Number of nursing grads up at PHCC - Martinsville Bulletin


The number of nursing graduates from Patrick Henry Community College has jumped by 34 — or 243 percent — in the last five years, more than three times the increase across the state for the same period.

In the 2007-08 school year, 48 registered nurses graduated from PHCC, up from 14 in 2002-03. The number of students graduating from community college nursing programs throughout Virginia rose by 67 percent during that time, according to a release from Gov. Tim Kaine’s office.


More than 60 percent of new registered nurses across the country are educated in associate degree programs, the American Association of Community Colleges said in the release. In 2007-08, 1,365 nurses graduated from Virginia community colleges, compared with 817 graduates five years ago.


Virginia’s population will need more than 20,000 nurses by 2020, the release said. In response, a task force of the Virginia Community College System and the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association produced a report in 2005 with recommendations for addressing what they called Virginia’s nursing crisis.


PHCC’s increase stemmed from concerted efforts by the nursing department to ensure “better retention and readmission” of nursing students, said Susan Selman, health science adviser at the college.

The department is “continually evaluating our program and our students in an effort to increase both recruitment and retention of quality nursing students,” she said.


The nursing program typically admits about 32 students each semester. Of those, the percentage of graduates has “significantly increased,” and admission standards have been raised “so students entering the program are better prepared for the rigorous nursing curriculum,” Selman said.


The college’s efforts have centered around better equipping students to deal with the demands of completing the curriculum.


“Nursing is a field that is intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically challenging, and students must make a major time commitment to the program,” Selman said.


Many of PHCC’s nursing students are single parents who have jobs in addition to their classes, she said, and it is “very difficult” to work and succeed in the program.


One barrier to retention is that “often, students have an unrealistic expectation of the curriculum and the field of nursing in general and decide after a few semesters to pursue another curriculum,” Selman said.


But if they stick with the program, it pays off with plenty of job availability and security, she said. After graduating, nurses can find jobs “anywhere in the United States,” though many graduates stay in the area and find jobs in Martinsville, Danville, Eden and nearby cities, Selman said.


“We are facing a scary nursing shortage in the future,” she said. “As America ages, older nurses are retiring, and the demand for nursing care is increasing.”


This growing need extends to many health care careers, Selman said, including physical therapists and physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists and assistants, respiratory therapists, dental hygienists and radiologic technologists. There also is high demand for registered nurses with advanced training, such as nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse educators and nurse anesthetists.


Sometimes, Selman said, students are attracted to nursing careers because of the “tremendous” job prospects, but they do not consider what it takes to earn the degree.


In these cases, “they enter the program unaware of the level of difficulty and work involved,” she said. “This is where the advising piece can come in handy.”


Nursing improvements at PHCC started in 2003. A mandatory course, the Seminar for Success in Nursing, was added to the first semester of the program to teach study skills along with stress and time management.


Admission criteria for the program was revised to include standardized pre-admission testing on vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and math.


Also, the department fine-tuned a remediation course for students having trouble in their nursing courses, called Study Skills for Nursing Success.

Students are allowed to re-enter the degree program after completing the course, and the majority of them go on to become successful students, Selman said.


In 2006, the program began implementing progressive and cumulative standardized testing each semester to help students retain what they had learned from semester to semester.


Then in 2007, in response to the state community college system wanting to standardize admission requirements, PHCC raised admission criteria for students’ GPA from 2.0 to 2.5.


An additional nursing faculty member was hired in 2004 through a Harvest Foundation grant that ended this year. But due to the state hiring freeze, PHCC is unable to fill nursing faculty or recruiter positions “in the foreseeable future,” Selman said.


Selman also joined the department on a 2004 Harvest grant as a nursing recruiter to increase enrollment. When grant funds ran out in 2007, she was retained part-time as an adviser.


As a recruiter, Selman said, “I was a very busy girl!”


Her duties included visiting local schools, talking to civic and church groups, publishing manuals and articles on health careers, working with other colleges to provide a smoother transition for transfer students, creating a health sciences link on the college Web site, and advising students interested in health care careers.


As recruiting efforts fell into place, Selman said, advising became a bigger and bigger part of her job.


“Advising is such an important piece of the student experience,” she said.

“Statistics have shown that when students feel a connection with their adviser, they are more likely to stay in school and be successful.”