Sorry to keep banging the drum on this but nursing....

[gtowndawg]

I've posted before my daughter is headed to State next fall. She wants to be a nurse but State does not offer a nursing degree. She has also been accepted to Tennessee and Arkansas (who have nursing) but she wants to go to State.

So, you do 2 years at State and then finish nursing school somewhere else (no degree from State). Apparently a lot of students do this at State (but again no degree from State because they have to leave).

So anyway, State puts out an article today about the nursing shortage in the state and how they are fast tracking a masters degree in Meridian. That article here (https://www.meridian.msstate.edu/news/2023/08/14/msu-meridian-proposal-accelerated-master%E2%80%99s-degree-nursing-program-gains-ihl-approval/). That's great, but how about we just offer a nursing degree/program to begin with? Take over the W and call it a day.

My daughter and another girl from 2 streets over will both enroll at State this fall for "nursing" and then leave after 2 years to go somewhere else. That's just in my neighborhood alone.

It just makes no sense to me. Especially if State admits there is a nursing shortage? Obviously it's not going to matter to me personally, to late for that, but this is such an obvious issue I don't understand the hold up.

[Offshore Dawg]

After the politicians figure out how to get their cut it will probably happen.

[Ranchdawg]

My wife is a registered nurse. She attended State for two years then returned to Jackson to obtain her nursing degree from UMMC. This was the late 70?s. Same goes for daughter many years later. And my other daughter graduated cum laude in bio chem from State then graduated from University of Mississippi Medical School. And is now a M.D. here in Ms.

Yes it just makes too much sense to make the W a part of MSU. Or better yet allow MSU to offer a nursing degree on at Starkville campus. But NO our children are denied which is BS.

[HogsandDogs]

Southern Miss is the roadblock to State having a BSN program. Southern proposes having some engineering disciplines down there besides Ocean Engineering from time to time. Each time it happens, State says, Cool, but we get a nursing program. Then Southern drops their proposal.

[Homedawg]

The w also has a program. Gon2 years here then to the W is a route

[Todd4State]

I had the same dilemma when I was your daughters age but not in nursing- another medical field.

One good option and what I did was get a degree from MSU and then apply to nursing school. There are actually a lot of options and if she got a degree from MSU in something like biology, or business it may actually help open other different doors down the road that a typical nurse may not have.

For example I majored in education and that has actually translated well for me because I also manage our students that come through and I also guest lecture and lead lecture's in addition to my other "real" duties.

[gtowndawg]

Southern Miss is the roadblock to State having a BSN program. Southern proposes having some engineering disciplines down there besides Ocean Engineering from time to time. Each time it happens, State says, Cool, but we get a nursing program. Then Southern drops their proposal.

Interesting. I've never heard that before.

[SpaceBully]

The w also has a program. Gon2 years here then to the W is a route

The W has a highly ranked nursing school and offers BSN and MSN degrees. According to most, they are the top nursing school in Mississippi and generally regarded as one of the top nursing schools in the south. I have heard of students there coming up short by about .05 GPA of the minimum necessary and they were failed, thus having to repeat the year over. They don't play when it comes to meeting their standards.

[civildawg]

Not sure of the politics behind it but state should have worked out something with the W

[WinningIsRelentless]

State actually has a fairly new nursing program at the meridian campus. You get you a bachelors degrees in whatever and then complete a 12 month bsn program in meridian. Yes that total 5 years but it?s a Mississippi state degree.

[Dawgology]

The W has an exceptional nursing program. Unfortunately they can’t even figure out what their name is these days and they are losing about 5% enrollment each year. At some point MSU taking over will be their only choice. But like most political entities they will wait until it’s completely destroyed before trying to fix it.

[DownwardDawg]

Southern Miss is the roadblock to State having a BSN program. Southern proposes having some engineering disciplines down there besides Ocean Engineering from time to time. Each time it happens, State says, Cool, but we get a nursing program. Then Southern drops their proposal.

And the funny think is that JCJC has a much better nursing program than USM.

