Concurrent ASN to BSN: A Partnership for Seamless Academic Progression Judith P. Ruland, PhD, RN, CNE Jean D. Leuner, PhD, RN, CNE Linda Hennig, EdD, RN 1
IOM Challenge The Institute of Medicine (IOM), in 2010, mandated that by 2020 50-80% of all RNs in the USA should hold a BSN and that the # of nurse held doctorates should double by that same year. Nursing schools continue to turn away thousands of qualified applicants because of budget and faculty shortages. Within the next ten years, HALF of all nursing faculty will retire the problem will continue to worsen. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198. 2
Background Nurses whose initial degree is an Associate degree are less likely to pursue graduate degrees than are nurses whose initial degree is a BSN. A 20 year history (1974-1994) shows that for every 1000 BSN nurses, almost 200 eventually obtained MSN degrees (20%). During the same period, only 58 out of every 1000 ASN nurses obtained their MSN (5.8%). TWICE as many initial BSN graduates go on to obtain their doctorate as do ASN further complicating IOM s call for doubling of doctorates by 2020. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198 3
Background In 2010, 60% of all new nurses graduated from Associate degree programs, 36% from BSN, and 3% from Diploma programs. Therefore there is a reduced supply of nurses interested in pursuing graduate school. Graduation rates from MSN programs have flattened in recent years further complicating the faculty shortage. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198 4
Solutions IOM recommends creation of more efficient pathways to obtain more education after initial licensure. If the patterns of initial nursing education are not changed, history shows that the stream of nurses into graduate education will not be sufficient to meet demand by 2020. 5
Solutions The Future Of Nursing Aiken (2011) sees a future for nursing where ALL pre-licensure programs grant bachelor s degrees. Requires collaborative partnerships between institutions; community colleges to grant bachelors degrees; high use distance learning technologies. Win-Win Students excited by shortened educational path. Community colleges pleased to provide the BSN. Community benefits by more BSN prepared RNs. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198 6
UCF-SCC Partnership Since 2002, a partnership program in Central Florida has allowed integrated concurrent degree seeking enrollment in both Associate and Baccalaureate nursing programs simultaneously. Program evaluation data confirms positive benefits of more efficient pathways. 7
How Was The Partnership Created? Seminole Community College Increased enrollment. Reserved a percentage of seats in each entering class for students who were on the UCF BSN prg. admission wait list. University of Central Florida Brought specific RN to BSN courses to the SCC campus creating a carefully constructed concurrent ASN-BSN curriculum. Allowed an equal or greater number of qualified SCC students to participate in this structured program while still enrolled in their ASN program. Students admitted to BOTH programs concurrently. 8
Curriculum Development Pre-requisites for both programs were compared and negotiated. Nursing curricula of both BSN and ASN were compared. A curriculum was created where BSN courses were sequenced around the ASN courses each term. Careful consideration was given to what knowledge was pre-requisite to each course. 9
Curriculum Planning SCC nursing curriculum only requires 8-10 credits per term. This allows 3-6 UCF credits per term. Once students graduate from the ASN program, they take the NCLEX and then are able to finish the last 7 to 12 credits of the BSN program. These last credits may be accomplished in one full time or two part time semesters. 10
Admission Criteria Students must meet the nursing prerequisite requirements for both UCF and SCC. Students must be eligible for admission to UCF, therefore they must meet the general education requirements (or hold an AA). Students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 11
Issues Over Time. UCF faculty difficulties with procuring classrooms on SCC campus. Scheduling of UCF courses in and around the SCC scheduled classes, clinical, and labs. Financial aid issues between two systems. SCC faculty concerns over student workload. Consistent messages to prospective students at both schools. Heavy advisement load for UCF faculty. 12
