William Carey University Nursing Program Offers Career Programs on Three Campuses

Hattiesburg, MS, June 20, 2008 - The William Carey University Fail-Asbury School of Nursing in Hattiesburg, and nursing programs on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans continue to offer students opportunities for exciting careers in nursing service as well as nursing education.

WCU instituted a new Student Nurse Externship Program in the summer of 2008 designed to provide students enrolled in a nursing program the opportunity to enhance previously learned skills to assist in transition to the nursing workforce. Sponsored by the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Organization for Nurse Executives and the Mississippi Council of Deans and Directors, the externship program’s most important benefit is promoting student retention within the schools of nursing.

“The externship program is offered cooperatively between local hospitals and area schools of nursing throughout the state,” said Kay Coltharp Cater, BSN program director and RN-BSN program director at Carey. “This is the first year WCU has participated and we are excited about the benefits our students will receive from the program.”

Recently 12 graduate nursing students designed and implemented a continuing education workshop for local registered nurses as part of their Curriculum Development and Program Planning class. The workshop, entitled “Taking Care of Our Own: A Professional Self-Care Workshop,” was presented at Biloxi Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and addressed topics such as personal self-care, professional self-care, and life management skills. The program was supervised by Dr. Luann Daggett, visiting associate professor of nursing. Wanda Dubuisson, associate professor and director of the MSN program, said, “The students learned a great deal about the process of designing educational offerings as well as the intense effort that is required behind the scenes to present a successful professional educational workshop.” Twenty BRMC registered nurses attended the workshop and commented in surveys held afterward that the program was both interesting and informative.

The BRMC will present the WCU nursing program with a check for $100,000 at a press conference June 24. This is another gift in a long history of donations given by the BRMC to schools of nursing in the state.

Dedication ceremonies are currently being planned for the $1 million expansion to the Hattiesburg nursing facility and construction is currently underway for the new Tradition campus on the Gulf Coast. The Hattiesburg expansion will benefit the MSN program with additional classroom space.

Enrollment in the New Orleans nursing program, located on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, continues to grow and faculty celebrated the first graduation since Hurricane Katrina in February 2008.

Students interested in the nursing profession or in nursing education can call 601-318-6103, 601-318-6175, or visit the university website at www.wmcarey.edu.