By Natalie Khait
Hofstra University and Northwell Health are teaming up to open a new undergraduate nursing program, set to launch in the fall of 2021.
Hofstra plans to open a new undergraduate nursing program that will enroll more than 500 students in the coming years.
The announcement came Feb. 25.
“The U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of registered nurses that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows,” according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The AACN plans to work with colleges and universities to address this concern by opening more programs for students to become nurses. Kathleen Gallo, the founding dean and professor of Hofstra’s new nursing school, said the program will add “nurses to the pool of nurses that are already established.” She hopes students will return after graduation for the nurse practitioner program.
“We are going to start with 36 students with the initial program, but by year four, there will be 118 students,” Gallo said.
Over time, there will be more than 500 undergraduate students and 300 graduate students in the nursing program.
“Nursing is one of the best occupations and professions because you can work in just about every industry over your lifetime. You will never be bored if you come and be a nurse.” — Kathleen Gallo
“The healthcare industry continues to change dramatically, transforming roles and creating opportunities for nurses that didn’t exist even just a few years ago,” Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz noted in a statement to the university.
One of the major differences between Hofstra’s program and others on Long Island is the partnership that Hofstra has with Northwell Health.
Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling remarked in a statement, “This new program will help address a chronic shortage of nurses impacting health systems across the country — a shortfall expected to worsen in coming years as our aging population requires more care.”Interview with Founding Dean and Professor, Kathleen Gallo
The biggest part of the project will be the addition of a new building that is being constructed in partnership with Hofstra’s School of Engineering.
Nursing instruction will take place in classrooms, and simulations will be held in a clinical arena. Clinical nurse instructors will be from Northwell Health. For the didactic and simulation experiences, they will be on the Hofstra campus, according to Gallo.
There is no set date when ground will be broken on the new building yet, said Richard Leddy, Hofstra’s assistant vice president of engineering, construction and central utilities. The project is now in the design phase, he said.
The building will also house some laboratories for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The new building is to open in the fall of 2022.
For more information and to learn more about the program, visit hofstra.edu/nursing.
