Grove City College’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program has earned initial accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
The two-year-old program offered through the College’s Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing was thoroughly reviewed by ACEN evaluators to ensure that students are getting an education that meets health care industry standards and prepares them for fulfilling medical careers.
“Accreditation helps students through further fostering excellence by ensuring that a program is meeting standards of educational quality specific to nursing education through the peer review process,” Nursing Program Director Janey A. Roach said. “We are building a program to educate and train nurses who will demonstrate excellence as medical professionals and as caregivers with a solid intellectual and faith foundation. Receiving initial ACEN accreditation is a crucial endorsement of the work we are doing.”
The BSN program was launched last year in response to student interest and a nationwide nursing shortage that’s only been exacerbated by the pandemic. It is offered in partnership with Butler County Community College under an innovative design that plays to each institution’s strengths.
During their first year, BSN students study the liberal arts and sciences, along with introductory nursing courses, at Grove City College. Then they begin their nursing education including their clinical experiences through BC3’s highly-regarded and accredited nursing program. After year three, students graduate from BC3 and can take the national licensure exam to become a registered nurse. In their final year, they can choose to work as an RN while taking their final BSN courses online or at Grove City College and continue campus life.
Demand in the major’s second year was so great that the class size was more than doubled this fall, with 19 freshmen now seeking BSN degrees. They join nine sophomores on the BSN track, including Liz Mackey ’24 and Sara Layton ’24, who began taking classes at BC3 this semester. Both said their instructors have high expectations that challenge students. “But it ensures that our patients will be receiving the best care possible, and that’s really what matters most,” Layton said.
“Becoming a nurse definitely isn’t easy,” she said. “But it’s meant to be that way. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.”
“The nursing program is tough but not impossible,” Mackey said. “I chose the program because I already had great experiences with Grove City College and trusted that this program would be just as good by extension.”
The concurrent campus experience provides “the best of both worlds,” Layton said. “BC3 exposes us to great hands-on labs where we get the chance to practice our skills and become comfortable with what we’re doing as well as getting real life experience at the hospitals in the surrounding area,” she said.
Grove City College’s excellent academic resources, including its core humanities curriculum, and the Christ-centered community provide nursing students with a solid liberal arts education and a worldview that values service and support.
“When I graduate, I hope to have gained as much knowledge and experience as possible to be a nurse that will serve God, serve those around me and be at least a fraction as good as my current nursing mentors,” Mackey said.
That is the ultimate goal of Grove City College’s BSN program. “The program is intended to educate health care professionals who can attend to patients and their families in a compassionate, holistic and ethical way,” Roach said.
For more about Nursing at Grove City College, visit gcc.edu/nursing.