ROME – SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and Rome Memorial Hospital Thursday held a ceremony at the hospital to announce an agreement that provides its nurses with convenient access to SUNY Poly’s baccalaureate and master’s-level nursing programs to meet New York State’s increased standards for nurses while providing a new deferred tuition option for nurses who meet certain requirements.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between SUNY Poly and Rome Memorial Hospital designates the hospital as SUNY Poly’s nursing practicum site, offering current registered nurses (RNs) the opportunity to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree completely online at their convenience. With the hospital in close proximity to SUNY Poly, students have resources close at hand and can easily arrange to meet with faculty. 

The Master of Science in Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN-FNP) will be a hybrid program and the Master of Science (MS) in Nursing Education, and recently announced MS in Transformational Leadership in Nursing program, will be offered online to provide busy healthcare leaders a convenient way to obtain higher-level nursing degrees. 

Students who meet grade requirements can take advantage of the deferred tuition aspect of this program in which Rome Memorial Hospital will pay their tuition. Those who do not meet certain grade requirements will still benefit by paying tuition at the end instead of the beginning of the semester. 

“SUNY Poly is thrilled to partner with Rome Memorial Hospital to be able to offer its nurses several pathways to obtain a high-quality education at our institution through this new program,” said Dr. Kathleen Rourke, SUNY Poly’s Interim Dean of the College of Health and Sciences. “Nurses are dedicated to working around the clock to provide quality patient care, so through this partnership, we have found ways to make it easier and more convenient to help their staff reach their professional goals and meet new, more stringent nursing requirements.”

“Rome Memorial Hospital is pleased to collaborate with SUNY Poly to provide our staff with opportunities to advance their professional development,” said Rome Memorial Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Durinda Durr, MS, RN, vice president of Clinical Services. “Research shows that hospitals with a higher proportion of BS educated nurses have the best patient outcomes. They are academically prepared to manage multidisciplinary teams, collaborate and supervise those in new caregiver roles, and care for patients in all settings at the top of their scope of practice.”

Following Thursday’s announcement, representatives from SUNY Poly’s Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions Offices provided individual and group discussions about the agreement and enrollment information. There, employees were able to discuss their individual questions with the SUNY Poly team to better understand how they could take part in the new programs and what the benefits would mean for their specific situation.

The announcement comes two years after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed what is known as the “BSN-in-10” law to encourage continued learning and maintain New York State’s reputation as a leader in healthcare.