On May 9, the School of Nursing will add 148 graduates to the 1000 it has graduated since its founding in the 1970s.

In the next week, the school will promote National Nurses Week to bring awareness of its little known program to the rest of the university.

The One Loyola room in the Danna Center will feature a slide show to educate students, faculty and staff about nursing and its role in public health, said Ann Cary, professor and director of the School of Nursing.

Cary says the Nursing School faculty will also be wearing golf shirts with the school’s new mission statement: “A world where every nurse is a leader.”

On April 21, the Nursing School presented the shirts to the Rev. Kevin Wildes S.J., university president, Edward Kvet, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and Luis Miron, dean of the College of Social Sciences.

The Nursing School is one of the largest programs at Loyola with almost 600 students. Five hundred of these students are in the Nursing School graduate programs, working on obtaining their masters degree. 

The School of Nursing offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (for those that have already obtained an associate’s degree or diploma program).

The graduate program offers a Master of Science degrees for Family Nurse Practitioners, Adult Nurse Practitioners or Health Care Systems Managers.

Students in the School of Nursing graduate program attend courses on Mondays and use the rest of week to work as full time registered nurses in order to obtain required clinical hours. Students work at hospitals in New Orleans, as well as other cities in Louisiana such as Mandeville, Baton Rouge and Opelousas.

The university governance process is considering a Nursing School proposal to begin a new two-year doctorial program for 2010.

Nursing student Robin Rome said Loyola was paramount for making her the graduate student she is today.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and couldn’t have gotten my degree anywhere else,” said Rome. “The School of Nursing is designed for older students.”

Rome will graduate with a Masters of Science degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner, all while she juggled work and her family.

Nurse practitioners are helpful in the medical field because they can treat patients better than a registered nurse because they have the ability to do more, such as write prescriptions, said graduating seniors in Gwen George’s Advanced Health Assessment Theory class.

The School of Nursing faculty assisted in the reorganization of Loyola Student Health Services when it transitioned over to Ochsner last year.

Loyola Student Health director Leah Bowers is a Nurse Practitioner. According to the Student Health Web site, nurse practitioners provide medical treatment of uncomplicated illness and injuries.

“You see patients in the office and help doctors in the hospital,” said graduating senior Nancy Mihlon.

“For those staying in the city it will be good for New Orleans since they will be working as primary care providers,” said Rome.

John Adams can be reached at [email protected].