By Maisie Covert

Guest writer

After 20 years, Calvin and Hope have decided to conclude the conjoining Hope-Calvin nursing program and design new programs for each individual college. Mary Doornbos, a Calvin nursing professor, said this has been a ``developmental decision'' that the college has been planning for a few years now. In previous years, neither Calvin nor Hope had the necessary capabilities to form separate programs, but with the growth of both schools, including new laboratories and qualified faculty, each can now sustain their own nursing programs. Along with this comes the opportunity to teach and prepare nursing students in ways more particular to Calvin's and Hope's individual curriculums. This new Calvin College Nursing Program will allow Calvin nursing students to ``feel more integrated into Calvin's campus'' Doornbos said, and allow students more opportunities to become involved with extra-curricular activities and interims.

In order to meet the demands of a national nursing shortage and to prepare Calvin's nursing students for the healthcare needs of the future, the Nursing Program plans to prepare students in a variety of ways. Although the program stresses the importance of quality health care in acute settings such as hospitals and clinics, they also want their students to recognize the pressing need for health care promotion in areas outside acute care.

In pursuit of this the Calvin College Nursing Program has developed what they call a ``community-based curriculum.'' This curriculum will focus on health promotion in areas within the community. Students will be placed in areas where the people are, instead of waiting for people to come to them.

``We want to make healthy people healthier,'' Doornbos said. She believes the healthcare trend of the future will be to focus on health promotion, educating people in areas such as nutrition and exercise in order to reach them before they get sick. These community-based programs will be set in malls, schools, churches, grocery stores and other venues and will inform community members about health management growth and development, stress management, and many other areas of health care.

Another aspect of the program that Doornbos was particularly excited about was the plan for partnership among students and members of the community. Doornbos explained that nursing students will be working with members of local neighborhoods to develop a two-year relationship with an individual resident or family while administering basic health care needs. Doornbos and other nursing professors believe that this will allow the students to gain a broader view of healthcare opportunities outside acute care settings. Nursing students will be able to move with their patients, from hospital to home to school wherever they are needed.

After much planning and hard work the Calvin College Nursing program is beginning to blossom. As of last Friday, Calvin was granted permission to begin development of its own Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program by the State Board of Nursing. This was the first step in creating the Calvin College Nursing Program. The second step will take place in January when the college will meet again with the State Board for further approval. At this rate, Doornbos said she was extremely confident that the program will be in progress come fall of 2002.