RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2008
CONTACT: Audrey Bailey, (919) 807-6963
Chancy Kapp, (919) 807-6962
Study of Nursing Programs approved for community colleges
Raleigh – Today (Friday, 2/8/08), the State Board of Community Colleges approved a contract for a major study to help identify the best ways for community colleges to respond to North Carolina’s urgent shortage of nurses.
The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will conduct the study, which will focus ideas to improve program retention and increase pass rates on licensing exams for students enrolled in Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) programs in the North Carolina Community College System. The $65,137 contract runs from today through June 30, 2008.
The North Carolina Community College System prepares the majority of registered nurses educated in the state. The State Board is undertaking the study in response to recent trends that indicate the state has a nursing shortage now and will face growing demand, with the possibility that by 2020, the supply of registered nurses in North Carolina will only meet 70% of the demand.
According to the North Carolina Board of Nursing, 8,129 new registered nurses (RNs) began active in-state practice in North Carolina between 2005 and 2006. An analysis done for that Board conducted by North Carolina Health Professions Data Systems shows that only 51.5% of those RNs were educated in North Carolina.
Of those North Carolina-educated RNs, close to two-thirds (about 65%) earned their credentials in one of the 55 Associate Degree Nursing programs in North Carolina’s community colleges. However, the state loses a number of potential RNs, because more than 40 percent of the students now going into community college ADN programs drop out for academic, financial, personal or other reasons.
Identifying reasons for the attrition rate and analyzing the best practices of the most successful community college nursing programs are two key aspects of the study begun today by the State Board. Referencing the 2005 National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission’s Accrediting Manual, the study will also look at appropriate measurements for student progress and success, including graduation rates, student performance on licensure examinations and job placement rates within a year of graduation. Also of interest are factors influencing the decisions of nursing graduates to practice in North Carolina elsewhere and whether to pursue nursing degrees beyond the associates’ level.
The goal is to have data in time for the short session of the NC General Assembly. Deliverables include a PowerPoint presentation and policy brief by April 30, 2008 that summarizes key findings from the analysis and outlines the potential implication of the findings for policy makers.
The only other item on the Board’s agenda was the approval of Quinita “Shante” Martin as the new Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs for the North Carolina Community College System, effective March 3. Ms. Martin is presently an Assistant Attorney General with the North Carolina Department of Justice. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill where she received both her B.A. in Psychology and Juris Doctor. She replaces David Sullivan, who is leaving the System Office for Fayetteville Technical Community College where he will become the Vice President for Legal Services and Risk Management.
The North Carolina Community College System enrolls more than 800,000 students in 58 comprehensive community colleges. Internationally recognized for the scope and quality of its programs, the System is North Carolina's primary provider of workforce preparation and adult education. For details, visit www.nccommunitycolleges.edu.
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Friday, February 08, 2008 04:17:38 PM
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Audrey Bailey.