Dean's Message
Thank you for your interest in the Oregon health & Science University School of Nursing. Here you will find pages describing our vibrant community – a community committed to preparing a diverse nursing workforce, to advancing the science of nursing through faculty and student research, and to demonstrating innovative models of practice.
As I write this message, the Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act, ensuring that initiatives can be implemented which are designed to increase access and quality of care, and ultimately, the health of the country, while attempting to control costs. Oregon, no stranger to leading innovation in health care, is already on the path toward the creation of Coordinated Care Organizations, our state’s approach to implementing several provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
The School of Nursing faculty believe that nursing holds the key to the success of these reforms.. The ACA recognizes the role that primary care and chronic disease management can have in improving quality of life as well as containing health care costs. Nurse practitioners are expected to comprise a growing proportion of the primary care workforce. The ACA emphasizes both care coordination and transitional care, nursing roles that have demonstrated improved outcomes for individuals with chronic disease. The basis for these reforms is a well-prepared workforce, a growing body of evidence to support our practice, and a cadre of compassionate nurses ready to assume leadership roles.
Here you will find academic programs preparing future nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and nurse anesthetists, nurse educators, public health professionals and nurse scientists. We have multiple pathways through each of our programs – In the undergraduate program, options are available for students to complete all of their coursework at a partner university, with the nursing courses available on one of our five campuses. Or, through the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education, students may complete all but the fourth year of the program at a partner community college, then finish their final year at an OHSU campus or online. We also offer baccalaureate completion program for students with an associate degree and licensed as a Registered Nurse. Students with a bachelors degree in another field may apply for the accelerated baccalaureate program, a 15-month option. These students may also apply directly for the graduate programs in nurse-midwifery and psychiatric/mental health nursing.
We have a wide range of graduate programs. We offer the Masters of Nursing (MN) in 7 fields of study: family nurse practitioner, psych-mental health nurse practitioner, nurse anesthesia, nurse midwifery, health systems and organizational leadership, and nursing education. We will soon have an additional program preparing adult-gerontological clinical nurse specialists. We offer a program of study leading to the Masters’ in Public Health, a partnership with Portland State University. We offer two doctoral degree programs. Students who are in one of the advanced practice programs have the option of continuing on for the Doctor of Nursing Practice. We also offer a post-masters’ DNP for students who are already advanced practice nurses. Our PhD program focuses on the preparation of scientists, teachers and leaders in the field. Students may enter this program either post-baccalaureate or post-masters. We hope that you will join our community as we venture into a new era of health care.
With warm regards,
Chris Tanner PhD, RN, FAAN
Interim Dean
AB Youmans Spaulding Distinguished Professor
