Bill Klaproth (Host): This is Today in Nursing Leadership, a podcast from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. I'm Bill Klaproth, and this podcast episode is brought to you by Western Governors University. You can visit them at WGU.edu/health. They're known as the University of You. I like that. It feels good. It feels good to me. I like it.

With me is Kimberly Kelly-Cortez. She says I can call her Kim, so I'm going to call her Kim. I'm going to call you Kim.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Wonderful.

Host: Thank you for giving me that permission. We also have Melissa McLaren with us as we talk about transforming the nursing landscape through competency-based education. Kim and Melissa, welcome.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Thank you, Bill, for having us.

Melissa McLaren: Really excited to be here today.

Host: I'm excited you're both here. You two are a lot of fun. Even in the pre-show interview. You guys should have your own show. I think. I like it.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Thank you. Thanks.

Host: Yeah. We're going to call it the Kim and Melissa Show. I like it.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: I love it. It's fantastic.

Melissa McLaren: I'd listened to it.

Host: I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right. Kim, let me start with you. So, what is WGU's competency-based model of education or CBE and how does it relate to nursing education?

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Well, we're a nonprofit accredited online competency-based university, and it was established in 1997-- we always say, before you could even Google something, we were there-- so by 19 visionary US Governors. So, we serve all 50 states and we've awarded over 400,000 degrees since our inception, so just a few. Our institution offers more than 80 programs in health, education, technology, and business. And the Michael O. Leavitt School of Health was founded in 2006, and it includes over 20 programs in health and nursing.

So, our competency-based model of learning presents a non-traditional approach to education, so allowing students to progress at a pace suited to their individual needs. So rather than relying on the number of hours you spend in a classroom or something, we all call seat time, the students advance after mastering the material. So, this model enables students to accelerate through that familiar content and concentrate on areas where additional understanding is required. So, providing that more personalized learning experience why we are the University of You.

So, our programs are specifically designed for non-traditional learners, particularly working adults. Our goal is to create opportunities that enhance the workforce without detracting from it. I always like to say we don't want to pull from the workforce to create the workforce, so we strive to minimize admission requirements and accept all qualified applicants. Our outcomes demonstrate significant success as our students consistently meet or exceed national averages in licensure and certification examinations, including things like the NCLEX and the NP certification exams. So, just some of the things that show you that competency-based education works.

Host: Kim, that all sounds great. I really appreciate you explaining all of that to us. So, let's get into the different programs that you offer. I think that'll be very helpful. So, what kind of health and nursing programs do you offer via this competency-based education at WGU?

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: As previously mentioned, WGU offers over 20 nursing and healthcare programs within our Leavitt School of Health. This includes the RN to BSN Program, Health Information Management, Public Health and Healthcare Administration, among others.

Additionally, we provide an initial licensure program that is offered in referred to as the pre-licensure BSN program. So, all programs utilize our competency-based education model. As we know, our country's experiencing a nursing shortage crisis, I don't have to tell anyone from this audience. And we're proactively taking steps to address this serious issue. We launched our Bachelor of Science and Nursing Pre-Licensure Program in 2009, which is rapidly expanding and is now available in 24 states with more to come. This program aims to introduce competent nurses to the workforce addressing the nationwide nursing shortage. Our pre-licensure program is a competency-based accredited hybrid program that prepares students for the registered nurse licensing exam, also known as the NCLEX exam.

So, most of our program coursework can be completed online, and that is very different to many other programs. And to support our nursing students, we train them at our regional nursing labs and also partner with clinical organizations for their clinical rotations. And that's really important, because the students get to do their education where they live.

Our immersive clinical model allows students to work the same schedule as their preceptors, 12-hour shifts, whether they're days, nights, weekends, or holidays, and really provides that comprehensive look at being a nurse and what it's like to be a nursing professional. This helps mitigate the reality shock that so many of us experience with our new graduate nurses as they come on and start to work those 12-hour shifts in the hospital.

Our students have participated in the handoff reports, the communication with physicians. They know how to use the EHR at the facility. So consequently, these students are better prepared for the professional challenges they will face post-graduation. So, we have clinical learning and simulation centers across the country. We have three of them right now, a fourth one that's about to open, and a fifth one that's planned.

