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WSCC nursing program ranked high

Two-year graduates enjoy high employment rates

The two-year registered nursing degree program at Washington State Community College has been ranked No. 7 among all Ohio nursing programs by registerednursing.org, a national nonprofit run by nurses that advocates for the profession, assists prospective nurses in entering the profession and helps nurses advance their careers.

The scores, the organization said, are entirely based on the pass rate of graduates taking the state licensing exam. The WSCC program ranked higher than many four-year programs, and the college claims a 100 percent placement rate for its graduates.

Darla Boone, who directs the program at WSCC, said the program currently has 38 first-year students and 24 second-year students, taught by five full-time faculty, along with several part-time instructors in clinical and lab subjects.

The first-time pass rate for program graduates in 2017, the college said, was 95 percent. The registerednursing.org ranks were determined by an indexing system that included pass rates from 2013-17, with the most recent year being given additional weight. The WSCC program indexed score was 93.49.

Boone explained that nursing licenses fall into two general categories, Licensed Practical Nurse and Registered Nurse. Registered nurse licensing makes no distinction between two-year and four-year degrees, she said, although a nurse with a four-year degree might be paid fractionally more per hour as a new-hire.

Nursing programs can confer diplomas, associate degrees or bachelor degrees. Diploma programs are more narrowly focused on nursing skills than associate degrees, and although sometimes quicker to complete don’t always transfer if the student wishes to undertake further education. Associate degrees include a wider range of studies and the credits are generally transferable for nurses who wish to complete four-year studies.

The top five programs ranked by registerednursing.org were diploma programs; WSCC’s program ranked second among the associate degree programs.

The rankings announced by registerednursing.org included 30 of more than 80 programs in Ohio. Only those that could provide first-time pass rates for the licensing exam were ranked. Programs that placed ahead of WSCC were (with pass rates):

¯ Tri-Rivers School of Nursing, Marion (97.33)

¯ Trinity Health System, Steubenville (96.68)

¯ Baldwin Wallace, Berea (95.46)

¯ Firelands Regional Medical Center, Sandusky (94.94)

¯ Ohio Northern, Ada (94.33)

¯ Northwest State Community College, Archbold (94.02)

The Ohio State University ranked ninth, Wright State placed 16th, and Ohio University (Southern) placed 18th.

Most graduates of the WSCC program get hired locally, Boone said, although some move out of town.

“Most of our graduates obtain employment with the Memorial Health System and Camden Clark Medical Center. Some relocate after graduation, but they are usually employed by hospitals in those localities,” she said.

Despite recent staff reductions, Memorial still has “several RN positions open,” said Jennifer Offenberger, Memorial’s associate vice president of marketing and service excellence.

“We’ve been partners with the college for many years, working with their nursing program. We love it when we can keep community members in local jobs,” she said. “The health industry has significant needs for RNs and our health system has ongoing openings. We appreciate having nursing programs right here, to help grow our own.”

Offenberger said Memorial has hired about 32 graduates from the WSCC program over the past year.

Courtney Huhan, 26, is a second-year nursing student from Byesville in the WSCC program, set to graduate in May. She came to WSCC because it offered the Licensed Practical Nurse to RN transition option. She’d been working as an LPN for eight years in Cambridge when she came to finish her RN training, and now she’s looking at employment possibilities in the Columbus area, preferably in an intensive care unit.

“I love the excitement,” she said.

The WSCC program was her third effort at getting an RN degree.

“The first two were awful, it was like sink or swim,” she said. “Here, they really help you. Every professor is easily available to talk to.”

Kendra Knight, 20, came to WSCC fresh out of high school and is now a couple of months away from becoming an RN.

“I heard a lot of good things about Washington State,” the Davisville, W.Va., native said. “They have been 100 percent helpful, they’ve provided many different clinical opportunities, and they really prepare you for the NCLEX (state licensing exam). They give you lots of resources, and their expectations are really high.”

Knight said she’s applied through the new grad program for work at the Memorial Health System.

At a glance

Washington State Community College Associate Degree in Nursing program:

¯ Ranked No. 7 among all Ohio nursing programs by registerednursing.org

¯ Two-year registered nursing associate degree.

¯ Index score based on 2013-17 pass rate: 93.49.

¯ Students in program: 56.

Source: registerednursing.org

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