Veteran educator Kay E. Thurn assumed the chair of DePaul University’s Department of Nursing on Nov. 1, just as administrators learned that DePaul students recently achieved universal passage on a key national nursing examination.

Thurn, who served more than 30 years at St. Xavier University, most recently as interim dean of its nursing school, will work to expand DePaul’s innovative nursing program.  Thurn is a registered nurse and holds a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing and a doctorate in clinical psychology. She succeeds Susan Poslusny, who has chaired the program for 15 years and introduced many innovations and degree programs during her tenure.

DePaul’s nursing program focuses largely on the graduate-level Master’s Entry to Nursing Program (MENP) that provides access to nursing for the non-nurse with a college degree. Under Poslusny’s leadership in 2000, DePaul became the first school in Illinois to offer such a program.  DePaul’s graduates who sat for the 2009 National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses had a 100 percent success rate in passing the exam, a distinction shared by only a handful of the hundreds of nursing programs in the country.

“We are thrilled to have a professional of Kay’s caliber continue the outstanding leadership our nursing department has enjoyed for many years,” said Charles Suchar, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which houses the department.  “I can think of no greater testament to the quality of our program than the outstanding success of our latest cohort of students who each passed this critical examination.”

Now in its 62nd year, DePaul’s nursing program serves approximately 250 students.  It has grown steadily since its creation.

“While there are almost always good employment prospects in the field, opportunities in nursing are even more widely sought in times of economic difficulty,” said Thurn.  “I look forward to working with DePaul’s excellent students, faculty and staff to make our program even more robust and relevant to today’s marketplace.”

In the1920’s, DePaul became the first Catholic college in the nation to offer courses in nursing. It started its nursing department in 1947 when it initiated a baccalaureate completion program for registered nurses. In 1953, DePaul established the first graduate program for nursing in Illinois that prepares advanced practice nurses for work as nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists and other specialties. 

DePaul’s nurse anesthesia program is offered in collaboration with Evanston-Northwestern Health Care School of Anesthesia, which is one of the oldest and most highly regarded in the country.  Its nurse practitioner program has specialties in the care of adults, families, women and children.  DePaul also offers an undergraduate program designed for registered nurses who want to complete a bachelor’s degree.  This curriculum gives students a holistic education in the liberal studies and upper division professional nursing education along with solid preparation for the study of advanced practice nursing at the master’s level.

Posulsny will continue to administer MENP while resuming teaching duties. Poslusny also instituted service learning programs in nursing, in which students develop their skills by working with the disadvantaged in the community. These include programs for the homeless that provide free foot exams and a recently launched program that provides access to basic nursing services.