Written By Al Harley
In the face of a rising national unemployment rate, nurses remain in short supply. An American Health Care Association study released in July 2008 found that about 10 percent of nursing positions nationwide were vacant.
To help address that gap, Carroll Community College’s nursing department has made changes aimed at increasing the number of students who complete the program and can enter the job market.
Carroll started its nursing program in 2001. Twenty-nine students graduated that year. Eighty-nine graduated in the 2008-2009 school year. There are currently about 150 students in the nursing program, according to Nancy Perry, chairwoman of the Department of Nursing. A recent change will allow students to enter the program in the spring semester as well as fall.
Judy Coen, the dean of Business, Mathematics and Sciences at the college, said the nursing department has two key goals: training the students to be safe, competent medical practitioners, and keeping students who enter Carroll’s school of nursing on track to complete the programs.
Students can become Registered or Licensed Practical Nurses through the school’s program. A focus on general nursing training enables students to move into careers or on to further medical training, said Coen.
Starting in 2006, with the goal of retaining students in mind, the department assigned a faculty mentor to each student. The support can keep a student’s education on track during stressful times in their lives.
“They feel like they’re being supported. There’s somebody in their corner that can bat for them,” Perry said.
The school’s support system is not limited to the student body. Professors are also assigned faculty mentors and courses are team-taught. The reinforcement has helped new professors translate their skills as practitioners to teaching, helping the school fill a need for more program instructors, Perry said.
“They get a nice introduction, and aren’t thrown to the wolves by themselves,” she said.
