St. John’s College of Nursing hosted the first Nursing Pipeline Preparatory (NP3) program class on Monday, Nov. 4. The class is apprised of 16 freshman high school students from Springfield area high schools.
A special prayer and blessing were given by Father Fredrick and a few faculty from the college were in attendance to greet the NP3 students.
The NP3 is a new program developed by Dr. Charlene Aaron, chancellor of St. John’s College of Nursing. The program brings a diverse group of high school freshman in to the world of nursing and medicine. Students will follow this program throughout their high school career in order to help prepare those students for sciences and nursing coursework at the collegiate level.
“I didn’t have the resources available to me when I was in high school to develop my knowledge base before college,” said Dr. Aaron. “I am a first-generation college graduate and I hope this program will help others who are like me to succeed in their career aspirations.”
Currently the following high schools are participating in the program: Springfield High School, Lanphier High School, Southeast High School, Sacred Heart-Griffin High school, Calvary High School and Springfield Lutheran High school.
If you are interested in finding out more about this program, please call 217-814-5444 or email NP3outreach@sjcs.edu.
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About St. John’s College
St. John’s College, a department of St. John’s Hospital, in Springfield, Illinois the oldest Catholic hospital-based school of nursing in the United States. In 1886, the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis founded St. John's Hospital School of Nursing. Their mission was to care for the sick and needy of the community in a spirit of joy, respect and commitment to competence. Initially the school was created as a two-year diploma program to educate members of the founding religious order. In 1912 the school accepted the first lay women. St. John's School of Nursing transitioned into St. John's College in 1991. Today, St. John's College students can earn a Bachelor or Master of Science in nursing degree. During our long and rich history, we have undergone many transitions. However, the constant has been dedication to the education of professional nurses whose practice exemplifies excellence in health care.
About Hospital Sisters Health System
Hospital Sisters Health System’s (HSHS) mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high quality Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS provides state-of-the-art health care to our patients and is dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable, at each of our 15 local systems and physician practices in Illinois (Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Greenville, Highland, Litchfield, O’Fallon, Shelbyville and Springfield) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Oconto Falls, Sheboygan and two in Green Bay). HSHS is sponsored by Hospital Sisters Ministries, and Hospital Sisters of St. Francis is the founding institute. For more information about HSHS, visit www.hshs.org. For more information about Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, visit www.hospitalsisters.org.