And the RN to BSN program that we have has been redeveloped to streamline its structure. This way, we've updated the program. It does align with all the new baccalaureate essentials, and it ensures the content requirements needed by our students to address this changing healthcare landscape. The exciting thing is that program can now be completed in 12 months. And again, all of our programs are made for working adults. Melissa's going to talk to us a little bit about our exciting graduate programs.

Melissa McLaren: Thanks, Kim. So, as we mentioned, we have a number of graduate program offerings and Health Sciences as well as Nursing. So in Health Sciences, we have a Master's of Healthcare Administration and a Master's of Public Health.

But for those interested in graduate nursing programs, we have quite a few. So Kim mentioned our RN to BSN program, but we also offer the RN to MSN as well as lots of different MSNs in Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership and Management, and nursing Informatics. So for those who already have an MSN, we also have postmasters certificates in Nursing Education or Nursing Leadership and Management.

Now, say, you want to go the nurse practitioner route. Well, we have two master's programs. We have the Master's of Family Nurse practitioner and the Master's of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse practitioner, and we also have those both available in the postmasters certificates.

Host: So, it sounds like you have the programs covered a lot of offers.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Yeah, we really do. We try to always expand the portfolio and really talk to our healthcare partners and find out: What do you need? What are you struggling with? What is that opportunity that's hard to fill? And again, because we don't want to pull from the workforce, we want to create a workforce, we do a lot on upskilling the current workforce that they have within their organizations and within their facilities. And that's why our portfolio has to be ever-changing. You have to really be nimble and really decide: What do we need? What are we lacking? What opportunities can you provide? So, those are the things that we've been looking at.

Melissa McLaren: to that point, so a recent example is we had clinical partners coming to us and saying, "We have newer nursing graduates. They've completed their program. They are moving into charge nurse roles and maybe don't have quite the level of skills that would help them best succeed in that role." And so because of that, we actually have a nursing leadership certificate that is really designed to help recent graduates or even nurses who have been in the field for a while, but are stepping into those early leadership roles, like a charge nurse, like a pod leader, like those roles that do require a higher level of leadership skills. And this certificate program, which can be completed in three months, is perfectly designed to help them with that need.

Host: All right. Let's stay on this topic of addressing workforce needs with things changing all over the place. So Kim, how does this CBE model help address these needs when things are always changing?

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Great question. Post-COVID, we've witnessed workforce shortages, which everyone in this audience understands, but also an increased demand for all healthcare professionals. And you really do see this in rural regions. It's particularly pronounced in those areas.

So, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the registered nurse workforce is projected to grow by 6% over the next decade. So, factoring in nurse retirements, workforce exits transition in your practice, there will be approximately 200,000 job openings each year, really reflecting this nationwide requirement for nurses. So, we need innovative ways to expand education access, and increase the number of skilled professionals who can work while learning.

So, competency-based education's flexibility helps upskill and re-skill individuals to meet healthcare's, evolving need, and changing landscape. The CBE model aligns beautifully with nursing practice. As we all know, nurses always have to demonstrate their competency at the bedside. And we even have annual competency sessions that our practicing nurses go through. We want to emulate that and reflect that in our education and have our students also demonstrating that competency and really training these ready-to-practice nurses.

So, one of the interesting things about nurses and trying to attract them to various areas is that students often remain in the communities where they were clinically trained, so wherever they typically completed their clinical rotations. However, in those rural areas and regions, without strong nursing education support, they can face challenges really trying to recruit nurses into those types of areas, especially if they did their education elsewhere. They tend to want to stay there. So, there's an expectation that these students will return to their original community.

Well, for us, with what we have in our flexibility and the way we're able to do our model, we can provide education and training and learning opportunities in that student's own community. This will help diversify the nursing workforce and support those communities that typically have difficulty attracting those individuals to join the nursing profession. Since research does indicate that patients that are treated by nurses with similar cultural, socioeconomic backgrounds often experience improved health outcomes, we really have to look at ways of how can we attract nurses that look like the communities that they serve, that have those same backgrounds, those same experiences, and they know the same obstacles that their patients are trying to overcome. And that's why at WGU, we consider this an important factor as we aim to build a nursing workforce that resembles the community in which they serve. And Melissa's going to talk a little bit more about our healthcare profession.

