Nursing-program partnership forms

Ouachita Baptist University and Baptist Health have announced a partnership to educate prospective nurses and get them ready for jobs.

OBU, a private university in Arkadelphia, has a new bachelor of science in nursing degree program with an inaugural class of 23 students in the fall semester.

Baptist Health College Little Rock, the teaching component of the Baptist Health System, has a dual enrollment registered nurse/bachelor of science-in-nursing program.

The OBU and Baptist partnership will allow nursing students to work as registered nurses a full semester earlier than most traditional bachelor’s degree nursing programs, officials said.

Students would attend OBU during the first four semesters of the program. They then would continue degree work through OBU online classes while simultaneously enrolled at Baptist Health College Little Rock to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing degree.

Students will take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses midway through their senior year. Once the students pass the exam, they will be licensed to work as registered nurses during the final semester of their senior year while completing OBU’s bachelor of science in nursing requirements for graduation.