NLNAC awards accreditation for Nursing Education program

Office of Communications & Marketing |Northeastern State University
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- The National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) has notified Northeastern State University-Muskogee that it has been awarded an initial accreditation for the Master of Science in Nursing Education program. This is an important development in NSUs ongoing effort to help meet the critical health care needs of the region.

The accreditation is a measure of quality and a measure of a program addressing the professional standards necessary to produce practitioners who are capable of securing licensure and delivering quality patient care, said Dr. Martin Venneman, dean of the College of Science and Health Professions.

NSU is doing everything it can do to address the major needs of the region and to provide the leadership and the coordination to bring in the necessary programming to meet those regional needs, said Venneman.

Dr. Joyce A. Van Nostrand, Chair for the Department of Health Professions at NSU-Muskogee, said the program will benefit working professionals who are in academic or clinical settings.

Part of our strategic vision planning has always included a masters program, said Van Nostrand. We are looking at where the needs are in health care professions and what it will take to bring in these programs.

Factors allowing the program to become accredited included a three-day site visit, a self-study report, and the recommendations for accreditation proposed by the program evaluator and the evaluation review panel.

Our visitors were extremely impressed by the support we were receiving from our administration, said Van Nostrand. They were also impressed with our courses involving cultural competency.

The program is under the umbrella of the American Indian School of Health Professions, located in the Department of Health Professions at NSU-Muskogee. This department provides a framework for integrating cultural competency education of the American Indian into western medicine education.

Cultural competency is but one factor in addressing the needs of rural citizens as well as support stemming from nonprofit organizations such as the Eastern Oklahoma Health Care Coalition who seeks to attract people of all ages into local health care education and careers.

The accreditation of the Master of Science in Nursing Education comes on the heels of the establishment of the new Masters in Occupational Therapy program at NSU-Muskogee set to begin spring 2014.

Our plan is to become an allied health care hub, said Dr. Tim McElroy, dean of NSU-Muskogee. There are many opportunities in health care here in the area. With several medical facilities in place, we are in position to help move this initiative forward.

Currently, both Tulsa Community College and Connors State College have articulation agreements with NSU which allow the two-year programs to transfer into the RN-BSN program.

McElroy said by having more graduates from the program, more teachers would be able to teach more students entering the RN-BSN program, helping to fill the regional and national shortage of health care workers.