Melissa McLaren: Well, healthcare is an amazing profession, and there are so many routes for initial entry into healthcare. But for those wishing to expand their career options, continuing their education opens a lot of doors. So, for example, magnet hospitals, hospitals recognized for nursing excellence and superior patient outcomes require all nurse managers and nurse leaders to hold a baccalaureate or a graduate degree in Nursing. Surveys conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, or lovingly referred to as AACN, also show that nearly 28% of employers require new hires to have a Bachelor's degree, while 72% strongly prefer that baccalaureate-prepared nurse.

And the current demand for masters and doctoral-prepared nurses for advanced practice, clinical specialties, teaching and research roles far exceeds the supply. AACN also recognizes that higher levels of education significantly improve patient outcomes. And there continues to be a very high demand for nurse practitioners. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 46% growth in the number of NP roles over the next decade with about 135,000 job opportunities. And our FNP program has consistently had first-attempt pass rates well above the national average.

Host: Well, we need NPs.

Melissa McLaren: Yeah.

Host: Without question. So, that's a growing field, and we need people to get into that profession. Going back to what you said, Kim, about having people that grew up in the community, caring for people in the community, people look at it as like, "You're like one of us. You understand me, right?" That's why it's so important to try to retain those homegrown talent, if you will, and put it in on their way.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Exactly. That's really what you want, is you want individuals from your community taking care of your community. Those shared lived experiences are something that you just can't teach, and it's invaluable to our patient population. So really, that's what you're looking at in that by providing the education in the community and, for us, being able to keep the students in the community while they learn for the majority of their program, even an initial licensure program, which is typically unheard of being able to do that.

So, keeping them in the community that entire time, you have a better opportunity and a better chance even by our healthcare partners of retaining and recruiting someone from their community that will stay on the long road that it is. It's not an easy profession at times, and therefore it's so rewarding. And to have someone from your community to be a part of this is just something you just don't see every day.

Host: And programs to entice them to stay always helps with nurse retention as well, which is really important.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: It really is important. It's nurse retention. But also, you have to remember in nursing programs, especially in pre-licensure nursing programs, but pretty much every program that you have, you have to do some sort of clinical rotation. You have to do that as part of the requirement for you to be able to sit for your licensure exam. And so, it's something that we work with with our hospital partners trying to really give our students that opportunity that they need to get the learning that they need at the bedside.

However, it's hard for our hospital partners to have that much capacity, right? To have the capacity that's needed to train all of the new nurses that we need. And so, when they're training individuals at those hospitals, their hope is that they're going to stay. And whether it's a hospital or it's an outpatient center, or wherever healthcare facility they're at, they're hoping that that clinical placement, that learning opportunity is going to lead to an applicant, to someone that I can hire to stay here.

But if they don't live there, the odds of them staying are quite challenging. So in our academic practice partnerships that we like to do at Western Governors is we want to make it to where it's most advantageous for the student and the hospital partner by providing you with this opportunity to really train the next generation of nurses in your community and therefore stay.

Host: And that's where you come in and why you're so helpful.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Correct. Because we have that availability.

Host: Okay. So, let's talk about your impact. You're in there, you're helping out in the field. Can you talk about how your programs have created an impact in the field of Nursing and Healthcare Education?

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Yes, I'd love to. So, the Leavitt School of Health at Western Governor's University has graduated over a hundred thousand individuals, and we currently serve approximately 25,000 students nationwide.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, the Leavitt School of Health conferred 5.4% of all Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Nursing across the United States. So, a pretty big footprint. WGU's competency-based education model is enhancing access to high quality nursing education by offering an alternative to traditional pathways. This approach fosters a competent community workforce, ensuring a consistent pipeline of compassionate caregivers who can better connect with the patients through a deepening understanding and empathy.

The cost of nursing programs is another barrier. Many prospective students from underserved backgrounds need to work full-time. Yet some nursing programs actually discourage any type of employment or say that you're not going to be successful if you are working while you're studying. We do not believe that at all, and we've created all of our programs for working adults.

