HPU nursing program wins approval
Jan. 26—HIGH POINT — High Point University's Department of Nursing met a milestone as it received North Carolina Board of Nursing approval to begin offering a bachelor of science in nursing this fall.
The 50,000-square-foot Department of Nursing complex is at HPU's Parkway Commons at 1300 N. University Parkway, the former Christ United Methodist Church site that HPU bought in 2019 for $2.75 million.
The nursing complex includes a 16-bed skills lab with 14 diverse simulators modeling an acute care environment, as well as three high-fidelity simulation suites for adult health nursing, maternal-newborn nursing and pediatric nursing, said Racquel Ingram, a registered nurse who is chairing the department and building the program.
"What this lab will do for students is to prepare them for real-life nursing — nursing as it is today and will likely be in the future," Ingram said. "This lab is very diverse, and that's what the real nursing world looks like. It's important that students get this information and these skills here before they go out and work on our real patients."
In addition to state-of-the-art resources, HPU's nursing program will use a 21st century curriculum, Ingram said. HPU has collaborations with the major health care facilities in the Triad region, she said.
"These resources, including our health science interdisciplinary collaborations, will facilitate the training of well-prepared 21st century nursing graduates who can confront today's unpredictable health care challenges," Ingram said.
The first class of about 15 nursing students will be welcomed to HPU this fall during a time when the nation needs more nurses than ever. The ongoing pandemic is interfering with what has been a major shortage of nurses and nurse educators for quite some time, Ingram said.
In February 2021, HPU hired Ingram to chair the new department and build the program. Ingram brings 25 years of nursing experience, 23 years as a nurse educator with expertise in nursing curriculum and program development and 19 years of nursing leadership.
HPU's Department of Nursing earned accreditation approval last October from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the body for accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states.
The N.C. Board of Nursing's approval was the final bureaucratic hurdle. The board establishes the standards for nursing education programs preparing for nursing licensure. To earn approval, programs must complete an extensive approval process. New programs must have a fully developed curriculum and application with evidence of learning resources, available clinical experiences, financial resources, and a dedicated learning space and facilities specific to nursing.
cingram@hpenews.com — 336-888-3534 — @HPEcinde
