Transforming Nursing Education in California
Dr.’s Wickman and Callis traveled to San Diego to attend the COADN/CACN (California Organization of Associate Degree Nursing/California Association of Colleges of Nursing) Joint Fall 2018 Conference, October 24 to 26th.
This conference allowed us the opportunity to network with nursing deans and directors across the state as well as leaders from the California Board of Registered Nursing.
National and Statewide Efforts
National and state innovative efforts are well underway to promote increasing the number of BSN graduates. The National Education Progression Nursing Collaborative (NEPIN) aims to advance the 1 million incumbent and 90% of the new ADN graduates to the BSN or higher by 2025. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) supports and calls for a seamless transition to baccalaureate and master’s degrees (2018).
Academic Collaboratives
Several out-of-state colleges and universities shared what they have in process with regard to CEP (Concurrent Enrollment Programs) in an attempt to meet National Benchmarks. Universities and Community Colleges are collaborating to create a four-year curriculum whereby students can concurrently enroll in coursework at the Community College and the University, so as to complete a BSN degree in 4 years.
This provides a significant decrease in cost to the student, as well as addresses the ongoing challenges of clinical placement/displacement. Students are able to enter a Concurrent Enrollment Program as a BSN student. Notably, the Vanguard RN to BSN program supports such a dual enrollment collaborative and many students from our local community colleges complete their BSN degree at Vanguard and can do so in one year with an accelerated study plan.
The Future of a Highly Educated Nursing Workforce
Complex healthcare demands call for evolving nursing roles to meet the complex needs of population health, social determinants to health, and interprofessional approaches to care. The BSN further enables nurses to practice across multiple settings and to the fullest extent of their state licensure and scope of practice.
