According to Lesh, in addition to providing funding for tuition stipends and loan forgiveness for nursing students, the Kaiser Permanente relationship allows students to receive mentoring from Kaiser Permanente staff, as well as placement in Kaiser Permanente’s San Diego facility after graduation. “The support from Kaiser Permanente will reap many dividends for our students,” said Lesh. “We’re very pleased that they recognize the quality of our students and want to support them further.”
As another method for combating the nursing shortfall, the School of Nursing launched the Second Careers and Nursing (S.C.A.N.) Program, which allows students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field of study to obtain an additional RN degree. By focusing solely on nursing courses, students earn a nursing degree in three semesters. Like the EENAP Program, the SCAN Program also received support from Kaiser Permanente. “The second degree candidates have demonstrated that they are committed to the nursing profession,” said Judy Husted, M.S., RN, executive director of patient care services, operations, Southern California Kaiser Foundation Hospital. “This is one of the many innovative initiatives we have implemented to address the California nursing shortage.”
The School of Nursing, along with APU’s Center for Adult and Professional Studies (CAPS), recently developed the Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) Online Program. This program offers online courses that allow students who have graduated from a community college program to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
According to Renee Pozza, Ph.D., associate dean of the School of Nursing, the RN to BSN Program remains particularly important because hospitals must often fill their nursing shortfall by relying more frequently on nurses who have received a two-year associate RN degree from a community college. “Studies repeatedly show that patients with baccalaureate-prepared nurses fare much better than those with a less well-trained nurse,” Pozza said. “The RN to BSN Program allows professional nurses to continue their education in order to receive this training.”
