Partnerships Help Fund Nursing Program
associate degree nursing program, education, nursing, victor valley college,
Victor Valley College Associate Degree Nursing Program has been turning out qualified health-care professionals since 1977. Its 31st class graduated in June 2008 and some members were the daughters and sons of graduates from years past.
Today the two-year program has about 240 students, and chances are that jobs will be available for those who graduate. Nationwide, the demand for nurses is high, but amid the growing population of San Bernardino County’s High Desert, the need is critical.
With such significant local need and a widening gap between state funding and the cost of operating the nursing program, Victor Valley College has become quite resourceful when it comes to raising funds. Partnership enrollment grants from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office have allowed some 100 additional students to be accepted over the past two years. Likewise, innovative collaborations between the college and local hospitals address the needs of both institutions.
Under one such arrangement, a hospital will contribute $30,000 to $35,000 to the program for each student it sponsors, plus give the student up to $7,000 in scholarship support. In exchange, the student contracts to work at that hospital for a period of time (usually four to five years) following graduation.
“The hospitals are keenly invested in student success,” says Dr. Pat Luther, nursing program director since 1997. “We just graduated the first cohort of students [who were part of that collaboration]. It’s nice for the hospitals to know that the day after graduation, there are nine new employees who are going to be there for the next five years.”
Furthermore, the hospitals can count on the high standard of training Victor Valley nursing graduates have received.
“The best thing we have going for us is a strong faculty that’s very cohesive,” Luther says. The faculty includes experienced master teachers and health-care professionals who choose to teach. State-of-the-art classrooms featuring interactive “smart” technology and numerous resources online supplement traditional lecture formats.
Additionally, the simulation lab has been upgraded to state-of-the-art, thanks to Dr. Prem Reddy, whose generous contributions of more than $1 million prompted college officials to cluster the health disciplines – including the nursing program – under the Dr. Prem Reddy School of Health Sciences at Victor Valley College.
“We have a nine-bed [simulation] unit with cardiac monitors and high-tech mannequins. We use simulation a lot so the students can get experience responding to different situations before they go into the hospital,” Luther adds.
In addition to their medical training, students are required to complete community service hours each semester. “It teaches them that they are part of a community,” Luther says. “And it gives them the mindset of giving back.”
Story by Carol Cowan
Photo by Ian Curcio
