{"id":238338,"date":"2025-10-20T10:24:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/238338\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T10:24:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:24:32","slug":"westminsters-3-year-nursing-program-is-expediting-careers-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/238338\/","title":{"rendered":"Westminster’s 3-year nursing program is expediting careers \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Westminster University’s undergraduate nursing program is structured to allow students to graduate in three years.Nursing students will expedite their studies by remaining in class during the summer.Westminster’s nursing program is designed to graduate students with skills in both the “art” and “science” of the profession.<\/p>\n

For Westminster University <\/a>nursing students, summer breaks can wait.<\/p>\n

The Salt Lake City school\u2019s Bachelor of Science nursing program<\/a> is now structured to allow students to graduate into the high-demand profession in three years.<\/p>\n

And while \u201cthree-years-to-a-bachelor\u2019s-degree\u201d programs recently introduced at some Utah universities involve fewer credit hours, the core requirements for Westminster nursing students are not changing. <\/p>\n

The timeline to the nursing degree is simply shorter because it\u2019s now a year-round program. Westminster nursing students will continue their studies through the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program allows for students to complete the baccalaureate nursing program, after they have finished their prerequisites, in four semesters that are done in sequence \u2014 rather than taking off a summer semester and then coming back in the fall,\u201d Westminster\u2019s School of Nursing & Health Sciences Dean Sheryl Steadman told the Deseret News.<\/p>\n

\"\"Second semester nursing student Keely Kahana, center, participates in a Foundations 2 lab class at Westminster’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

\u201cStudents have the ability to get out of the nursing program in four semesters because they aren\u2019t taking the summer off.\u201d<\/p>\n

That accelerated timeframe, added Associate Dean Jon Worthen, \u201cgives us the ability to compress that time and actually have students out in the workforce sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steadman emphasized that Westminster\u2019s accelerated three-year degree program demands the same academic and practical rigor and breadth as before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe credit hours and the curricula,\u201d she said, \u201care exactly the same.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Westminster health care students interested in graduate programs can also receive a Master of Science in nursing-family nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice on an accelerated timeline.<\/a><\/p>\n

After satisfying the liberal arts \u201cWCore\u201d courses required of all Westminster undergraduate students, degree-seeking nursing students fulfill a four-semester curriculum with courses developed to enhance learning \u201cand reinforce principles and concepts learned in the classroom, labs and clinical experience,\u201d according to the program\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n

Helping meet Utah\u2019s dynamic demand for skilled nurses<\/p>\n

Currently, said Steadman, there is not a nursing shortage in Utah \u2014 at least outside of rural communities.<\/p>\n

But as a higher education institution that\u2019s been operating for 150 years,<\/a> she added, Westminster University is committed to help provide Utah with the nurses it needs at any moment.<\/p>\n

\"\"Co-instructor Michelle Carnell, left, signs papers for students after teaching the Foundations 2 lab class at Westminster’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

\u201cBy teaching through the summer \u2014 rather than giving the students a summer off \u2014 it allows students to get out into the community on a quicker basis and to fill those (nursing) needs, whatever those might be at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westminster\u2019s Bachelor of Science nursing program is a generalist program, added Steadman. \u201cSo the experiences that students have throughout their education allows them opportunities to see various specialties of nursing that helps them form a mindset for what it is that they might want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

A nursing student\u2019s senior year focuses on specialized clinical experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a student nurse wants to, say, look at operating room nursing or ICU nursing or the emergency room nursing, we work with our clinical sites to provide opportunities for the student to be placed that last semester in those areas, so that student gets a feel for what it\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunities for such specialized clinical opportunities go beyond on-the-job training. \u201cIt also gives the corporations and the managers of these units opportunities to see our students \u2026 and potentially offer them positions in those facilities,\u201d said Steadman.<\/p>\n

The dean emphasized the symbiotic connection between Westminster\u2019s nursing program and Utah\u2019s nursing industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety-five percent of our students,\u201d said Steadman, \u201cremain in the state of Utah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Worthen added that Westminster\u2019s local clinical partners appreciate early access to graduates. \u201cThey are very excited to have our students out sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Westminster\u2019s teaching-driven nursing faculty<\/p>\n

Westminster\u2019s nursing program is developed to foster faculty-student discussion, hands-on learning, essential clinical decision-making and critical thinking.<\/p>\n

\"\"Co-instructors Michelle Carnell, left, and Hanna Harris, right, teach the Foundations 2 lab class at Westminster’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Students, according to the program, utilize modern facilities in the school\u2019s Nursing Skills and Simulation Lab such as high-fidelity mannequins to develop essential patient care skills.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s nursing professors function as teachers, facilitators and mentors. Every nursing student is assigned a faculty adviser who helps blaze his or her path to clinical and academic success.<\/p>\n

And for eligible high school students who have decided to pursue a nursing career and gain early entry into the workforce, the program offers direct-entry \u2014 or early admit \u2014 admissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Preparing for Utah\u2019s nursing ranks<\/p>\n

Sabrina Alff is a Westminster student preparing to finish her nursing degree even while serving as the president of the school\u2019s student nursing club.<\/p>\n

\"\"Third semester nursing student Sabrina Alff poses at Westminster’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n

A native of the Los Angeles area, she earned a biology degree at Westminster University before deciding to return to her alma mater to pursue nursing.<\/p>\n

She was drawn to the school\u2019s nursing program, in part, because of its small student-teacher ratio. Meanwhile, her favorite features of Westminster\u2019s nursing program are the clinical lab experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get to practice full-on head-to-toe assessments on each other, and then practice that eventually in clinical rotation. \u2026 We\u2019re practicing very specific skills that we will be applying to our nursing roles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The daughter of a physician\u2019s assistant, Alff said she\u2019s enjoyed a lifelong love for medicine. Now her academic\/professional development feeds her a passion for patient care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved being able to be with my patients,\u201d she said. \u201cand get to know them and help them as much as I can administering medication and just being able to comfort them, educate them, and advocate for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Post-graduation, Alff plans to stay and will likely apply for Westminster\u2019s nurse practitioner program.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nursing students clap after performing an interpretive dance that has the same beat as the cardiac rhythm, which they were assigned to mimic with a song, in their Foundations 2 lab class at Westminster’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westminster University’s undergraduate nursing program is structured to allow students to graduate in three years.Nursing students will expedite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253,5817,3125],"class_list":["post-238338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-news-division","tag-news-feed-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}