Program Earns “Perfect Compliance” In Meeting All Elements
The Siena Heights Nursing program recently received a five-year accreditation – the best a new program in baccalaureate or graduate nursing education can receive – from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. In fact, the program was found in “perfect compliance” with all elements relating to accreditation.
“I am unbelievably humbled and honored that Siena Heights University Nursing is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education,” said SHU Director of Nursing Dr. Sue Idczak. “This organization represents the highest standards required in baccalaureate and graduate nursing education.”
Siena Heights Nursing met all four standards, including 26 key elements, with no compliance issues.
“This is a remarkable accomplishment for Sue and Siena Nursing,” said SHU President Sister Peg Albert, OP, PhD. “To receive this level of accreditation shows the amount of hard work and dedication involved in completing this process. Sue and her faculty, as well as Sister Sharon Weber, our vice president of Academic Affairs, should be commended for their efforts.”
SHU Nursing has both the BSN pre-licensure program and the RN to BSN degree completion program. Siena Heights was approved in 2008 to educate licensed registered nurses to complete the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, with the first pre-licensure BSN students beginning classes in January 2010. All SHU Nursing faculty hold Master of Science in Nursing degrees, and two faculty are PhD prepared.
“A five-year accreditation is exceptional for the first evaluation,” Dr. Idczak said. “SHU Nursing is so grateful for the support from our entire SHU community, as well from as the Adrian Dominican Sisters, the Board of Trustees, Nursing Advisory Board members and the Lenawee County health care community.”
For more information concerning SHU Nursing, please call 517-264-7180.
Learn more about the RN-BSN program and its requirements
Bachelor of Science in Nursing RN-BSN Program
Registered Nurses who want to apply to the SHU RN-to-BSN degree completion program:
1. You must hold an unencumbered license to practice nursing in Michigan or Ohio.
2. Thirty (30) credit hours of coursework is required to complete the BSN:
• 6 courses in nursing coursework – 24 hours of nursing (each course is 4 credit hours)
• 1 course in Religious Studies or Philosophy (3 credit hours)
• 1 course in Liberal Arts Studies – a senior seminar course (3 credit hours)
3. Nursing courses are across three semesters. Each semester one course is completely online, and one course is in a traditional classroom. The other six hours are either online or traditional classroom but must be Siena Heights courses.
4. Other required courses: You may or may not have completed these courses in your ADN program:
• English Composition – 6 hours (two 3-hour courses )
• Math Competency – we recommend Statistics to prepare you for graduate nursing education
5. You can complete your BSN in three semesters and a summer or across four traditional semesters.
6. Siena Nursing is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Any other questions, please contact the Nursing Division at 517-264-7131.
About Siena Nursing
As a Catholic institution in that Dominican tradition, we believe in the dignity and worth of every human being. That philosophy is embedded into every aspect of SHU’s Nursing Program. When designing our RN to BSN degree program, we listened to what working nurses told us they needed. That means the courses are practical and relevant to today’s health care professional. Students can tie their personal professional experience into the coursework. Classes such as Ethical, Cultural and Spiritual Nursing Practice and Leadership and Heath Care Organizations have a strong thread of ethics, leadership and knowledge of health care systems woven into them.
About the RN–BSN program
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree Completion for Registered Nurses (RN-BSN program) was designed for licensed RNs to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Students admitted to the RN-BSN program must have graduated from a Siena Heights Nursing approved program — either a two-year associate degree nursing program or a diploma degree hospital-based program.
Meet the Nursing program faculty members.
Director of Nursingsidczak@sienaheights.edu517-264-7211 
Instructor of Nursingkkusisto@sienaheights.edu517-264-7213 
Instructor of Nursingldowell@sienaheights.edu517-264-7241 
Instructor of Nursingkhowatt@sienaheights.edu517-264-7245 Instructor of Nursinglklima@sienaheights.edu517-264-7246 Nursing Lab Coordinatorcemery@sienaheights.edu517-264-7217 Instructor of Nursingcwachtel@sienaheights.edu517-264-7244 Learn about the career opportunities you can have with a Baccalaureate degree in Nursing.
A career in Nursing presents nothing but endless opportunities! Nurses work in various kinds of health care settings and utilize nursing knowledge in interacting with people in various health situations. Nurses and patients interact in the moment. Nursing is an art and a science.
To understand what nurses do, read the following definition of nursing by the American Nurses’ Association:
“Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.”
– ANA’s Nursing's Social Policy Statement, Second Edition, 2003
Current positions in nursing are available in most any health care setting. Positions for nurses will continue to be needed as people in the U.S. continue to age, and in particular, as nurses themselves age and retire!
Consider nursing as a major if you like people; are a good critical thinker; like the sciences; and can interact with people when they are in compromised health situations.