Cedars-Sinai Gift to Cal State L.A. School of Nursing Further Expands University's Nursing Baccalaureate Program

The School of Nursing at California State University, Los Angeles has received a pledge of $178,500 from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for the education of two “cohorts” of 10 nursing students (a total of twenty students) over three years in the Bachelor of Science Nursing program.

This support is the function of the Cedars-Sinai Institute for Professional Nurse Development, a newly-formed partnership program with Cal State L.A. specifically designed to increase the number of graduates with Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing. These nursing students will complete their clinical rotations at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“The School of Nursing is thrilled at Cedars-Sinai’s support of Cal State L.A.’s nursing program expansion,” said Judith Papenhausen, the School’s director. “Our vision is to increase the numbers of baccalaureate and advanced practice nurses we can produce over the next five years. We are grateful that Cedars-Sinai’s strong commitment to our community and to professional nursing recognizes Cal State L.A.’s proven capability to prepare and graduate well-educated nurses during this severe nursing shortage,” she said.

“With the creation of a world-class nursing institute at Cedars-Sinai, we are working to increase the pool of qualified nurses and to better meet the health needs of our communities,” said Thomas M. Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai. Commented Linda Burnes Bolton, Dr.P.H., R.N., Cedars-Sinai vice-president and chief nursing executive, “In addition to clinical and specialty training, the Institute will offer customer service and satisfaction training to further enhance customer relations and to better meet the changing needs of patients and families.”

In the forefront of nursing education, Cal State L.A.’s School of Nursing currently has approximately 200 pre-nursing majors, slightly more than 200 undergraduate nursing students, more than 100 graduate students and 24 full-time faculty. The Cal State L.A. nursing program has been a unit in the College of Health and Human Services since its inception, and was organized as a department in 1960. Recently granted the status of School, the expansion and development of the School of Nursing characterizes the rapid growth and increased professional status of Cal State L.A.’s College of Health and Human Services over the past five years.
Programs in nursing at Cal State L.A. are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and were recently reaccredited for eight years by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). Since 2000, when it began surveying nursing graduate programs, U.S. News and World Report “Best Colleges” issue has ranked Cal State L.A.’s graduate nursing program among the top five programs in California and made it the highest-ranked program of its kind in the CSU system. Director of the School of Nursing Judith Papenhausen has been leading the University’s nursing programs for the past six years and oversaw the change from department to School status. She has been on the University’s nursing faculty since 1972. Professor Papenhausen received her B.S. and M.S. in nursing, both with high honors, from Cal State L.A., completed predoctoral work at USC and received her doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the president of the California Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Contact: Carol Selkin, Media Relations Director (323) 343-3044