Inside SNHU's Cutting-Edge Nursing Programs

In our latest interview, Lisa Carr, Business Development Manager for Healthcare Vertical at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), provides an in-depth look at the university's diverse healthcare programs.

Discover how SNHU's affordable online tuition and flexible, asynchronous classes cater to working professionals. Lisa discusses the university's commitment to upskilling current nurses through RN to BSN and MSN programs, their integration of telehealth and technology, and the support offered through dedicated advising, career services, and partnerships for clinical placements. Learn about the resources available for student success and mental well-being, and find out why SNHU might be the right choice for your nursing education.

Learn About SNHU's Healthcare Programs with Lisa Carr

allnurses: Let's start with your name, role, and organization. 

Lisa: Lisa Carr and I am the Business Development Manager for Healthcare Vertical at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). 

allnurses: Great. Can you do an overview of the programs you offer and what you think the main reason is that students are choosing Southern New Hampshire University for their nursing program?

Lisa: Absolutely. We offer everything from nursing to Healthcare Administration and the business-side of healthcare. Then, of course, IT, Psychology, Sociology, and Business Management, so its all-encompassing. We offer online, unless you're in Southern New Hampshire, in which case you can attend our lovely campus in Manchester, New Hampshire.

allnurses: Affordability is a major concern for many students. Can you talk about Southern New Hampshire's approach to making the programs financially accessible?

Lisa: Absolutely, and I think this is something we do well. We have been touted as having some of the lowest online tuition in the nation. In addition to that, we offer tuition scholarships to partners of ours, which is kind of what I do. I go out and find organizations and healthcare systems that want to do a partnership with us to offer discounts to their employees. 

Then, of course, also federal financial aid and any scholarship opportunities that they find. They get to work one on one with a financial aid advisor to make sure that they're getting the best fit and the lowest cost to move forward with their education. 

allnurses: Nice, and you mentioned that you partner with some healthcare organizations. Are there specific ones, or do they have to have certain qualifications for you guys to partner? Or are you just like we want to get the biggest reach?

Lisa: Yes, we do not pick and choose. We want to meet small organizations and the larger ones that need us. We want to make sure we're bringing flexible, affordable education to their employees and family members.

allnurses: I'm sure you experienced many people looking for an Advanced Nursing Degree are already working professionals. How do the Southern New Hampshire University programs cater to this demographic?

Lisa: I'm glad you asked that because that is what we do. We do not offer pre-licensure nursing; we are post-licensure, so most of our students are working individuals.

Knowing that, you can choose to take one class at a time or two classes at a time. It is completely online and asynchronous—so you know your due date for homework each week, but we don't tell you when you must be in class to complete that homework. It's meeting somebody that needs to work, care for children, or have 5 different people in 5 different places; where they're at.

allnurses: In light of the growing demand for nurses, what specific strategies is your program implementing to graduate more qualified nurses?

Lisa: Being that we're a post licensure program, we don't add to the RN population. We do offer RN to BSN and MSN options to upskill those current nurses. We want organizations to keep the nurses they have just get them to that next level so they can hire those new RNs, so we can just keep that cycle going.

allnurses: How is your curriculum adapting to address the evolving needs of the healthcare field such as telehealth and technology integration?

Lisa: That is a great question, because we have updated our courses recently to include telehealth assignments and integrated simulation software, which has electronic charting and note writing. 

allnurses: With the nursing shortage, what are the biggest challenges your graduates face on entering the workforce? 

Lisa: That is easy — it is finding mentors and residency programs. 

There's just not enough of those nurse educators and those people that are willing to do clinicals because they're just too busy. Nursing is hurting, and we need to put more nurses out there, but we need people to help them get there. 

allnurses: And with so many choices for nursing school, what are the key factors that you're hearing as the reason for someone selecting a specific school?

Lisa: Actually looking at who teaches at that school. All of our RN to BSN and RN to MSN professors are doctoral prepared, so knowing that you're getting the best education by somebody that actually knows the field, I think is a great reason to choose a school. 

