CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2022 - 15

COL L EG E
15
Continued - Historic Partnership Brings Nursing to the Four Corners
and advanced learning methods. Additionally, the College was just
named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best online
Master's in Nursing programs in the country.
Furthermore, the College of Nursing has taken a dedicated
position in recruiting, developing, and growing a diverse
community of students, faculty and staff. Aligning with the
strategic priorities of the University of Colorado system, the
College's goal is to continue to provide educational programming
and professional support in order to advance the profession of
nursing, the quality of healthcare and research to better serve a
diverse community.
Leaning into these strengths, the program will be one of the
most cutting-edge nursing degree options offered at a Colorado
institution of higher education-and will reach a part of the state in
need of local nursing-focused educational programs.
" The philosophy here is to bring nursing out of the hospitals
and into communities to provide healthcare to a rural and diverse
population that has been historically underserved, " Nixon said.
FLC students
in the
classroom
A NEW HIGHER EDUCATION MODEL
The CU Nursing Fort Lewis College Collaborative is
the first of its kind in Colorado. The partnership is a new
model of cross-state resource and knowledge sharing
that will optimize how two educational institutions impact
not only the students in the program but communities in
rural Colorado.
Students stand to benefit from the close-knit,
personalized, and high-touch undergraduate
experience of FLC while accessing the prestigious
curriculum and faculty of CU Nursing. By locating
the program at the premier four-year institution of the
Four Corners, CU Anschutz and FLC are creating a
pathway for local students to earn a bachelor's degree
and then return to their home communities with the
healthcare expertise rural and underserved areas need.
This community-facing program will not only prepare
students for their future careers but address gaps in
regional healthcare services:
* According to the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing, 46% of employers require new nursing
hires to have a bachelor's degree while 88%
strongly prefer baccalaureate-prepared nurses.
* Historically, a lack of training facilities and teaching
personnel has led to nursing shortages, especially in
rural areas. According to the Georgetown University
Center on Education and the Workforce, Colorado
had the fourth lowest concentration of nursing
professionals by state in the US in 2020.
* In 2018, the US Government Accountability Office
studied employment data from the Indian Health
Service, concluding that there are not enough
healthcare providers in the IHS service area to
provide quality and timely healthcare to Indigenous
people-the average vacancy rate for physicians,
nurses, and other care providers was 25%.
Clearly, this partnership's time has come and is a
welcome addition to the Four Corners of the state.
CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2022

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