Planning and Assessment Report Executive Summary

NURSING PROGRAM Planning and Assessment Report Executive Summary

The Nursing Program at Shoreline Community College demonstrates dedication to student success by providing rich opportunities to learn in nursing, excellence in the teaching of nursing, and a wide variety of support services for nursing students. Working in close collaboration with the health care community, Shoreline serves the community’s needs for well-prepared nurses and students needs through supporting life-long learning. Comprising six consecutive quarters of nursing courses, the program admits 30 beginning and 6 advanced placement LPN students each quarter. With 173 students enrolled in nursing classes and 354 enrolled on campus as pre-nursing, the program serves a total of 530 students. To meet these needs there are 11 full time faculty members (including the Director of Nursing Education and one full time faculty member on leave) and 14 part time faculty members. The Nursing Program serves students with a wide variety of backgrounds and characteristics in terms of ethnic and racial background and gender. Data from the HP 3000 student records computer shows an increasing percentage from ethnic minority backgrounds. Faculty have identified a high number with limited English proficiency, but exact data is not available from our records.The percentage of men at 15-20% remains above the percent of men practicing nurses which is approximately 6%. The Nursing Program engages in regular self-evaluation through a comprehensive written Program Evaluation Plan. Outcomes are measured in relationship to critical thinking, therapeutic nursing intervention, graduation rates, graduate satisfaction, passing the licensure examination, employment, and wage rates. External evaluations are conducted by the Washington State Nursing Quality Assurance Commission, the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, and the Professional Technical External Review process. Overall the data on attrition/graduation indicate that our attrition is primarily in the first three quarters and most of it is academic in nature. The nursing faculty have instituted multiple strategies including support courses, free tutoring, note-takers, and individualized help to support academic success and decrease attrition. These strategies are showing success in that the overall numbers in the program have risen from 146 to 173 through increased retention.

Outcomes measures have demonstrated that the Program is meeting its outcome targets. The California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory used with graduating students shows a positive score for critical thinking disposition. NCLEX RN (licensure examination) pass rates have remained above both the state and the national average. The Program Reports breakdown on the NCLEX RN results have shown ratings above the 50th percentile (the target outcome) in the areas the faculty identified as critical thinking, communication, and therapeutic nursing intervention. Graduate surveys show high levels of satisfaction with the program. All graduates are employed in jobs meeting the living wage standards for the state. All this is happening as we admit and graduate approximately one-third minority students. The Nursing Program contributes to the goals of diversity and multiculturalism in the college in multiple ways. The Program has a strong cultural diversity thread throughout outcomes in every course. All faculty have engaged in continuing education to increase their own expertise in working in a diverse community. The nursing faculty are currently working with the FIPSE Faces of the Community Project staff to develop a model for highlighting cultural competence in individual student pathways.

This fall the external reviews from both the Nursing Commission and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission identified that our nursing practice laboratory was too small and inadequate for the number of students in the program. This was also noted in the results of the Northwest Accrediting Commission visit ten years ago.

The NCLEX-RN pass score has been increased periodically and is expected to continue to increase based on the job demands of the registered nurse. Based on this the Nursing Program must continually re-evaluate content and standards within the program in order that the graduates will be well-prepared for their future.

The nursing workforce is aging and this is increasing the demand for numbers of nurses. The nursing shortage is being addressed as a major concern for the state. This combined with the current recession is greatly increasing the demand for nursing education. This is apparent in the number of individuals coming to information meetings and the numbers of well-qualified applicants. At the current time the Nursing Program is constrained from expanding by a cluster of interacting factors. One is the difficulty in recruiting qualified faculty into part time positions and the college not creating new full time positions. Another is the challenge of finding clinical sites especially in the obstetrical area. A third concern is the room availability. Currently our classrooms are full and adding students would be problematic. The practice laboratory is already too small for the number of students and adding students would further exacerbate the problems.

The Nursing Commission has announced that the Nursing Technician role will be eliminated from the WAC regulating Nursing. The faculty may need to set up opportunities for students to be enrolled in internships for pay in order to meet the student’s need for employment and the employers needs for qualified care givers.

There is increased interest by LPNs seeking career mobility into RN role. Many of these individuals must continue to work and are interested in part time options. We have applied for various grant opportunities to provide curriculum planning and start-up funds for such a program. We are waiting for results of this effort.