College of Notre Dame to expand nursing program

The College of Notre Dame of Maryland has received an $880,000 grant from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission to increase the number of master’s prepared nursing faculty. The grant, through the Nurse Support Program II, will enable the college to expand is master of science in nursing (MSN) program at the Anne Arundel Medical Center and at the Higher Educte an additional 50 to 60 students with master’s degrees with a focus on leadership in nursing ation and Conference Center (HECC) at Aberdeen.

The goal is to graduaeducation over the next five years.

The College of Notre Dame’s MSN program is a 20 month accelerated course. Five cohorts of 12 to 15 students will be recruited for study at HECC, with the first anticipated to begin in January.

RN and BSN cohorts already are studying at HECC, including Upper Chesapeake Health nurses. The college will invite those students to take part in the master’s program. A 2006 projection by the Health Resources and Services Administration indicated the nation’s nursing shortage would grow to more than one million by 2020. One reason for the shortage is a lack of master’s prepared faculty to reach nurses. The College of Notre Dame launched in MSN program in 2007. Its first class of 30 students received degrees May 23.

For more about the grant, go to www.mhec.state.md.us. Go to www.ndm.edu for information about the College of Notre Dame.