Skip to main content

Westminster College and UPMC School of Nursing Announce New Partnership

Share on:

Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2016

The Westminster College School of Nursing will launch its inaugural program in Fall Semester 2017 in a collaborative agreement with UPMC Jameson’s School of Nursing in New Castle, leading to both a nursing diploma and a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree in the new four-year program.

First-year students will take pre-nursing and liberal arts courses at Westminster and matriculate to UPMC Jameson’s School of Nursing. For years two and three, students will follow the UPMC Jameson program while earning credits at Westminster toward the BSN degree. At the completion of the UPMC Jameson program, students will test for licensing for registered nurse (RN) licensure. During the fourth year students will complete higher level nursing courses at Westminster to earn the BSN.

“The bachelor’s degree in nursing is now considered the gold standard for entry into nursing practice within healthcare,” said Tricia Ryan, newly appointed School of Nursing director at Westminster. “With the collaboration between Westminster College and UPMC Jameson’s School of Nursing our students will experience the ‘best of both worlds’ in nursing education with this brilliant combination of nursing and the liberal arts.”

“The healthcare needs of the communities in and surrounding New Wilmington and New Castle are diverse and unique in many ways and provide rich opportunities for these future nurses to develop specialized skills to serve patients in rural areas,” said Linda Kmetz, Ph.D., executive director of UPMC Schools of Nursing and director of UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing. “During their time at UPMC Jameson School of Nursing, students will have rare opportunities to study and gain practical experience in telemedicine, behavioral health, obstetrics, pediatrics and Amish health customs and practices, in addition to rural medicine.”

Other highlights of the partnership include opportunities for students to study Spanish medical language; a nursing licensure exam pass rate of current UPMC Jameson students that is consistently above the national average; a strong pipeline to nursing positions in home care, primary care offices, in case management and in traditional settings at UPMC’s community hospitals including Horizon, Hamot and Jameson; and opportunities to experience global health through Westminster’s mission programs in the Dominican Republic.

About UPMC

A world-renowned health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. It provides nearly $900 million a year in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 60,000 employees, more than 20 hospitals, more than 500 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, and a 3 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical and behavioral health services insurer in western Pennsylvania. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 12 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America’s Best Hospitals. UPMC Enterprises functions as the innovation and commercialization arm of UPMC while UPMC International provides hands-on health care and management services with partners in 12 countries on four continents. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

Contact Ryan at 724-946-7470 or email ryantl@westminster.edu for additional information.