USM Nursing Professor Makes Presentation to International Honor Society
Tue, 02/08/2022 - 10:48am | By: Van Arnold
Dr. Elizabeth Holman, assistant teaching professor in the School of Professional Nursing
Practice at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), shared exciting changes
to the University’s RN-BSN program during a special webinar presentation hosted by
Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
Holman, who serves as the RN-BSN Program Coordinator, delivered a one-hour address on Jan. 27 to a group that included 58 attendees representing 10 countries.
Last October USM’s College of Nursing and Health Professions announced substantial changes in the RN-BSN program to boost students’ marketability and expand their opportunities for leadership in nursing, all while decreasing the hours needed to graduate (from 66 to 30, effective fall 2022). The program is offered 100 percent online to students at the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses.
Key updates to the RN-BSN program included:
- Fewer hours to graduation, reducing tuition costs
- Sigma Nurse Manager Certificate, expanding leadership preparation
- Nationally recognized Quality Matters Certified course, emphasizing excellent teaching
“During the presentation, I provided an overview of the Nurse Leader Program courses (16) and offered examples of learning activities for the students,” said Holman. “This program is evidence based and includes competencies from QSEN (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses), American Organization for Nursing Leadership and education. It ties in nicely to the leadership concepts that are taught based on our essentials and also includes patient safety.”
Holman also shared how she organized the 16-course class into the RN-BSN Leadership course, along with Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.
When Linda Anders, Nursing Education Programming Manager for Sigma, learned of the significant changes to USM’s RN-BSN program, she contacted Holman to arrange the webinar presentation.
“Linda mentioned to me that she had not heard of anyone implementing this program into courses and that we were doing groundbreaking things at USM,” said Holman. “I had two polling questions in the beginning of the presentation and 85 percent of the participants were not familiar with the Sigma Nurse Leader Certificate Program and zero percent had incorporated it into their RN BSN programs.”
Holman pointed out that having attendees from 10 different countries view the presentation demonstrates global interest in changing the way leadership is taught in programs across the world.
“We have available to us a program that is based on evidence-based practice and allows our students to learn concepts and apply them with engaging learning activities that they can apply into practice,” she said.
To learn more about the RN-BSN program at USM, call 601.266.5445 or visit: https://www.usm.edu/nursing-health-professions/index.php