Post From Community: Carroll University’s top-rated nursing program offers new associate degree in nursing to help address the nursing shortage in Wisconsin’s urban communities | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Carroll University
September 28, 2022
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Wisconsin is suffering from a large nursing shortage that was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for nurses is so great that nursing programs across the country are finding it challenging to recruit students to address the shortage.
Carroll University’s Nursing Program, ranked number one in the state of Wisconsin, and new Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) is designed to support students, accelerate their career, and increase workforce diversity in the healthcare industry. Classes are held in the Carroll nursing center at the United Community Center (UCC) in Milwaukee.
The programs aim to ease the nursing shortage in the state of Wisconsin by offering students hands-on learning with culturally competent care in urban communities where the nursing shortage is critical. In addition, the university has built a reputation for providing a supportive environment that fosters close working relationships with faculty members and peers.
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“The focus on diversity is critical to patient care outcomes,” said Teri Kaul, Chair of the Department of Nursing. “Our dedicated faculty put a lot of time and investment into our students. That all goes into their success, not only on the NCLEX exam, but certainly as a nurse. And that’s really what’s most important – we’re graduating skilled, competent nurses.”
In a recent survey conducted by Morning Consult, nearly one in five health care workers has quit their job since the pandemic began. Registered nurses could be short by nearly 23,000 professionals by 2040, according to a report from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The new associate degree program is part of a Carroll University pipeline created for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the nursing profession. Carroll’s nursing center includes a modern, fully equipped nursing lab with high-tech patient simulators that help students safely learn procedures before performing them on real patients.
After completing the two-year program, students will be eligible to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN), which is required to begin full-time employment as a registered nurse. The university has a 96.3% pass rate for the NCLEX exam to become a registered nurse, which is the highest in the state. The Carroll ADN curriculum is designed so students can continue to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree in the future.
“During my clinical, I found it challenging to think like a nurse while writing care plans. The nursing program has really helped me see different cultures, opportunities, and ways to grow. I truly can see from other perspectives and enjoy being able to have influential conversations with others,” said Wilhelmina Zastrow, a current student in the nursing program.
For more information about the program, or to explore admission requirements, please visit, https://www.carrollu.edu/academics/health-sciences/adn-nursing and www.carrollu.edu/nursing.
Carroll University was incorporated in 1846, making it Wisconsin’s first four-year institution of higher learning. Situated in Waukesha, the independent, co-educational comprehensive university is grounded in the liberal arts tradition, and offers more than 95 areas of study, multiple graduate programs and a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. For more information, visit www.carrollu.edu