Federal law has recently authorized Chamberlain College of Nursing, a for-profit nursing school affiliated with the DeVry Education Group, to accept international students into its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree program. Although the Chamberlain College of Nursing now boasts seventeen campuses throughout the country, international students can only gain access to BSN programs located in Arlington, VA, Chicago, IL, and Houston, TX.
Once enrolled, international students will begin fall semester at Chamberlain College of Nursing starting August 31st, 2015. In line with pre-licensure preparation, internationals will enjoy the same educational benefits as domestic students, including 800 hours of empirical study centering on hands-on training, classroom lectures, clinical exercises, and laboratory experience. Internationals will also qualify for varied scholarship options, which are likewise offered to domestic students.
The decision to expand Chamberlain College of Nursing’s pre-licensure BSN program to include international students is in direct response to the global health workforce shortage. In 2013, the World Health Organization reported did not have the 7.2 million health workers it needed to address global healthcare concerns. By 2035, this number is expected to rise to a staggering 12.9 million.
Major causes of this global healthcare shortage include: large numbers of retiring or resigning workers, lack of young professionals entering into the field, limited amount of highly skilled workers, increased risk of noncommunicable diseases in the global community, and regional disparities of available healthcare personnel.
Susan Groenwald, Ph.D., RN, ANEF, FAAN, and national president of Chamberlain College of Nursing summed up the school’s new direction nicely in a Business Wire feature article published in August 19th, 2015 saying, “By broadening our nursing education to include international students, we are taking another step toward our vision of graduating extraordinary nurses with a global perspective, equipped to address healthcare needs of people around the world.”