Sponsored by Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University
As a nursing student in the 1980s, Dr. Amy Hall says she never could have imagined all the doors that would be opened for her by having a nursing degree. Hall currently serves as dean of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University’s School of Nursing, and she is the co-author of two nursing textbooks.
“The possibilities are endless,” Hall says. “Even though it’s a challenging plan of study, it becomes very rewarding and manageable, because if it’s something you like, you’re going to spend all your time wanting to know more and more about it.”
FranU is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. In 1923, the School of Nursing began when several students traveled from Monroe to downtown Baton Rouge to attend classes and care for patients in a newly established hospital.
Today, the school has grown into a university organized into three academic schools: the School of Arts and
Sciences, the School of Health Professions and the School of Nursing. An Open House on Oct. 28 will highlight more than 20 undergraduate and graduate programs in Arts, Sciences and Health Professions.
While many things have changed over the last 100 years, the tradition of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University forming servant leaders to work as nurses and other health professionals in our community has only become stronger.
“We emphasize those Franciscan values of justice, humility and respect for other people,” Hall says. “They are nurses who have excellent clinical judgement skills, and we continue in that tradition of excellence of caring for individual patients no matter who they are and where they are in that moment in time.”
Today, FranU offers multiple paths for students who would like to enter the nursing profession, or for current nurses who would like to further their education and receive advanced degrees.
For students who would like to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, the two options include a Traditional Pre-Licensure BSN Program, as well as an Accelerated Pre-Licensure Program. The accelerated program is growing, Hall says, with the second cohort of students graduating in December and a third cohort that started in August.
Many of FranU’s students face the challenge of completing the rigorous course load while supporting themselves financially, Hall says. FranU gives them options. Some choose to earn their degrees at a slower pace while working parttime, many of them as hospital techs or aides. Others enter the accelerated program so they can begin earning a nurse’s salary in 16 months.
Additionally, FranU offers a Master of Science in Nursing program, which is a Family Nurse Practitioner option. FranU offers the benefit of expedited entry for its BSN students that allows them to apply and start classes the semester after they graduate with their BSN. “It’s a nice gradual way for our students to get used to graduate school and still transition into their new career as a professional nurse,” Hall says.
The final option is a Doctor of Nursing Practice, or DNP, in Nurse Anesthesia. The program is for nurses with a bachelor’s degree and at least one year of experience in critical care, who want to administer anesthesia.
More information about FranU’s School of Nursing can be found online at franu.edu/academics/schools/school-of-nursing.
