Accelerated Program Design

Transcription

1 Accelerated Program Design Putting our Students on the Fast Track to the Job Market Madelyn Danner MSN RN CCRN CEN CNE Donna Rowan MAT, RMA Michelle Moulton MSN RN PCCN Daryl Lazaro Hawkins MSN RN

2 Objectives Present design options for early completion of health profession programs Compare outcomes of accelerated and traditional students Discuss the merits and the challenges of accelerated programs

3 Background Identified need for increased numbers in the health care workforce First accelerated program in 1971 in St. Louis Concept of accelerated programs supported by AACN

4 Background Accelerated MA program implemented 2006 Accelerated Day RN program begun Summer 2007 Weekend/evening Accelerated RN program added Summer 2010

5 Accelerated MA Historically, medical assisting has been offered in an accelerated program at technical career schools and colleges. Community College programs typically require a longer time period to complete. Our program offers 7.5 week term courses which enable the student to complete an additional course in a semester.

6 Accelerated MA HCC offers enrollment in the spring, summer and fall semesters which lend to an accelerated pace. The College also offers a few courses online allowing the students an opportunity to take an additional class without traveling to the campus.

7 Accelerated MA HCC offers college level courses and 69% of the students enrolled in our program graduate with an Applied Associate of Sciences degree. An articulation agreement with Towson University affords our students the ability to transfer 64 credits from HCC! Currently there are 4 HCC students enrolled in the BTPS (Bachelor of Technical Professional Studies) program at Towson.

8 Accelerated RN Who Are Our Students? Two accelerated RN tracks Weekend-Evening Accelerated (WEA) Day Accelerated (DA) Student selection process Applicant requests accelerated program Meet standard admission criteria Phone interview LPN to RN students added to cohort for last DA course If transferring from traditional program Theory grade of >B No clinical contracts

9 Accelerated RN Who Are Our Students? DA (N=60) WEA (N=70) Traditional (N=188) Male gender 25% 15.7% 15.4% Minority culture 16.7% 30% 21.8% Age Prior degree 31.7% 47.1% 29.8% GPA Admission points And.. Competitive, engaged learners

10 Accelerated RN Program Design Summer Fall Spring Summer Traditional Off MS I / MH MS II / MCH Off DA Funds MS III WEA Funds MS III Addition of DA students adds 1 clinical group to each traditional course If there is a course failure, they may repeat the course and continue on in the traditional program

11 Accelerated RN Program Design - Summer Courses Accelerated Traditional 12 weeks 15 weeks 6 hrs of theory/week 4 hours of theory/week 16 hrs of clinical/week 15 hrs of clinical/week What is the same? Total # of theory & clinical hours What is different? Delivery of theory & clinical hours Salaries covered by grant

12 Facilitating Student Success Development of Nursing Student Success Program Addition of Retention & Remediation Specialist Collaboration with other support services Engaging students in activities of their professional organization

13 Outcomes Academic Years DA (N=56) WEA (N=48) Traditional (N=140) Retention Rate 97.5% 83.0% 87.1% NCLEX Pass Rate 1 st Time 96% 85.5% 88% Increased our # of graduated RN students by 1.5 times Outcomes have remained the same and are improving! Total # of Traditional RN graduates = 140 Total # of Accelerated RN graduates = 89

14 What Has Worked Prior college degree not essential to success Allowing flexibility to move between programs Small class size during condensed period Screening of applicants wishing to transfer from traditional to accelerated Creative delivery design

15 Areas to Improve Better screening process for admission Teaching needs adapted to this different type of student Track more data to identify ways to make changes and improvements to meet each group s needs Translation into the workforce

16 Selected References American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2010). Accelerated programs: the fast track to careers in nursing. Retrieved from Cangelosi, P.R., Whitt, K.J. (2005). Accelerated nursing programs: What do we know? Nursing Education Perspectives, 26 (2), Korvick, L.M., Wisener, K, Loftis, L., & Williamson, M. (2008). Comparing the academic performance of students in traditional and second-degree baccalaureate programs. Journal of Nursing Education, 47 (3) Penprase, B., & Koczara, S. (2009). Understanding the experiences of accelerated second-degree nursing students and graduates: a review of the literature. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40 (2)