Colleen Carmody-Payne

Assistant Professor of Nursing

In a traditional four-year Bachelor of Science (BS) in nursing program, the focus is mostly clinical.

Not so for Keuka College’s RN to BS program, offered through the Accelerated Studies for Adults Program (ASAP) at 10 hospitals and three community colleges around the state.

“Our students are already registered nurses with associate degrees,” said Carmody-Payne. “They love nursing and they work hard. They have the clinical, technical [knowledge] they use day-to-day. We provide them with the theoretical framework for the profession.”

That theoretical framework is garnered through such courses as Nursing Research, Health Assessment, Leadership, and Genetics, all taught by Carmody-Payne.

“Genetics is unique to Keuka,” said Carmody-Payne. “It is delivered in an online format and was originally developed by Associate Vice President for Academic Programs Jeanine Santelli. In the course, we talk about the ethics of genetics and the nurse’s role as a patient advocate in genetics.”

In Nursing Research, students learn how to critique nursing evidence.

And that’s important since “nurses want to be autonomous—they want to have a voice,” said Carmody-Payne. “We encourage them to stretch to their limits. When they ask questions, their self-esteem improves, their outlook on the profession is enhanced, and they take more responsibility for the profession. The program helps them better understand their role as a nurse.”

In addition to learning from nursing faculty—who Carmody-Payne describes as “dedicated, diverse, contemporary, and committed to the profession of nursing and nursing education”—the students also learn from each other since they go through the program with the same group of students, or cohort.

“In each cohort, there are a variety of specialties represented from obstetrics to oncology,” added Carmody-Payne. “Students talk about their experiences in patient care and organizational management, and even bring to class technology they are using.”