The New York State Education Department has approved to expand the Mercy College’s nursing programs to provide increased degree offerings online and at the Dobbs Ferry, MercyManhattan and Bronx Campuses. The new degree programs, part of the College’s School of Health and Natural Sciences, were added to help alleviate the nursing shortage in the Tri-State area and across the nation. The expanded programs also provided a seamless pathway for students to continue their education after the former College of New Rochelle (CNR) ceased academic operations in August 2019.
Mercy’s four-year traditional nursing program, which launched in 2015 and has been at capacity since its inception, has now tripled in size. The first cohort of 23 students were recognized at a pinning ceremony in May 2019, and in December, the first cohort of 106 teach-out students from the former CNR celebrated their pinning ceremony.
“There’s great demand for highly trained nurses,” explained Deborah Hunt ‘86, Ph.D., R.N., Professor and Executive Director of Nursing Special Programs, and former Interim Dean of CNR’s School of Nursing and Health Professions. “Mercy is providing nursing programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels as patient demands become more complex and the aging population requires increased levels of care and nurses who practice from a holistic perspective who are able to think critically, utilize current evidence, and promote positive patient outcomes.”
Based on unemployment projections by The Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is an estimated need for more than 200,000 new registered nurses each year through 2026 to help fill jobs vacated by retirees. Mercy is working to combat this decline by increasing the nursing talent in its communities through in-demand undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The College is planning to offer additional nursing programs in the future and has applied for approval to teach Traditional Nursing in the Bronx.
“It is important to tailor courses for busy nurse professionals,” said Miriam Ford, Ph.D, FNP-BC, Chief Nurse Administrator and Director of Dobbs Ferry and MercyManhattan. “These new program offerings at multiple locations will ensure student success by providing individualized attention, convenient scheduling and small class sizes.”
In addition to new course offerings, the College has created state-of-the-art classrooms that replicate real-world clinical lab and hospital environments. They include the Health Professions Clinical Simulation Lab, Hospital Simulation Lab and a 12,000-square foot space that includes specialized labs designed to simulate different disciplines within a health care facility. In addition, nursing students have access to the Health Assessment Lab, which allows them to learn to conduct health assessments in a setting supplied with equipment typically seen in hospitals and clinics.