A greater supply of nurses who are prepared at the BSN level minimally, are needed to address the increasingly complex healthcare and community needs in rural counties. An innovative partnership between a rural regional campus and a university based college of nursing has extended access to baccalaureate education to those based in that rural area. The purpose of this work sought to assess the feasibility of expanding the current distance-based rural BSN program from a systems level.

This project illustrated how the organizational assessment can be used as a starting point to deconstruct the complexity surrounding the feasibility of expansion. The project developed system specific assessment metrics and constructed a strategic plan using logic models. These were used to make decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources to expand enrollments and add a simulation lab at the regional campus. Kotter's eight stage change process was used to guide the process beginning with the assessment, through the planning, and during implementation.