St. John’s University has received approval from the New York State Education Department to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.
Applications for admission are now being accepted and preparations are underway for the first cohort of students to begin classes in August.
Establishing a nursing program is one step in a major and long-term investment in the health sciences at St. John’s. Next month, on International Nurses Day, SJU will break ground at the Queens Campus for a new 70,000-square-foot building scheduled to open in fall 2024, which will serve as the permanent home of the nursing program.
St. John’s University announced that it applied to establish a nursing program in May 2021.
“After much planning — and with great excitement — we launch the new nursing program at St. John’s,” said SJU President Reverend Brian J. Shanley, O.P. “Service is a core value of our university, and the nursing program aims to provide a stellar education within the context of our Catholic and Vincentian mission. The foremost goal of our program is to train skilled professionals and compassionate nurse leaders ready to serve others in societies in need of healing.”
The new medical and educational Health Sciences Center will support and house existing and forthcoming health sciences programs in one facility. The new building will provide state-of-the-art technology, simulation labs, and flexible room layouts to allow for a multitude of teaching and learning styles. The innovative and flexible learning environment will ensure that future healthcare workers can keep pace with the dramatic advancements in the healthcare industry.
“St. John’s is setting the stage for the education of nursing leaders who will shape future health-care delivery,” said Colleen Carmody, Ed.D., R.N., C.N.S., founding director of the nursing program. “We have designed an innovative curriculum, secured support for brand-new facilities and established community partnerships that will strengthen our academic health system.”
St. John’s will provide students with hands-on clinical rotations within a network of partner healthcare systems, which include New York City Health + Hospitals, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens and Catholic Health. With an innovative curriculum, support for brand-new facilities and established community partnerships the new nursing program at St. John’s aims to strengthen the local academic health system.
Nursing education is not new to St. John’s. In 1937, a Department of Nursing was formed at the university and the department became a separate School of Nursing Education in 1942, helping to train nurses during World War II before being discontinued.
