Creighton University

• Overview
• Faculty
• Students
• Curriculum
• Nursing as a Career
• Points of Pride

The Creighton University School of Nursing has achieved a national reputation for its innovative programs that keep pace with the ever-changing field of nursing. Creighton is the first nursing school in Nebraska to offer the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and preparation for the newest nursing role, Clinical Nurse Leader.

In 1928, the St. Joseph School of Nursing began its affiliation with Creighton University. St. Joseph nursing students completed part of their curriculum at Creighton and upon earning their diplomas, could attend Creighton to earn baccalaureate degrees (BSN). In 1958, Creighton accepted students into the four-year collegiate baccalaureate nursing program. The School is dedicated to continuing a legacy of providing excellence in nursing education and commitment to service.

The nursing faculty has developed a comprehensive baccalaureate program that teaches the skills, knowledge, and lifelong learning proficiency necessary to practice in a myriad of clinical settings. The curriculum emphasizes care management and outcomes improvement in relation to health promotion, restoration, rehabilitation, self-care, acute care and tertiary care.

In addition, there is focus on health care policy and economics, research methods, quality indicators, outcome measures, financial management and management of data and technology.

A Creighton education helps develop and refine the leadership, critical-thinking and clinical-judgment skills that allow graduates to participate as full partners in health care delivery and the shaping of health policy.

Creighton University has a Hastings, Neb., campus that opened in 1986.

• Eleanor Howell, Ph. D., R.N., serves as dean.
• The School of Nursing has one endowed chair, The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss and Drs. Gilbert and Clinton Beirne Endowed Chair held by Joan Lappe, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N
• During 2008-2009, faculty members made presentations and provided consultation in China, Africa, Switzerland, Brazil, Guatemala and the United Kingdom.
• The School of Nursing has a faculty-student ratio of 1:8-10 in clinical experiences.
• There are currently 50 full-time faculty members and five part-time faculty members, on the campuses in Omaha and Hastings. The school utilizes 23 individuals as contributed-service faculty who present on various specialized topics.
• Creighton is represented professionally at the state and national levels on several nursing and health care committees and organizations

• There are approximately 760 students enrolled in the School of Nursing.
• The accelerated nursing program began 34 years ago and is one of the oldest second-degree, accelerated nursing programs in the United States. Each year, approximately 120 accelerated nursing students graduate. Many come to Nebraska from the western part of the United States, although Creighton is seeing more interest from the East and South. Students’ backgrounds are diverse in terms of previous degrees and occupational backgrounds. They consistently demonstrate a high level of success on national licensing exams and are sought-after for employment upon graduation.
• There are 105 freshmen enrolled in the traditional undergraduate program for fall 2009. Twenty-nine percent are from Nebraska; other key states from which students hail include Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas and Colorado.
• There are 545 undergraduates, 60 master of science in nursing students and 40 doctor of nursing practice students enrolled.
• Nine percent of all nursing students are males and 11 percent are minorities.

• The School offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) has three curricula tracks: a traditional curriculum designed for the high school graduate; an accelerated curriculum designed for persons with non-nursing degrees; and a registered nurse-to-bachelor of nursing curriculum. The graduate program includes the master of science in nursing and a doctor of nursing practice (DNP). Both offer the opportunity to prepare for the roles of nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, clinical systems administrator, and nurse educator. This doctor of nursing practice is designed for nurses seeking an alternative to research- focused doctoral programs.
• To prepare nurses for work within the complex health care environment, the nursing school collaborates with Creighton’s Werner Institute for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, incorporating many of the institute’s classes and faculty into various nursing program curricula.

• Nursing is an excellent career choice for many reasons. Well-educated nurses are in high demand. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the need for more than one million new and replacement registered nurses by the year 2016. Positions for nurses are available in almost every city in America and beyond.
• Nurses have the opportunity to save and improve lives, to teach people how to achieve better health, and to advocate for patients to make sure they have the best health care.
• In addition to work in hospital settings, there is a growing need for nurses in home-health agencies, mental-health settings, long-term-care facilities, managed-care centers, and in community health. The demand for nurses with advanced degrees, such as nurse anesthetists, nurse practitioners, educators and scientists, is also growing.

• Creighton University School of Nursing’s four-year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) curriculum celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008.
• Creighton BSN graduates continue to exceed the national average for first time pass rates on the national licensing exam.
• Creighton is the first nursing school in Nebraska to offer the DNP degree and preparation for the newest nursing role, the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL).
• Creighton is one of the original national pilot sites for the CNL curriculum. A revolutionary new nursing role, CNLs are master’s degree-prepared clinicians. The program prepares nurses to become generalists with advanced nursing knowledge and provides the skills for clinical leadership within a specific health care unit or area.
• The School of Nursing, through a creative collaboration with 32 private and parochial schools in Omaha, provides health assessments for more than 9,000 children. This program enables children to get health assessments that are mandated by law and for the School of Nursing to have additional well-child and adolescent clinical sites.
• The Clinical Learning Laboratory is equipped with adult and pediatric human patient simulators — life-size mannequins with pulmonary, cardiovascular and other systems mimicking human physiology – that respond automatically to a user’s interventions and to the environment. Students are able to practice physical exams, airway manipulations, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and trauma-care procedures on the mannequins.