Photo courtesy SHSUConstruction has begun at Sam Houston State University's The Woodlands Center on a new nursing wing. The facility will accompany Sam Houston State's nursing program within the newly created College of Health Sciences.
Officials at the university decided to expand its program to meet the need for more nurses, said Anne Stiles, director of the school of nursing at SHSU.
"There is a nationwide goal for 80 percent of nurses to have a bachelor's degree by 2020," said Michael Lacourse, dean of the College of Health Sciences. He estimated the 2014 number is less than 30 percent.
The new facility will house two skills laboratories and a simulation lab with five rooms, Stiles said. Each skills lab will have eight beds with high-fidelity patient simulators, one each for an infant, child and adult.
Construction on the new nursing wing could be complete by December, said Janet Mullings, executive director of The Woodlands Center.
The Woodlands Center's nursing wing will have two programs— a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a RN to BSN degree for professionals who already have their RN license but lack a four-year degree.
The Woodlands campus will admit 20 students in the fall and spring semesters, Stiles said.
Stiles said the new wing will occupy unused space at The Woodlands Center campus.
Lacourse said construction would cost about $2.5 million and would be completed in two phases. Money for the project will come from the university, but SHSU officials are also looking for other sources of funding, including private funds, to finish the project.
The program is accepting applications and will admit students in the fall for the RN to BSN program where classes will be primarily conducted online. It will be a 10-course program that can be completed in one year, Stiles said.
"Students will get their prerequisites somewhere else and will apply to be admitted to start in their junior year," she said. "It will be a very competitive process."
The nursing program works closely with hospitals including Huntsville Memorial Hospital. The Woodlands Center program will utilize a similar approach with local hospitals, Stiles said.
SHSU has already contracted with The Woodlands-area hospitals including Memorial Hermann, St. Luke's Episcopal, Lone Star Family Health Center and Conroe Regional Medical Center, she said.
The nursing program was accredited by the Texas Board of Nursing in January 2014 and by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing in August 2013.
SHSU Nursing Wing
- Completion: December 2014
- Cost of the building: $2.5 million
- Programs: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and RN to BSN
- Class offerings include: human anatomy, nursing research and genetics and genomics
3380 College Park Drive, The Woodlands 936-202-5000, www.shsu.edu
