By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University says its nursing program is growing, both in popularity and in success.
Department of Nursing chair Heather Kendall says Missouri Western teaches both the nursing practice and how to apply it.
“So, application of knowledge is really at the core of Missouri Western’s mission,” Kendall tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “And I think the nursing program and the nursing profession is an excellent example of that.”
Kendall says the school seeks to prepare nurses for the real world.
“We teach students pieces of knowledge, but we always expect them to be able to apply it in a real-life situation with real people,” according to Kendall.
All 40 of the Missouri Westerns students receiving a nursing degree at the St. Joseph school passed the federal licensure exam on their first attempt, unprecedented among Missouri colleges. The 44 graduates in 2022 also attained a 100% first-try success rate. It is rare for each graduate of a nursing school to pass the federal licensure examination, known as NCLEX. In fact, it is nearly unprecedented.
Missouri Western instructs in a wide variety of nursing fields.
“I think a lot of people think of nurses as practicing in hospitals and there are a lot of specialties in hospitals that nurses can pursue: emergency department, critical care, obstetrics, pediatrics, medical/surgical, telemetry,” Kendall explains. “Really, the opportunities are boundless.”
Kendall says that in addition to medical instruction, Missouri Western instructs students on the importance of nurses to a community.
“People trust us to provide not just quality care, but evidence-based information that they can trust.”
Missouri Western also received a $386,780 grant from the Missouri State Board of Nursing for its program that prepares students to teach in Missouri schools of nursing. The money will fund 10 scholarships for students who agree to teach in a Missouri school of nursing for at least three years after completing their degree.
The grant is one of 20 totaling $5 million announced by Gov. Mike Parson’s office last month.
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