Fewer nurses in Central Oregon have a bachelor’s degree in nursing than the rest of the state, but Oregon State University-Cascades is pushing for an online degree program to help the region catch up.

The two-year-program would allow licensed registered nurses to earn a bachelor of science in nursing while continuing to work at their present jobs.

The Oregon State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the program on Monday, according to a university press release. But before it can officially launch, the program must be approved by the statewide provost council and the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, according to OSU-Cascades’ assistant dean of academic affairs, Kara Witzke.

“It’s a step in the right direction towards approval,” Witzke said of the board’s decision.

“But we have two more important hurdles to clear.”

Witzke, who called herself the “faculty champion” of the nursing program, said Tuesday that less than 40 percent of nurses in Central Oregon enter the workforce with a bachelor’s degree in nursing — the majority have an associate degree.

That’s compared to 45 percent of nurses throughout Oregon and 42 percent nationwide. Only 30 percent of nurse leaders have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, Witzke said.

When hospitals have nurses with advanced degrees, there is a lower risk of death and failure to rescue in those facilities, she said.

According to Pam Steinke, chief nursing executive for St. Charles Health System, over half of the group’s nurses have a bachelor’s degree.

“St. Charles Health System fully supports OSU-Cascades’ decision to launch a bachelor’s program for nursing students,” said Steinke in an emailed statement. “We understand that the national shortage of nurses continues to increase and hope that by training bachelor’s level nurses in our own community it will help with our hiring needs in the future.”

Witzke said the St. Charles hospital network is shooting for having 80 percent of its bedside nurses have a bachelor’s degree — a benchmark recommended by the Institute of Medicine in a 2011 report.

Central Oregon Community College Instructional Dean Julie Downing, who oversees the school’s health and science programs, said nurses with bachelor’s degrees typically become “nurse leaders” in supervisor roles. COCC, which offers associate degrees in nursing, plans to help its graduates “seamlessly transfer” into OSU-Cascades’ nursing program, Downing said.

OSU’s press release states that if approved, the nursing program should start in the 2019-20 academic year. The university will partner with COCC and St. Charles Health System to recruit nurses from the Bend area, according to the release.

Vice President of University Relations Steve Clark said although anyone could take the nursing courses, because they’re online and not at OSU-Cascades’ Bend campus, “the program was created to serve Central Oregon.”

Witzke said the estimated cost for the 42-credit program would be $12,500 per student, a cheaper cost than all four other nursing bachelor’s degree programs in Oregon. The university is hoping that the statewide provost council and the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission will look at OSU-Cascades’ proposal in the fall.

—Reporter: 541-617-7854;jhogan@bendbulletin.com