CIU nursing program receives state board approval.

• Position: Columbia International University

Columbia International University's Bachelor of Science in Nursing program has been approved by the South Carolina Board of Nursing, greenlighting the program to open in August for the 2022-2023 academic year.

The nursing program is led by Jill McElheny, a nurse with 27 years of health care experience including service with the Samaritan's Purse medical disaster team.

Columbia-area hospitals as well as an organization serving lower-income population centers are ready to welcome CIU nursing students for clinical experience, according to a news release from the school. Prior to that training, students will practice on manikins in CIU's state-of-the-art Skills and Simulation Center. On-campus science labs, currently under construction, will provide nursing prerequisite science courses.

"With every clinical course they will spend four weeks in simulation on campus before they spend four weeks in the hospital or the clinical setting," McElheny said in the release. "During those four weeks of simulation, we'll debrief and learn...