The Southwest Voice

CSUB Department of Nursing will start a second class of Accelerated BSN students in late June 2009. The accelerated curriculum is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing.  In this accelerated format, students are involved in an intensive full-time educational experience that does not allow for breaks between academic years.  As a result, after 18 months students will be eligible for the RN licensure exam.  The accelerated students will graduate at the end of fall quarter 2010.  Completion of this same level of education through our traditional BSN program would require 33 months.

Eligible applicants to the Accelerated BSN program will have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university and will complete the thirteen nursing prerequisite courses no later than March 27, 2009.  Once a student is determined by CSUB Nursing Department to be eligible for the program, students will be considered by the partners for sponsorship.  Sponsored students are responsible to pay for their own tuition and commit to working for their sponsor organization for a period of two years.

In response to the growing nursing shortage, the nursing department has gradually increased the number of students admitted annually to the undergraduate program by 25% (from 60 to over 80 students) over the past several years.  However, there are unmet costs associated with growth.  Funding for the Accelerated BSN program is provided through a local Nursing Education Partnership.  The partnership includes three local hospitals and the County of Kern.  The threes hospitals include Memorial Hospital, Mercy Hospital and San Joaquin Community Hospital.   The County of Kern includes Kern Medical Center, Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health. 

The Department of Nursing greatly appreciates the support received from the local Nursing Education Partners. The CSUB Department of Nursing will continue to look for funding opportunities that address the goal of preparing more RNs for the citizens of Kern County and California.

To learn more about the prerequisite courses, timing associated with completion of prerequisite courses and the application period, visit www.csub.edu/nursing/absn.shtml.  Information sessions on the Accelerated BSN will be held at CSUB in September and October 2008.  Interested parties can register to attend an information session at the website mentioned above.