DONALDSON – Ancilla College Division of Nursing and Health Sciences has made changes to allow students to graduate with an associate degree in nursing in four semesters.
“We are happy with the changes in our curriculum and admission guidelines,” said Director of Nursing and Health Sciences Ann Fitzgerald. “This allows students to be admitted directly into the program. The admission tests and state licensing requirements have not changed, but Ancilla has made the program simpler to get into and quicker to get through.”
The entire RN program can be completed in four semesters with 62 credit hours, she said.
The advantage at Ancilla over other nursing colleges is that class sizes are limited to just 10-12 students. This gives Ancilla student-nurses more individualized attention.
“Faculty know our students. We know their challenges and we know what kind of support they need,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not uncommon for a staff member to be staying late to help a student or call a sick student at home. That’s the Ancilla difference.”
With flat-rate tuition, Ancilla students can take from 12-17 credit hours for the same low rate of $14,700 a year – the lowest-cost private college tuition in Indiana.
“Private means personal,” Fitzgerald said. “None of us are here for the money. We are here because we believe in the mission of the college to empower learners to better themselves through education.”
All economic indicators show the health care industry is booming.Jobs are plentiful in this field. Data shows one in four new jobs will be in the health care industry in the next 10 years. Ancilla also offers a one-year LPN to RN bridge, a Medical Assistant certificate, and CNA, Health Science, Exercise Science, Professional Health Studies and more programs and degrees.
“We offer a lot of one- and two-year options to Ancilla students that get them into the work force,” Fitzgerald said.
This year, Ancilla hired a simulation coordinator to run the iStan program, a robotic mannequin that helps nursing students practice classroom applications on a computerized “person.” The nursing lab has gotten a face lift as well, Fitzgerald said.
We’ve partnered with local hospitals for clinicals. A lot of people don’t know the Ancilla College campus at The Center at Donaldson is home to the Catherine Kasper Life Center, an assisted living facility with a memory unit and the Maria Center, an independent living facility, she said.
“We offer a lot of inter-generational opportunities to our students within walking distance,” she said.
Additionally, the school added residence halls, a dining hall, and doubled its athletic teams in the last two years.
For more information about the Ancilla Nursing Program and related degrees, start at the Division of Nursing and Health Science page or follow this link:ancilla.edu/nurse.
Ancilla College (www.ancilla.edu), part of The Center at Donaldson, offers 25 associate degrees, eight one-year certificates and has 20 athletic teams. Since 1937, the college has been a sponsored ministry of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. It is a small, private, liberal arts school located two miles south of U.S. 30 on Union Road near Plymouth, Indiana.
