SIOUX CENTER—Dordt University celebrated a milestone for its nursing department, recently hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Zylstra Nursing Education Center and Spronk Clinical Practice Lab for its newest academic offering: a master of science in nursing program.
When the master of science in nursing program starts in the 2026-27 academic year, its students will begin the journey necessary to go from a registered nurse to an advanced practice registered nurse.
The program will be flexible, offering two- or four-year tracks. By having such options in place, it’s hoped to appeal more to working nurses looking to advance their careers.
It’s that thought process that led to the decision to have 24 of the program’s 48 total required credits be offered online. The other 24 credits will include 750 hours of clinical experiences and direct patient care, which can take place in the communities of the student nurses.
The nursing program began at Dordt in Sioux Center under the leadership of then-president Carl Zylstra.
The program’s first graduates earned their diplomas in 2007, according to professor of nursing Kate Vander Veen, when the nursing department had only four students.
Nursing is the fourth-largest major at Dordt with 164 students enrolled and more than 370 nursing alumni.
Vander Veen hopes to see similar enthusiasm in the years to come for the latest addition to the nursing department.
“At Dordt University, our nurse practitioners will be prepared as Christian nurses, where their practice reflects their faith. Their gratitude for their Lord’s presence in their vocation, acknowledging the value of anyone in their care as a child of God, worthy of dignity and compassion,” Vander Veen said. “Sometimes, healing will not be the outcome, yet our graduates will lead with humility. They will see their work as an act of worship. They will have the quiet confidence to persevere, to bring the light of Christ to the bedside, to make space for the hope of salvation.”
Dordt vice president for enrollment Greg Van Dyke expressed his excitement for this new chapter in the nursing department and what it would mean for communities in need of quality nurses.
“Across Iowa and throughout the country, rural communities are facing growing shortages of primary care providers. At the same time, chronic disease rates continue to rise and access to consistent preventative care is increasingly strained,” he said. “Family nurse practitioners have been and continue to be an essential part of that solution. For a university like Dordt, rooted in a rural community, responding to needs like this is part of who we are.”
Since having access to excellent, compassionate health care close to home matters to families, he was pleased the program offers the ability for its students to remain in their communities while furthering their education.
“We’ve also seen that when Dordt prepares students well, many of them put down roots in the communities where they train and serve. That pattern has strengthened Iowa’s workforce and communities across the country over time,” he said. “Programs like this continue that legacy, equipping professionals who contribute meaningfully to the places they call home.”
In that way, Van Dyke described this program as more than a new graduate degree but as a commitment to health care for urban and rural communities and to preparing nurses who serve with skill, integrity and purpose as the hands and feet of Christ.