By Annabelle Blair | Echo
A small group of students gathered in Euler 108 Wednesday night to hear about Indiana Wesleyan University's (IWU) accelerated nursing program, which welcomes students who have completed undergrad but want to pursue a career outside their major.
Taylor doesn't have a nursing major. "The reality is, there are a half-dozen well-established schools in the area, including sister Christian colleges, that offer a nursing program; so it never made sense to have one of our own," said Jan Reber, professor of biology and allied-health advisor.
However, Reber said that doesn't hamper student options within her department. According to Reber, the biology major equips students to excel in any health area they choose while allowing them to experience a rounded liberal arts education.
At the meeting, IWU assistant professor of pre-licensure nursing Veronica Peters mentioned several Taylor students who pursued nursing after graduation.
The accelerated nursing program requires five science- and math-heavy prerequisites. But Peters said it attracts students from both health-related majors such as biology, exercise science and public health and humanities majors such as dance, history and sociology.The total educational cost of IWU's accelerated program is $44,592. But room and board, personal and other expenses put the estimated total at $73,305.
Sponsored by the pre-health care club Alpha Pi Iota (API), the presentation aimed to provide Taylor students an opportunity to explore ways to use and develop their degrees, according to API vice president and senior Jesse Stutzman.
"If you want to go to Taylor and go into nursing, there's an easy way to do it," Stutzman said.
He emphasized the time benefit for students who can complete three more semesters of coursework after Taylor-versus four more years at nursing school-in order to obtain their nursing degree.
With careful planning, a student can also transition from two years at Taylor to a nursing program, although Reber said she has found that many students enjoy the Taylor culture and choose to stay four years.
Senior Zack Taylor will be attending an accelerated nursing program at Illinois State because he wants to add clinical skills to the training he received in his public health classes.
Taylor said he researched many second degree nursing programs before making his decision. He is grateful for the four years he spent at Taylor. "Students think they have to choose between Taylor and nursing school," Taylor said. "But there's plenty of options for both."
API cabinet president and senior Maggie Plattes met Peters at a health conference in Kentucky and invited her to speak at Taylor. Although Plattes is headed for medical school, she wanted to expose her classmates to possibilities beyond their Taylor degrees.
"People from every class I've known have thought about nursing," she said. With preparation, Plattes sees nursing as a feasible career for Taylor students.
Although legal requirements impede formal agreements between Taylor and IWU or other universities with competitive nursing programs, Reber says her focus has always been working with student needs.
