Ruth A. Wittmann-Price, Dean of the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions at Thomas Edison State University (TESU). The university is a member of the Quality Institute’s Education Council.
The W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions at TESU can provide credit for relevant work experience, professional or military training, and professional licenses and certifications. The university also is known for its flexible transfer credit policies. When it comes to nursing students, how do these policies help address the nursing shortage in New Jersey?
Our online nursing courses allow students to access their coursework at times and from locations that are convenient to them. Our on-ground clinical experiences complement our Accelerated BSN, RN-BSN, and MSN courses in various direct patient care settings. This flexibility fosters retention and degree completion and accommodates students who are juggling multiple responsibilities while advancing their education. Those who enroll also come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. Some are college students still exploring their paths, while others are certified nursing assistants already acclimated to various aspects of patient care. Our academic structure accommodates all of them.
Additionally, our 15-month Accelerated BSN Program boasts a high NCLEX-RN pass rate for those eager to enter the field quickly following immersive coursework and clinical learning experiences. We also have a liberal transfer credit policy ensuring that those who begin their education elsewhere can transfer a higher number of credits into their TESU program, reducing cost and redundancies and making degree completion more attainable. For those already employed as nurses, our undergraduate and graduate-level programs enable them to continue their studies without disrupting their professional lives and livelihoods. These factors allow our new and continuing students to earn their degrees more quickly and efficiently.
How does the Nurses Serving Nurses program work?
What makes us unique is our personalized nurse-to-nurse advising support system. This added value is crucial to those new to the profession or advancing their studies. Our nursing advisors maintain an essential connection to the profession and possess a wealth of clinical experience and on-ground training. Our nurse educators and administrative staff are passionate about nursing practice and pedagogy and seeing our students succeed. The school prides itself on having nurse preceptors who guide our students’ coursework, professional development and clinical rotations. Our campus’ Upsilon Rho Chapter of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, was chartered in 2008. It is integral to our community of nurses who aspire to advocate for health care access while maintaining high professional standards. Our DAISY Awards recognize undergraduates and nursing staff who practice empathy and compassion during clinical experiences. We also have a built-in academic support structure, tutoring, and remediation that quickly identifies and addresses gaps in student learning. Our master’s and doctoral-level students often mentor our undergraduate students. An example is a master’s student teaching undergraduate students about geriatric falls or who advocates for legislation that positively influences health care policy in our communities. We continue to expand on the ways we make nursing education more comprehensive, accessible, and efficient while providing multiple pathways to advanced nursing practice.
How does the Nursing Expansion Grant Program work?
The U.S. Department of Labor awarded TESU approximately $2.8 million in 2023 as part of the Nursing Expansion Grant Program. The program is designed to support public/private partnerships that expand and diversify the nursing workforce, focusing on developing pathways for frontline health care professionals to advance in their careers.
The University has utilized the funding to develop career pathways that address a critical shortage of psychiatric mental health nurses. The cornerstone of this initiative is scholarship support for RN-BSN to MSN program students. According to the McKinsey and Co. Public Health Dashboard, New Jersey ranks 26th in the nation for mental health providers per capita, with a particularly pressing need in the Trenton, N.J., area, home to TESU. The University will partner with state institutions, including Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, and Capital Health, to help alleviate shortages in various mental health nursing services. The public-private partnership funded by the grant also includes the Gloucester County Workforce Development Board and the New Jersey State Nurses Association, along with two community college pipelines: Mercer County Community College and Raritan Valley Community College.
For this grant’s psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner segment, we had 20 scholarship spots available in our Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Program. We received over 47 applications for those spots, with more coming in. There is also a significant focus on training individuals from underrepresented populations to promote greater employment equity in underserved communities, address staffing shortages, and enhance workforce diversity. The program is designed for experienced and new RNs employed in or interested in psychiatric and mental health nursing in New Jersey. Various programs, such as the RN to BSN program, are available. We had 80 spots in those programs, which are now nearly filled. Our challenge now is to accommodate all the interested applicants.
What is the Wittmann-Price Theory of Emancipated Decision-making (EDM), and how has it been used to improve women’s health care?
I’ve had many years of clinical practice in women’s health, and this theory is derived from those experiences and my dissertation about how women make health care decisions for themselves and their families. It’s a nursing model that considers gender differences in the health care environment. I studied the variables influencing women’s choices regarding what suits them and their families. The theory recognizes oppressive elements inherent in the health care system and that women need stronger voices because of the hierarchical and patriarchal aspects of that system. Ultimately a shared decision-making model is needed between health care providers, women, and their families.
Can you describe an experience that significantly impacted who you are today?
I have had multiple experiences with mentors and a support system during critical junctures in my career – from the time I aspired to become an RN to when I was encouraged to return for my master’s degree to those who cheered me on while I pursued my doctoral degree. I am a first-generation college student — the eighth child of 11 in a working-class family. I got into a two-year nursing school only because someone who believed in me offered me a scholarship. From then on, I was propelled by excellent mentors and those who cleared my pathway to degree completion.