Overland Park site, said nurses have inquired about an on-campus RN to BSN program.

“We are most excited to add the RN to BSN program to our adult offerings,” Hackett said. “Up until this point we’ve had to say, ‘No, but we are giving it consideration.’”

St. Mary continues to market its new program to hospitals and community colleges.

“It’s our hope that the community colleges will send students to us who want to go on and finish the bachelor’s of nursing program,” Hackett said.

Some positions require nurses to have a bachelor’s degree.

“In these times more and more hospitals are actually recognizing when a nurse completes their bachelor’s degree,” Cahill said. “We’ve had a lot of calls from nurses who are interested in getting into a lot of research studies that are going on.”

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