Dr. Erica Jastrow Joins WPU Faculty

January 26, 2021

When Dr. Erica Jastrow first arrived at Lenoir Rhyne College over 20 years ago, she quickly learned she’d have to choose between two passions: nursing and education. But after two years spent as a Registered Nurse working at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston–Salem, she decided she could in fact do both. 

The new Assistant Professor of Nursing and Program Director for the RN to BSN program at William Peace University retired her scrubs for slacks after receiving her masters in nursing education in 2004 and her doctorate in higher education leadership in 2019. Jastrow spent the years in between as an educator, molding community college students into caring and competent healthcare professionals and expanding opportunities to those with the drive to succeed.

“Through all my work, I’ve always wanted one thing: to help students and nurses expand their knowledge,” Jastrow said from her new WPU office. “I believe in lifelong learning, and I want to encourage students to be lifelong learners and to continue with their education beyond the bare minimum.”

“That’s what makes me most excited: helping nurses continue on their path to education.”
In her role at WPU, Jastrow aims to inspire students to pursue more education so they’re able to achieve higher degrees in the future. During her years as a community college professor and administrator, she did just this, growing degree programs to include an LPN to RN program and an ADN-BSN dual enrollment program so students could graduate as registered nurses.

Jastrow now brings this experience to WPU’s RN to BSN program, which offers registered nurses with an Associate Degree in Nursing the ability to receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in as few as 12 months. As a longtime proponent of continuing education, Jastrow is a perfect fit for the job. 

With the program now being offered 100 percent online, it increases the flexibility for students to enroll and graduate. Jastrow hopes to also build out more opportunity through new partnerships with local community colleges and healthcare employers.

“I’m looking forward to reaching out to various partners so more employees and students can expand their career passion through a degree at WPU,” she said, adding that regardless of background, the best nurses are those with an inherent desire to help people.

“People certainly get into nursing and healthcare for the stability and income, but what I’ve seen over the years is that the people who are the most successful are coming to it because they truly care about helping others,” Jastrow said. “I think through this program we can find and support these individuals to help them further their education and follow their calling.”