College of Health and Behavior

Nurses are in high demand in the U.S.—especially in rural settings—for numerous reasons. The American Nurses Association indicates a need nationwide to prepare more than 1.1 million new RNs to replace upwards of 500,000 retirees and to meet other ever-growing shortages. Six hundred, or 30%, of all rural hospitals across the U.S. are at risk of closing. For 200 of them, or 10%, the threat is imminent.

Lake Superior State University contends with this urgency through its new Post-Baccalaureate Rural Nurse Residence Certificate Program—the first of its kind in the world.

In this competency-based program, BSN-prepared students receive advanced learning in critical thinking, conflict management, legal nursing, and quality management, plus ethics, leadership, and more. Nursing graduates from any U.S. accredited BSN program in their first year of practice, licensed or not licensed, can earn this important credential in one year through cutting-edge academic instruction and paid full-time employment.

LSSU devised learning strategies with working nurse residents in mind through a combination of virtual, simulation, in-person, asynchronous, and synchronous experiences in alignment with hands-on experiences in the healthcare setting. Nurse residents also are assigned both a nurse mentor and a nurse preceptor to assist in evidence-based learning and professional development.

LSSU’s Post-Baccalaureate Rural Nurse Residency Certificate Program is a win-win-win for young nurses, rural communities, and the healthcare industry. By teaching four C’s – confidence, competence, critical thinking, and clinical judgment—the program provides first-year nurses additional skills to further their career. In the process, the program makes more and better healthcare available for rural communities, offsetting some of the alarming nationwide inadequacies. Plus, by increasing retention of BSN-prepared RNs and reducing turnover, the program responds to the nursing shortage throughout the healthcare industry.

Outcomes for Nurse Residents who enroll in LSSU’s Post-Baccalaureate Rural Nurse Residency Certificate Program: 

• Nurse Residents will develop a high level of independence and competence in rural health care settings
• Nurse Residents will develop increased confidence in both independent and collaborative rural nursing practice
• Nurse Residents will enhance their critical thinking and professional judgment abilities
• Nurse Residents will gain rural nurse leadership skills applicable to rural nursing practice
• Nurse Residents will develop their nursing role in relation to rural health policy
• Nurse Residents will demonstrate altruism, human dignity, and social justice by improving accessibility, diversity, and equity of healthcare in rural communities

Studies prove that an unfortunate divide exists between education and practice in the first year of work for nursing graduates. This theory-practice gap causes new nurses to feel dissatisfied and, in some cases, underprepared. As a result, they may leave the profession. All of this negatively affects patient care.

In the theory-practice gap in rural healthcare, research indicates that BSN vacancies escalate; available services decline in quality and quantity; access to healthcare shrinks; health equity and diversity decrease; and closure looms for some organizations.

LSSU’s Post-Baccalaureate Rural Nurse Residency Certificate Program mitigates these problems by providing new nurses indispensable professional development in severely underrepresented healthcare demographics: rural settings. RN organizations, along with other healthcare sectors, benefit from a more capable workforce and improved patient care. Consequently, the program also helps counter revenue losses and liability issues that confront many organizations.