Solutions Additional resources added as enrollment has grown. UCF faculty member is full time on SCC campus, Second full time faculty member on site, Administrative assistant. UCF nursing faculty member and UCF Undergraduate Advisor attend SCC prospective students sessions. SCC nursing advisor works very closely with UCF nursing faculty/advisor for admission decisions. 13
Solutions Program appears in both the schools catalogs to clarify financial aid, advisement, and course registration. UCF classes are delivered in progressive sequence from early face to face classes to eventually fully web based to assist with socialization to BSN level. UCF faculty member attends SCC faculty meetings. Liaison faculty of both SCC and UCF communicate early about any student difficulties. 14
Solutions UCF Undergraduate advisor (non nurse) now guides applicants (from Basic BSN and Accelerated BSN Pool) to the Concurrent program earlier Students no longer have to wait for the notification of wait listing to apply to Concurrent program. Concurrent program is better advertised and understood. Allows for advanced planning. Improves satisfaction with this alternative BSN option. Direct online application to the Concurrent program now makes program more competitive 200-300 applications for 70 seats leads to better quality students. 15
Program Evaluation Formative evaluation data are collected from students and faculty related to the strengths and weaknesses of the program on an ongoing basis. Changes are made using input from all stakeholders. Formal program evaluations are also conducted to assess program success. 16
Evaluation: Participation Beginning in January of 2003 through May 2011, a total of 561 students have participated in the program (43.7% of the total 1285 SCC students). 231 (41%) have been UCF placed students and 330 (59%) have been students directly admitted to SCC. Recently, more students have come from UCF than SCC, because the SCC administration wants at least 70% of class enrolled in concurrent program. Therefore currently 70% are UCF admits to program. However, over time, the admission committee has become a joint committee with blended admission decision making. 17
Participation In Program Year SCC N Concur. N UCF placed SCC placed Jan. 2003 24 10 7 3 2003-2004 108 29 15 14 2004-2005 107 54 22 32 2005-2006 130 62 25 37 2006-2007 166 61 29 32 2007-2008 184 71 33 48 2008-2009 184 73 35 38 2009-2010 182 76 38 38 2010-2011 200 156 109 47 18
Evaluation: SCC Admission Has the advent of the Concurrent program changed the characteristics of students accepted to the SCC program as measured by Nurse Entrance Test (NET), and GPA? Is a different type of student being accepted? 19
SCC Admission GPA Changes Over Time Year entered Mean Adm overall GPA Mean pre-req GPA 2002-2003 2.74 2.42 2003-2004 2.87 2.64 2004-2005 3.01 2.87 2005-2006 3.12 2.99 2006-2007 3.24 3.12 2007-2008 3.26 3.17 2008-2009 3.38 3.29 2009-2010 3.47 3.34 2010-2011 3.49 3.42 20
Nursing Entrance Test NET Exam NET exam was an admission requirement of SCC until 2008 (now uses ATI- TEAS Exam). Measures math skills, reading comprehension, critical thinking, stress level profile, and learning style. SCC used reading comprehension and composite score for admission decisions. Changes over 7 Yrs. Reading and comp scores were compared for the years 2002 (before the program began) through August 2008. During this seven year period, mean NET scores for Reading and NET composite scores increased for admitted students (N=719). 21
Mean NET Scores: Changes Over 7 years Reading Comp. Aug. 2002= 60.35 Aug. 2003= 66.27 Aug. 2004= 67.53 Aug. 2005= 69.81 Aug. 2006= 72.01 Aug. 2007= 73.82 Aug. 2008= 73.81 Composite scores Aug. 2002=60.74 Aug. 2003=67.39 Aug. 2004=68.89 Aug. 2005=71.39 Aug. 2006=72.19 Aug. 2007=76.47 Aug. 2008=75.41 22
Evaluation: Attrition at SCC Has the infusion of a different type of student into the nursing program at SCC, changed the attrition rates? In the two years prior to creation of the Concurrent program (2002-2004), the completion rates for the Associate Degree in Nursing program averaged 63.5%. In the last year for classes entering 2008-2009, the completion rate for the Associate Degree in Nursing program averaged 79.9%. 23
