Monmouth College and OSF HealthCare have come together to establish the Monmouth College – OSF 3+1 Nursing program, where students will complete two degrees in four years and be ready to pursue a
career in health care. As the healthcare industry faces nursing shortages, OSF Holy Family and St. Mary’s CEO Lisa DeKezel, shares the program offers a unique experience:
“Just the continued staffing shortages we are seeing across all industries and certainly healthcare is not unique to that, but that critical staffing shortage in regards to nursing, does continue while we have seen steady improvements post-pandemic, getting to see some of those positions filled. Without question, we do continue to see that shortage across the country and here in the Midwest, certainly experiencing that. So, we really looked at the opportunity to how we can work together. These conversations really began a few years ago with Monmouth College around what it would look like when two really key community partners working together to help fill that critical shortage and offer such an exceptional opportunity for a learning experience here for our rural communities.”
Students enrolled into the Monmouth College – OSF 3+1 Nursing program will complete a degree in biology, biopsychology, health sciences, or human movement in three years and in the fourth-year students will be a part of the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program through the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing, all on the Monmouth College campus.
Those individuals interested in pursuing a nursing career now have the opportunity to achieve that goal in four year through the Monmouth College – OSF 3+1 Nursing program. Monmouth College President Dr. Patricia Draves, explains the accelerated program:
“The program is unique in that is offers two degrees, a bachelor’s degree at Monmouth College and then a Bachelor of Science in Nursing that will be granted from OSF. Nurses need a lot of skills that are obviously technical nursing skills, but also some of those durable human skills like good communication, critical thinking, and they have increasing responsibilities at the bedside and in clinics; those are some of the things, written skills, communication skills, that Monmouth will offer to the program and OSF the nursing skills they will need.”
The Monmouth College – OSF 3+1 Nursing program will begin in the fall of 2025.
