The Indiana State Board of Nursing visited Taylor University on Sep. 10, to decide if Taylor’s nursing program is ready to become fully accredited.
They inspected the newly renovated Nussbaum Science Center and interviewed numerous nursing program staff, faculty and students.
In total there are six new staff and faculty members. Currently 45 total students in the new program between sophomores and freshmen.
The state board also spoke with representatives from Parkview Health, as Parkview Health is partnering with Taylor as a financial supporter and serves as a clinical placement for students to get real-life experience in nursing.
Due to this partnership with Parkview Health and other generous donors, Taylor has been able to give their students a realistic experience through new simulation technology.
Mannequins are one of the new technologies. Taylor currently has high-fidelity and low-fidelity mannequins.
The high-fidelity mannequins are more lifelike than the low-fidelity mannequins. Students can check blood pressure, and listen to heart and lung sounds. Professors can also set programs on the mannequins to speak and communicate to students.
The low-fidelity mannequins are designed for students to practice skills such as giving an injection. They do not have a blood pressure and they do not speak.
“We use these [the mannequins] a lot of times to prepare to go to the clinical setting, to practice before we're actually taking care of a real, live patient,” Karen Elsea, dean of nursing said.
Elsea arrived at Taylor in June 2023 and has been working with colleagues to ensure the new School of Nursing is accredited and has a desire to be Christ-centered and student-focused.
“I think, [they] walked away seeing the mission of Taylor and what we're about in the desire to have an excellent program,” Elsea said.
The state board had very few comments, with only a couple of minor policy specifics.
The university will not receive final approval until after October. If approved, the school’s nursing major will be fully accredited starting in Spring 2025.
Before the full nursing program’s inception in 2023, the pre-nursing major was in the kinesiology department.
Taylor offered a program where Pre-Nursing students could go through Taylor’s 3+1 program. Students would study for three years at Taylor and graduate with a bachelor's degree in science then go to Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) for a 14 month accelerated program and graduate from IWU with a bachelor of science in nursing. Both degrees become finalized when they finish at IWU.
Prior to the new program, Brandon Dykstra, department chair and professor of kinesiology, supervised the pre-nursing major as it was in the kinesiology department.
Students who are already in the 3+1 program will be supported through the end of their time. However, Taylor will stop admitting students to the 3+1 program once they get the approval from the state board of nursing according to Elsea.
Dykstra taught many students who were in the 3+1 program and was excited about Elsea’s hiring.
“To have someone in charge of the program who is herself a nurse and is experienced with that and has courses that are being taught by nurses, I think that that's only good for Taylor,” Dykstra said.
Sophomore nursing major Lauren Holcomb has been in the nursing program since October 2023 and will be part of the first class to graduate from it in 2027.
She chose nursing because she wanted to be able to help people and learn their stories. Holcomb said nursing was a practical way to do so.
Holcomb looks forward to learning more about the different areas of nursing she can pursue.
The nursing curriculum will start with primary prerequisites during a student’s freshman year, and as time goes on the courses become more specialized.
“The final semester, there's a capstone, where they have the opportunity to work with a nurse, or in an area that maybe they have a little more interest in and might be pursuing after graduation,” Elsea said.
With more than 30 years of nursing experience, Elsea brings a unique perspective to the integration of faith and learning, a concept she deeply values.
“We can teach everything a student needs to know about the role of a nurse,” Elsea said. “But it's exciting to be able to also teach it through the lens of how a Christian would look at some of the very difficult situations with patients sometimes. And to have that biblical lens is important to [the question of] how do I respond to this as a Christian nurse.”
