School of Nursing and Allied Health

PUBLIC NOTICE OF UPCOMING ACCREDITATION REVIEW VISIT BY THE ACEN

Western Kentucky University’s School of Nursing and Allied Health wishes to announce that it will host a site visit for continuing accreditation of its LPN to ASN Program by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).

You are invited to meet with the site visit team and share your comments about the program in person at a meeting scheduled 2:00 – 2:30 pm on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, room 132 of WKU’s South Campus located at 2355 Nashville Road, Bowling Green, KY.

Written comments are also welcome and should be submitted directly to:

Dr. Marsal Stoll, Chief Executive Officer

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing

3390 Peachtree Road Northeast, Suite 1400

Atlanta, GA 30326

Or email: mstoll@acenursing.org

All written comments should be received by the ACEN by February 21, 2023.

Mission Statement

The School of Nursing and Allied Health prepares undergraduate and graduate students to provide compassionate, culturally sensitive care to diverse populations. Through the use of service and inter-professional learning opportunities, students are prepared to function in an increasingly global society and to provide creative evidence based and ethical solutions for complex healthcare issues. The desire for lifelong learning is instilled in graduates as a means to continue personal professional development and to affect positive change in healthcare systems and policy.

Goals

Provide high quality programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels for SONAH students.
Produce ethical and competent health care professionals ready to enter the workforce.
Prepare graduates to become informed and engaged future leaders in the health care system through use of evidence-based practice and advocacy for themselves and their patients.
Provide engaging learning experiences within our classrooms, labs and community-based settings.
Provide an environment that respects individual differences and cultures and enhances personal and professional growth for students, faculty and staff.

School of Nursing and Allied Health Programs

BSN Program - Entry program for people who want to acquire a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

MEPN Program - Accelerated entry program for highly qualified students with a prior BS/BA degree in a field other than nursing who wish to obtain a BSN and MSN at the same time.

Dental Hygiene - Entry Program for people who wish to become dental hygienists.

LPN to ASN online- Program limited to LPNs who wish to become RN. You must currently hold an LPN License to enroll in this program.

MSN FNP - Program for BSN prepared nurses who wish to become Family Nurse Practitioners.

MSN PMHNP - Program for BSN prepared nurses who wish to become Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners.

BSN to DNP - Program for BSN prepared nurses who wish to become Family Nurse Practitioners or Nurse Executives.

MSN to DNP - Program for MSN prepared nurses who wish to obtain a doctorate in nursing practice.

CERTIFICATE Programs - Non Degree Programs which allow MSN prepared nurses to take a specific nurse practitioner board certification exam (PMNHP or FNP only).

Nursing Student Health Requirements

Nursing students are required to meet basic health requirements prior to enrolling in clinical nursing courses. This includes routine childhood immunizations, annual flu vaccinations, testing for communicable diseases including COVID, and random drug screening. Clinical agency contracts do not permit students to waiver these requirements.

COVID-19 Statement for Nursing Students

Nursing Students and Faculty are required by our clinical agency contracts to be vaccinated for COVID. It is not possible to complete the WKU nursing program without going to a clinical facility that requires vaccination.

Due to the various concerns about this new vaccine, students with a documented allergy to materials in the COVID vaccine may work with SARC on obtaining a medical waiver. Students who belong to a religious sect which forbids vaccinations may work with Andrea Anderson's office on obtaining a religious waiver.

Please note, obtaining a WKU COVID waiver does not mean that a student can attend clinical at any given location. It is possible than no clinical agencies under contract with WKU may allow waivers, due to the rapidly changing clinical situation. Therefore, WKU School of Nursing cannot guarantee that a student who obtains a WKU waiver for COVID vaccination will be able to complete the nursing program. If the agency allows waivers, most are requiring that students with vaccine waivers undergo frequent COVID testing per the clinical sites policies. Some facilities are requiring frequent testing even if the students are fully vaccinated.

Due to the current situation, no WKU nursing student will be required to care for known or suspected cases of COVID-19. If a student is asked to care for a patient that they do not feel prepared to care for, they are to let their faculty know at once and the nursing faculty will ensure they are reassigned to a patient that they can adequately care for. However, with so many people having COVID without any symptoms, it is possible that a student may end up caring for a patient or working with a staff member or another student who later tests positive for COVID.

Illness: Faculty, students, and staff who are ill or have any symptoms of any type of illness (flu, cold or COVID-19) symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) need to stay home and avoid contact with others. No student should ever go to a clinical site if they are sick. We also ask that anyone with symptoms of COVID or who have known exposures to COVID go to the WKU Student Health Center for testing and to follow quarantine procedures for exposures per the health department guidelines.

If a student has a special reason to be at increased risk due to a medical condition and prefer not to participate in face to face activities at this time, they can either do a medical withdrawal from clinical and linked classes for the semester, or if they have completed more than half of the clinical hours, they can do an incomplete for clinical and/or lab course for the semester. The missing hours will have to be made up prior to proceeding to the next part of the nursing curriculum. This will be handled on a case by case basis and we will require documentation from your primary care provider as to when it is safe for you to return to the clinical setting. After that time, you will need to arrange with your faculty to make up any missing lab and/or clinical hours prior to proceeding to the next semester’s classes.

If you have questions or concerns about your particular situation, please contact your faculty member using the contact information included on your class syllabus. The School of Nursing general phone number is 270-745-3391. The staff can forward your calls, but the people most likely to know the answers concerning your individual situations are your faculty members.

Accreditation

The BSN, MSN, DNP and post-graduate APRN certificate programs at Western Kentucky University are accredited by the Commission on the Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

The LPN to ASN nursing program at Western Kentucky University located in Bowling Green, Kentucky is accredited by the:

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
(404) 975-5000

The most recent accreditation decision made by the ACEN Board of Commissioners for the associate nursing program is Continuing Accreditation. View the public information disclosed by the ACEN regarding this program at:

(http://www.acenursing.com/accreditedprograms/programsearch.htm)

The Dental Hygiene Programs are offered at the AS and BS levels, and are accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association.

Kentucky Board of Nursing Approval

The Nursing programs at WKU are approved by the Kentucky Board of Nursing to offer graduate and undergraduate nursing programs. Benchmark data comparing WKU to other Kentucky Schools of Nursing can be viewed here KBN Benchmark Report.

ACEN Official Seal 2021 CCNE logo