Furthermore, transitioning into nursing from another career, which happens quite frequently, also involves significant financial sacrifice in debt, creating additional obstacles. So as a nonprofit university, we're looking to take away all the barriers that we can. We can't take away every barrier, but we do try to minimize as many as we can.

One thing we've done recently in 2024 is we introduced the Innovative Renew Fund. It's a $100 million fund to help aspiring nurses pursue their career dreams of becoming a nurse. The fund help covers that last mile training costs for pre-licensure nursing students, including the cost of in-person lab and clinical placements.

So, we're always looking to continuously add innovative health and nursing programs, and also innovative ways to obtain this degree that most people so desire. And we offer scholarships to help our students accomplish their dreams and change their lives. And Melissa's going to talk about a few of the other opportunities that we have at WGU.

Melissa McLaren: So like many universities, we offer scholarships and services to help our students succeed. But we also have a secret ingredient that's part of our unique approach to student support. So each student has a personal mentor with them every step of the way to help them navigate barriers set and achieve academic goals. And we strive to provide that perfect blend of support, but then also that nudge to accomplish those goals that we all need from time to time. And our graduates share with us all the time how important their mentor was in helping them to the finish line. They know their mentor's name, we see them at graduations. They say, "I would not be here without so and so there the whole time giving me kind of the kick that I needed sometimes to get me there to be my cheerleader on the side."

And what's amazing about WGU is that we are wherever your laptop is. So our students, as we've talked about a lot, are in communities across the nation who may not otherwise have easy access to school. Those students go to school while living and working in their communities. They become graduates who stay in those same communities with the same shared experiences and communities values as their neighbors. And to me, that is the most powerful impact WGU has to improve lives through the transformative power of education so that our graduates can positively impact the health and wellbeing of their communities, of their neighbors. I love that about WGU.

Host: I really like the personal mentor at can see where that's really beneficial to have somebody right there if you have questions or issues or problems or to help you work through things. Really important.

Melissa McLaren: And sometimes students just need to vent about how school is hard. And they're doing school while they're still living, while they're moms and dads, while they're employees. And sometimes just having that person to unload your frustrations on and just have that safe space of someone who has been there is just incredibly helpful and helping our students kind of make it to the finish line.

Host: Yeah. And the convenience aspect of it as well. I love how you said we are where your laptop is.

Melissa McLaren: Yep.

Host: Very convenient. So you're making it easy, which is really important. Well, this has been fascinating. Thank you both for stopping by today. I appreciate it. Before we wrap up, final thoughts. Kim, how about you?

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: I'd say my final thought for anyone, thinking of going back to school, know there are options. There are ways for you to actually obtain your dream. WGU is one way. There are others, but just think about these non-traditional pathways.

There are programs for working adults. There are programs that can help you while you want to get your next step, whether that's initial licensure, whether that's going back to your graduate programs, whether that's becoming a nurse practitioner or maybe something outside of nursing and some of our other healthcare supportive careers and job opportunities that we have. Really looking at that and knowing that we are here to help you. We want you to achieve your dream, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that we have the resources you need to be successful. Just know there are opportunities out there.

Host: Nicely said.

Melissa McLaren: And I would only add that one of our leadership principles of WGU is we say that we are student-obsessed. Every decision we make puts students at the center. And so not only do we try and decrease barriers, but we literally partner with you shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand to get you across that finish line. And that is why we are the University of You.

Host: Bam. There it is. Drop the mic, Melissa. Wow. Like it. Way to wrap it. I like it. But I think you both had really great things to say. As you said, Kim, remember, there are options. You have always options. So, that's really important to remember. And student-obsessed.

Melissa McLaren: Student-obsessed

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Always.

Host: There you go. Well, thank you both for your time today. Really appreciate it.

Kimberly Kelly-Cortez: Thank you so much for having us.

Melissa McLaren: Yes. This was a lot of fun.

Host: Yeah. For me too, so I enjoyed speaking with both of you. Thank you again. Once again, that is Kimberly Kelly-Cortez and Melissa McLaren. And for more information, please visit aonl.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. And once again, we want to thank Western Governors University. You can visit them at wgu.edu/health. This is Today in Nursing Leadership. Thanks for listening.