[DownwardDawg]

The W has a highly ranked nursing school and offers BSN and MSN degrees. According to most, they are the top nursing school in Mississippi and generally regarded as one of the top nursing schools in the south. I have heard of students there coming up short by about .05 GPA of the minimum necessary and they were failed, thus having to repeat the year over. They don't play when it comes to meeting their standards.

There is such a demand for nurses, nobody cares where you went to school. Get the degree and pass the board exam and you can pick your job. I have a family of nurses so I know this is a fact.

[MStateDawg]

There is some parallel degree program in place between State and either The W or UMMC where you go 2 years at State then 2 years of nursing school and you get a bachelors degree from both: https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2022/11/mississippi-state-partners-ummc-give-students-additional-nursing-degree

Excerpt from article:

at the end of nursing school, some of the student’s nursing credits can transfer back to MSU and count toward a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies through the College of Arts and Sciences without further study. Therefore, these students can simultaneously earn two bachelor’s degrees—a BSN from UMMC and a BSIS from MSU.

If she does the nursing portion at The W, your daughter could live in Starkville all 4 years and just commute to Columbus back & forth for the final 2 years.

[gtowndawg]

State actually has a fairly new nursing program at the meridian campus. You get you a bachelors degrees in whatever and then complete a 12 month bsn program in meridian. Yes that total 5 years but it?s a Mississippi state degree.

We are aware of that but as you said it's 5 years but more importantly my daughter (and I assume most anyone else) wants to be in Starkville for college, not Meridian.

[gtowndawg]

There is some parallel degree program in place between State and either The W or UMMC where you go 2 years at State then 2 years of nursing school and you get a bachelors degree from both: https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2022/11/mississippi-state-partners-ummc-give-students-additional-nursing-degree

Excerpt from article:

If she does the nursing portion at The W, your daughter could live in Starkville all 4 years and just commute to Columbus back & forth for the final 2 years.

We actually spoke to an advisor at State about this and it is possible. But it does require a 5th year as we understand it (which is paying for another year of college that we don't need).

[Johnson85]

After the politicians figure out how to get their cut it will probably happen.

It's not the politicians that need to be paid off in this case. It's the school employees and possibly some few influential alumni.

[maroonmania]

The w also has a program. Gon2 years here then to the W is a route

That's actually the biggest issue. The State would be paying to have 2 nursing programs 23 miles apart. The common sense thing to do has always been to merge MUW with MSU but too many hard-headed people I guess that are stuck in 1920 when MSU was all male and MUW all female.

[Lord McBuckethead]

If the 2 years at state does not remove 2 years of nursing school, then it seems like a great way to waste time and equally important money.

[DownwardDawg]

We are aware of that but as you said it's 5 years but more importantly my daughter (and I assume most anyone else) wants to be in Starkville for college, not Meridian.

Buddy of mine in Alabama is facing the same issue. His daughter wants to be a nurse and she wants to go to State.

[Todd4State]

We actually spoke to an advisor at State about this and it is possible. But it does require a 5th year as we understand it (which is paying for another year of college that we don't need).

That's true of most medical fields. My profession takes seven years total.

There may be loans that can be repaid by working full time in the medical field. You only have to pay it back if you aren't working. It's basically free money.

[TaleofTwoDogs]

I might be wrong but it seems that due to the high demand for nurses there should be ample scholarships and grants for most who enter the field. Todd has the best plan. Go to State and major in the bio sciences and earned your BS degree. Students are known to change majors during their 4 years so she may lose interest in nursing. If after she gets her undergraduate degree she can go on to nursing school if she chooses. It is for five years but it will serve her for the rest of her life.

[R2Dawg]

Southern Miss is the roadblock to State having a BSN program. Southern proposes having some engineering disciplines down there besides Ocean Engineering from time to time. Each time it happens, State says, Cool, but we get a nursing program. Then Southern drops their proposal.

Southern still offers the engineering technology right? They try to sell it as they have engineering but it is not. Had a few friends that claim that from Southern.

Using that logic, why did the state if MS IHL allow OM to have an engineering program? Don't make sense to me.

[Cooterpoot]

We have a masters program for nursing in Meridian now. We also have a deal with UMMC and The W. There are options. Not ideal though. With nurse shortages everywhere, the IHL looks like the damn fools they are.