Also the ability to personalize your program. Instead of just going into nursing, say you wanted to go into nursing with a psychology component to it, you can personalize your degree here.

allnurses: What resources does your program offer to help students succeed academically and then secure the first nursing job after graduation?

Lisa: That is great. We offer a dedicated nursing advising support team. So one of the things that makes us stand out, hands down, is our advisors — they're working the job.

Again, we're post licensure program, so we do know our students are working, and we have support for them if they are looking to get into a different degree. We do have a career services team that works with them — with the ability to help them portfolio build, elevator pitches, interview practice, resume building, even as far as going into LinkedIn and helping them make sure their LinkedIn profile is good and attractive to those looking.

allnurses: Does your program have any partnerships with local healthcare facilities for clinical rotations or job placement?

Lisa: Absolutely, we do across the country, and it is actually my job to look for those. So, we partner with these individuals, and then I connect them with our nursing team to talk about the clinical placements. Being that we are an online university, we are only as good as the partners that stand beside us.

allnurses: What are the key qualities you see in successful students at your school?

Lisa: This goes for any school — time management, organizational, clinical researching, critical thinking, networking skills, especially in that family nurse practitioner role, you definitely need your village.

allnurses: Can you tell me about any faculty achievements or areas of special specialization within your programs.

Lisa: I think I touched on this a little earlier, but all of our full-time faculty is doctorly prepared in our RN to BSN and our MSN programs, so that is definitely something we're proud of. We offer the following tracks at the MSN level:

• Family Nurse Practitioner
• Healthcare Quality & Safety
• Nurse Executive Leadership
• Nursing Education & Population Health
• Post-masters Certificate in Healthcare Quality & Safety.

allnurses: Do you offer any specific options for non-traditional students, like accelerated programs or online learning?

Lisa: We have rolling admission first of all, I don't think I talked about that. So, there are multiple start dates a year. It's not like that traditional university where you have a Spring semester and fall semester, there are multiple start dates. 

We offer the ability to take one course at a time, or two, so it's dependent upon you and what you need out of it. 

And we also offer accelerated programs, like our accelerated RN to MSN. So that's for somebody that's an associate degree nurse (ADN RN), that knows they want to go into that MSN directly. They can go right from associate degree to master's degree seamlessly.

allnurses: How does your program address student mental health and well being, especially considering the demanding nature of the nursing profession?

Lisa: In addition to our general resources, SNHU offers students what we call our Penny, our chatbot, that recommends services and resources for them. We also have nursing continuing education that gives students mental health counseling and helps them process everything that's going on. 

allnurses: How does your program utilize social media and digital marketing to reach prospective students? What has worked the best for you?

Lisa: We utilize social media — TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. I know the nursing side of the house, so LinkedIn has absolutely been big for us. On our student side though, TikTok for sure, that's the new thing, so TikTok. We also post blogs often so we can share those with individuals.

allnurses: All right, I've got one last one. What advice do you have for students looking to select a nursing program that's right for them?

Lisa: Just don't be scared. First of all, it's just a conversation, and I think the biggest mistake some people make sometimes, like, "Oh my gosh, they're looking at me. Oh my gosh, I have to talk to these people.” It is just a conversation to see what fits you best, and you may have to have multiple conversations with multiple people to find your perfect fit. 

Quote

We want to be a player, not the player.

You have to find your right fit, but have the conversation, and don't be scared. 

allnurses: Great. Thank you so much Lisa.

Lisa: You bet, thank you. 

Learn More About Southern New Hampshire University 

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with more than 3,000 on campus students, over 170,000 online students, making it one of the fastest growing universities In the nation. Since its founding in 1932, the University has transformed from a school of accounting and secretarial science into an institution offering over 200 programs, from certificates to doctoral level degrees including business, education, liberal arts, social sciences, nursing, healthcare, and STEM.  Click Here to Learn More