Registered Nursing
2023-2024 Program Review

The purpose and function of the nursing unit involves an introduction to the essential concepts of safe and effective nursing care for patients across the lifespan, utilizing the nursing process and evidence-based practice. Concepts include communication, leadership, patient-centered care, professionalism, safety, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, informatics and technology, and quality improvement. The clinical experience is designed to facilitate the fundamental acquisition of core competencies related to nursing clinical practice. The nursing program consists of a combination of general education and nursing courses with related experience in local health agencies. Successful completion of the program qualifies the student to take the National Licensing Examination to become registered as a nurse and eligible for employment. 

Our disproportionately impacted populations include our African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American students. These groups are identified as those whose access to resources and support may be limited, therefore strategies must be identified and deployed in order to reach greater success and achievement in these groups. In addition, it has been a long-time concern of the profession of nursing that the population of male nurses within the profession is 13%. According to data released by the American Nurses Association, men are underrepresented in the profession. Based on instructor feedback, two sub-set categories, single parents and those without health coverage should also be considered.

The unit continues to attain educators of distinct cultures, races/ethnicities, specifically POC to offer greater diversity to better relate to student populations. The unit has accomplished cohort reduction in the first semester of the nursing program. This has allowed for greater hands-on and individualized learning in our hospital setting for new students to better support their educational needs. Homebase is offered to all students as a centralized resource for the student and the person. The Homebase Coach is invited into the classroom to ensure the students are aware of the availability of resources. Prioritization of mental health is being emphasized and additional resources for student support are provided via Canvas. Students are made aware of support courses available through the college such as reading across disciplines or writing across the curriculum. We refer students to DSPS and prioritize suggested accommodations. The DSPS Coordinator has been invited to collaborate with the nursing faculty. Financial aid information is made available to all students including inviting a representative of the department to speak to the students at the beginning of the program. Scholarship information and application processes are shared with the students each spring semester. Student resources are thoroughly discussed as well as the availability of tutorials in relation to learning how to utilize tools necessary. Books/resource distributors are invited into the classroom to demonstrate the utilization of tools available for the course. This semester all N400 students' skills kits and stethoscopes were paid for through grant monies, which greatly benefited our DI students.

Our unit is working towards its ideal future by placing emphasis on and supporting the mission of American River College to provide high-quality education for a diversity of students to develop integrity and intellectual curiosity while also preparing students for the challenge of social, economic, and technological change as they progress into the role of the professional nurse. Success will be measured through continued evaluations, growth in the areas of support services and the student utilization of services, attrition rates, and the NCLEX pass rate which is currently at 100%. Ongoing peer review in accordance with American River College will continue. Additional equity strategies that are projected are to continue to lower cohort sizes in the clinical setting throughout the program from 10 per clinical group to 8 students per group, to allow more shoulder-to-shoulder hands-on teaching.

The unit's intended enhancements support ARCs commitment to social justice and equity by transforming the future of all students and our community through inclusive and equitable education. The American River College Nursing Program strives to uphold the dignity and humanity of every student through a commitment to equitable and social justice through thoughtful education, transformative leadership, and community engagement. Attention will continue to focus on increasing the national average of men in nursing, by offering student support services such as HomBase to this population in order to encourage and support growth in the field of nursing education. BIPOC populations will also have access to HomeBase resources made available within the HEED complex, food closets, mental health services, financial aid, DSPS, and additional coursework that will support learning.

The American River College Nursing Program requires highly educated and diverse educators to meet students' needs. The program requires small cohort clinical classes in order to provide individualized education based on the particular student's needs. Additional resources such as removing additional costs, from the expected $7,000 approximation, highly benefit this group of individuals. Acquiring additional faculty with specialty areas in nursing simulation and virtual reality and a support instructor to offer tutoring in relation to theory content and skills would be highly beneficial. Continuing education for current program staff in relation to DI, culture, equity, and bias would be beneficial.

In order to meet the needs of our unit's DI population many obstacles must be overcome. There continues to be a prevalence of non-minority educators in nursing education. To more effectively reach this population it must be prioritized to hire ethnically diverse instructors in order to create connection and an environment more conducive to these students. Hiring additional instructors continues to be problematic as there is a salary inequity in relation to the clinical sector and what nursing educators are paid in the college environment. This makes hiring a challenge as it is more advantageous for advanced practice nurses to promote their careers in hospital settings. Addressing the salary gap would alleviate this issue. In addition, the pay inequity between theory and lab pay continues to be an ongoing area of distress as the majority of work in nursing by professors is classified as lab instruction. Nursing does not fit in the category of “lab” as it is not a controlled environment and carries great risk for the educator, student, and the population. The lab pay inequity creates an obstacle in relation to our nursing professor retention. ARC nursing faculty positions are perceived less competitive than other colleges in relation to hiring, due to poor salaries. Workload continues to be an ongoing issue as nursing faculty must navigate college logistics as stated in our contracts and all requirements associated with healthcare partners, which is not stated in our contract. This adds several hours of additional time beyond our contracted workweek, which is continuous throughout the semester. These ongoing issues create an environment of insecurity and frustration, amongst our faculty.