Recruiting the brightest and best for nursing--an honors program can help

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Administration

Background:

• Facing a severe nursing shortage and declining enrollment in nursing schools.
• The need for innovative strategies to attract and retain high-caliber students in nursing programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and first-year implementation of an honors program at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing.
• To address challenges related to funding, admissions, and curriculum flexibility in undergraduate nursing education.

Main Methods:

• Initiation of a new honors program within a university school of nursing.
• Description of program development, including admission and graduation criteria.
• Analysis of faculty workload and curriculum structural adjustments.

Main Results:

• Successful initiation of an honors program in its first year.
• Identification of challenges in integrating flexibility into structured undergraduate nursing curricula.
• Exploration of funding models and faculty engagement strategies.

Conclusions:

• Honors programs can be a viable strategy to address nursing enrollment challenges.
• Flexibility in highly structured undergraduate programs requires careful planning and faculty buy-in.
• The University of Minnesota School of Nursing's experience offers insights for other institutions facing similar issues.