Nursing

A message from Dean Roberta Olson

“Thank you for your interest in Nursing at South Dakota State University. The College continues to expand its undergraduate program while maintaining a high quality component. Recently, we have grown our incoming classes to 64 each semester in Brookings, 48 each semester in Rapid City, and 48 in the accelerated nursing program in Sioux Falls, while maintaining an average of 93 percent pass rate on the NCLEX exam.

Graduate nursing education continues to be a strong success story as well. In the fall of 2009, we admitted our first cohort into the Doctor of Nursing Practice. That is in addition to the existing masters and PhD in Nursing degrees that we already offered both on campus and online.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you want more information about our nursing degrees and how you can help impact students at SDSU.”

Dean Roberta K. Olson, SDSU Nursing Class of 1964

The College is working to raise money for these projects:

Scholarships
Scholarships are the highest priority of need for the College. Due to the College’s increasing enrollment numbers and because of the quality of the students admitted, the College is working to establish new Jackrabbit Guarantee named scholarships for our undergraduate students. We are also pursuing additional graduate scholarships for the PhD., Doctor of Nursing Practice and master’s degree students.

Simulation Equipment
As nursing education continues to evolve and the use of simulation scenarios become more prevalent in day-to-day training of our students, the College of Nursing has created state-of-the-art simulation laboratories at all three locations where the curriculum is delivered. The labs include a SimMan Patient Simulator mannequin, a Noelle Neonatal and Maternal Birthing Simulator mannequin, and a Virtual I.V. Self-Directed Learning System. This equipment provides simulation training that enhances the learning experience for nursing students, allowing them to follow through on numerous patient scenarios without risk of harm to the patient or health care provider. Due to the near constant use, the equipment shows wear quickly, so the college has embarked on an effort to establish an endowed fund to provide nursing equipment for the future.

Native American Nursing Institute
SDSU’s College of Nursing has been working to improve health care on South Dakota’s reservations by focusing on educating Native American Nurses. The College also offers Clinical experiences for our Accelerated Nursing Students on both Lower Brule and Crow Creek Indian Reservations and has partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s School of Nursing to bring students to South Dakota for clinical.

For more information about Giving Opportunities in the College of Nursing, please contact:
Keith Mahlum
Vice President for Development
Keith.Mahlum@sdsufoundation.org
1.888.747.7378 (toll free)