Posted by
Steve on Wednesday, April 02, 2008 6:18:51 PM
Today, I had a doctor visit. While there, we talked about what I do. I teach students that intend to go into nursing for a career. So, we compared notes on his experience with students that are training to be doctors and mine with nurses.
He was amazed at the lack of interest the students he teaches are. They act bored and disinterested. These are people that will in a short time, be making life and death decisions based on the knowledge they gained as a student. If they are bored and disinterested, they will not be able to make informed decisions.
We compared that to the regular doctor I visit. She is knowledgeable about just about everything in medicine. He has the same impression. He is impressed with how much she knows and how much energy she puts into her medical practice. He is trying to get her to cut back because she has some shoulder problems that would heal with some rest. My doctor is the type that will not rest. She is concerned with providing her patients the highest quality health care possible. That is why after we found her 8 years ago; we have followed her from place to place.
I told the doctor I visited that my nursing students seemed very interested in nursing. But, the competition to get into nursing school is highly competitive. Even though there is a nursing shortage in Arizona and across the country, there are a limited number of students that can be admitted to any nursing school. This makes the competition fierce for those few positions. I know my students are looking for any edge they can get to get into the nursing programs in this area.
One program that eases your way into the nursing program is the bi-lingual nursing program. This program picks nursing students that can speak both English and Spanish and puts them in a fast-track program for nursing. The students are supposed to be fluent in both languages when they start, but some get in because they are fluent in one and acceptable in the other. Because the students speak to each other in both English and Spanish during their classes, they become fluent in both languages by the time they graduate. There was one student I had who was barely acceptable in Spanish in the beginning. At her graduation, she gave the graduation speech in Spanish. That was a big accomplishment for her. She got in because her daughter also applied and was accepted. Her daughter spoke better Spanish in the beginning. The man who gave the speech in English could barely speak English in my class. I was really proud of him in his ability to learn English. It will serve him well.
This bi-lingual nursing program has them take their three years of pre-req’s in two years. Then they are admitted to the nursing program. If they get a D in any class, they are dropped out of that cohort. They can be picked up by the next cohort. Some have dropped from one cohort to the next. The first class of 30 students, graduated 21 nurses. Three more graduated with the next cohort the next year. That is a pretty good success rate. The cohorts are now started twice a year instead of once. That is really meeting a need here in the Phoenix area.