The George Washington University Board of Trustees has announced plans to launch a new school of nursing.
The new GW School of Nursing will be composed of Master of Science in Nursing programs, a Doctor of Nursing Practice program, a second-degree Bachelor of Science in nursing program and other post-Master's certificate programs. These programs have been part of the Department of Nursing Education in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
"This is a special day for those of us involved in the formation of the new school of nursing," said Jean Johnson, senior associate dean for health sciences. "Becoming a stand alone school within GW's academic medical center will help us to bolster our national reputation and academic standing among nursing education institutions."
The new school has 30 faculty members already in place, and officials say they expect to hire more top-level professionals in the field. The school will be housed on both GW's Foggy Bottom campus in Washington, D.C., and on its Loudoun County, Va., campus, according to Johnson.
All classroom exercises and a newly built 3,000-square-foot simulation lab are located at the Virginia campus, she added.
GW's nursing program already has a learning laboratory for policy activism to improve the quality of healthcare through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, GW has nationally recognized partnerships with the National Committee for Quality Assurance to offer the only Master of Science Nursing program in the country with a focus of study in quality improvement.
The formation of the new nursing school comes at a time when nurses are in high demand due to healthcare reform, an aging population of nurses and a national nursing shortage.
"The formation of this school will directly address the high demand for nurses in our country, and we will provide graduates who will play a critical role in patient care," said John Williams, MD, GW's provost and vice president for health affairs.