ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — In an effort expand health care workers’ higher education opportunities beyond licensure, Columbia Southern University launches its College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Academic programs in the new college were developed to meet the needs of today’s nurses, specifically registered nurses (RNs), by providing 24/7 course access, relevant curricula and online programming.

• RN to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
• RN to Master of Science in Nursing Education
• RN to Master of Science in Nursing Informatics
• RN to Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Administration of Health Care Systems
• Master of Science in Nursing Education
• Master of Science in Nursing Informatics
• Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Administration of Health Care Systems

Bonny Kehm, Ph.D., RN, who has an extensive leadership career at the state, national and international levels in faculty, nursing practice and nursing education higher administration, will serve as the college’s dean and assistant provost. In 2017, Kehm was appointed by the governor of Missouri to the Missouri State Board of Nursing, eventually serving a two-year term as president beginning December 2021. She also serves on the Nursing Education Committee, an organization dedicated to regulating nursing education. Kehm has dedicated her career to developing next-generation nursing leaders through innovative curriculum design and research.

“We have developed empathic, practical degree programs to help those in the nursing field by stressing technology, health literacy, leadership, ethics and more using contemporary curricula,” said Kehm. “COVID and post-COVID years have shown us that nurses have a strong voice and can foster change. One of our many goals is make sure nurses learn how to empower themselves to make their job, patient care and the health care industry better.”

Nancy Bellucci, Ph.D., MSN-Ed., RN, will serve as the academic program director for the new nursing programs. Bellucci holds more than 18 years of experience in clinical nursing and nursing academics. She is a strong advocate for patient-centered care, taking a student-centered approach to teaching, and promoting the need for mentorship and professional socialization in academia and clinical practice.

Bellucci developed a portion of the curriculum to incorporate Shadow Health software, giving students the opportunity to practice relevant, real-life experiences in their studies.

“Shadow Health is a software that uses avatars and virtual simulation environments to provide students with digital clinical experiences,” said Bellucci. “As some of the state boards of nursing require that nursing academic curriculum include students performing a full head-to-toe health assessment, Shadow Health affords the student with the ability to perform this requirement via a digital avatar.”

In addition to its nursing programs, the university is launching a Bachelor of Science in human services; Master of Science in psychology; Education Specialist (Ed.S.), Curriculum and Instruction; and a Doctor of Fire Integrated Research. Columbia Southern University has launched 54 new programs in 2024.