Total SCC Attrition Rate Change Year Entered Number Entered Completed on time with plan of study Completion 2002-2003 92 58 63.1% 2003-2004 108 75 64.4% 2004-2005 107 79 73.8% 2005-2006 130 95 73.1% 2006-2007 164 120 73.1% 2007-2008 188 135 72.5% 2008-2009 193 142 79.5% % 24
Evaluation: Graduation Rates Since January 2003: n=561 participants in Concurrent program 159 are on track completing ASN 389 have graduated with ASN 311 of the 389 (80%) have earned BSN Over the 8 years of the program only 26 Concurrent students have not finished the BSN after completing the ASN/BSN (6% attrition) program. 25
Changes In NCLEX Pass Rates 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 SCC 81.4% 81.1% 84.6%* 91.4% 89.5% 95.1% 93.4% 90.7% UCF 87.7% 92.0% 94.6% 93.1% 87.0% 95.1% 98.2% 94.7% National Average 87.0% 85.3% 87.3% 88.1% 85.5% 86.7% 88.4% 87.4% SCC NCLEX pass rate averaged 83.5% for five years before Concurrent program (2000-2004). Increased to 92% for last five years (2006-2010). * First Concurrent graduates took NCLEX in 2005 26
Evaluation: Graduate Study 67 (21.5%) of the 311 BSN grads are enrolled in or have graduated from MSN programs. Of the 67, 60 were enrolled at UCF and 7 elsewhere. At least 15 Concurrent students have already graduated from MSN programs and are prepared in the roles of Nurse Practitioner; Clinical Nurse Leader; and Nurse Educator. National standard of initial ASN graduates who earn MSN degrees is 5.8%. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198. 27
Positive: Evaluation: Student Feedback ability to start BSN early, convenience of courses at SCC or online; high level of faculty support and flexibility; ability to write improved greatly; ability to integrate BSN content with basic ASN content while learning both. Negative: takes a lot of juggling to handle both curricula simultaneously 28
SCC Faculty Feedback Concurrent students (as compared to non concurrent) reported to excel in: critical thinking abilities; writing ability; clinical judgment; awareness of community health and global issues; leadership ability in classroom and clinical area. 29
SCC Advisor Feedback SCC admissions staff report students now select SCC because of the Concurrent program. This is especially true for second degree students, and those who desire to continue working while getting degree. 30
Lessons Learned Rapid expansion requires resources-faculty, staff, facilities. Advisement is labor intensive and needs to occur years in advance for highest success. Diligent open communication between nursing departments is essential. Strong communication between institutions and departments (i.e. financial aid, registrar) is essential. 31
Benefits Caliber of SCC students admitted has shown improvement over 9 years. SCC NCLEX performance is improved for past 5 year period. Program meets community demand for more BSN prepared nurses. BSN improves SCC graduates marketability upon graduation. 32
Benefits The pathway to MSN is shorter and more direct. Concurrent graduates attend graduate school at a higher (21.5%) than usual rate for Associate initial degreed RNs (5.8%), which may assist with reduction in faculty shortage. Already four concurrent BSN graduates who have now completed MSN are teaching clinically at SCC, six more finishing the Nurse Educator MSN program Summer 2011. Aiken,L. (2011) The future of nursing. NEJM 364:3:196-198. 33
Benefits Allows UCF to expand capacity and increase access to BSN education. Allows SCC to better meet the needs of second degree students. Allows students who may have not waited for a seat in nursing, to begin nursing education rather than choose another related field. 34
GROWING Demand SCC Concurrent program has grown exponentially since its inception. Concurrent program has now been initiated with one other community college partner. Two other Florida State colleges (formerly Community Colleges) with ASN programs are in the planning process with UCF for creating Concurrent programs on their campuses. 35
Model For The Future This partnership model allows each program to teach to its strength. Prevents duplication of services. The community college doesn t then have the need to establish its own BSN or RN to BSN program. Builds collaboration rather than competition. 36
Contact us for more information Judith.Ruland@ucf.edu Jean.Leuner@ucf.edu Linda.Hennig@ucf.edu Curriculum: http://www.nursing.ucf.edu/images/pdf/ucf- SeminoleConcurrentInfoPacket.pdf 37
Questions or comments?? 38
University of Central Florida