School of Nursing Set To Mark Decade of Training Students

The California Baptist University School of Nursing, which marks its 10th anniversary this fall, has developed a prescription for success: qualified and caring faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and vision to improve healthcare outcomes in the community.  

 Dr. Geneva Oaks, dean of the School of Nursing, has been with the school in various roles since its beginning. She noted the school has a reputation that faculty are committed to student success.

"Students say faculty invest in them personally and care about them as people," Oaks explained. "It inspires them to be the best nurses they can be."

This fall, approximately 720 students will be pursuing degrees in five nursing programs, including CBU's inaugural doctoral program, the Doctor of Nursing Practice. This is dramatic increase from the inaugural 62-student class that enrolled in two programs in 2006.Since its founding, the School of Nursing has graduated more than 760 students.

Oaks said that during the past decade, the university has provided needed resources for learning such as the state-of-the-art Nursing Annex, which opened in 2014

The annex includes faculty offices, skills laboratories, classrooms and a computer laboratory. There is also a state-of-the-art simulation studio that places students in virtual reality scenarios such as administering aid in a village in Thailand or helping patients during in an emergency waiting room after a disaster.

"It is like a wow factor, the innovation and state-of-the-art technology we have," said Dr. Juliann Perdue, professor of nursing. "The student learning [becomes] evident as they can take their experience in simulation into the patient-care setting."

Oaks is also mindful of the impact the School of Nursing can have on the community and sees the opportunity to accomplish the university's mission through service. CBU is the only university in Riverside County that offers a bachelor's degree and above in nursing.

"Research supports that the [higher] level of education of the nursing workforce translates into better outcomes for patients," Oaks said. "CBU is here to offer that higher level of education."