TTUHSC Welcomes First Amarillo Nursing Students
The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing today (Sept. 6) welcomed its first class of nursing students in Amarillo. In January, the school joined other area nursing schools in expanding nursing education by offering a Web-based Second Degree Baccalaureate Nursing Degree Program to students in the Texas Panhandle.
The Second Degree Program is designed for students with a previous college degree. The accelerated 12-month program includes coach and nurse educator oversight in the student’s own communities in Abilene, Lubbock, Austin, El Paso, the Permian Basin and now Amarillo. Students in the Amarillo program will gain on-site clinical experience at Northwest Texas Hospital, Baptist St. Anthony’s Health System and the Amarillo Veterans Affairs Health Care System.
“This is the first accelerated second degree program in the Amarillo region,” said School of Nursing Dean Michael L. Evans, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN. “We are very pleased to be joining the other excellent nursing programs in that area to meet the current and future need to educate more students to become nurses. This program is aimed at attracting mid-career, degreed individuals who want to be a BSN registered nurse.”
Accelerated programs, like the School of Nursing’s Second Degree Program, offer the most efficient route to licensure as a registered nurse for people who have already completed a baccalaureate or graduate degree, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have set a goal for 80 percent of the nation’s nurses to earn their bachelor’s degrees in nursing by 2020 to provide safe, quality, patient-centered, accessible and affordable care in the 21st century. Currently the national average of bachelor’s-prepared nurses is 50 percent. Texas stands below that average at 37 percent.
The School of Nursing has an enrollment of six students this fall and plans to have
at least 30 within two years.
For more breaking news and experts, follow @ttuhscnews on Twitter.
Related Stories
Molecular Pathology Preceptorship: Unmatched Value and Experience
Ericka Hendrix, PhD, MB(ASCP)CM, Program Director and Associate Professor in the Master of Science in Molecular Pathology program in the School of Health Professions spoke about the program’s preceptorship.
Moseley Named Permian Basin Regional Dean of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing
Kelly Moseley, DHSc, R.N., has been named the TTUHSC School of Nursing regional dean in the Permian Basin.
TTUHSC School of Nursing to Celebrate New YWCA Location
Community members in central Lubbock now have access to health care services and prenatal programs at one location inside the YWCA.
Recent Stories
Santos Named Department of Surgery Chair for TTUHSC School of Medicine in Lubbock
As the new Department of Surgery chair for the School of Medicine in Lubbock, Ariel Santos, M.D., M.P.H., seeks to elevate TTUHSC’s role as the Hub of Surgery for West Texas.
Covenant Health Brings Kidney Transplant Surgery Back to West Texas
The Kidney Transplant Program at Covenant Medical Center will provide life-changing opportunities for patients suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and chronic kidney conditions.
U.S. News & World Report Ranks TTUHSC Schools Among Best for 2025 Graduate School Rankings
Several graduate programs at TTUHSC have been recognized in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate School Rankings, reaffirming the university’s continued excellence in health sciences education and training.