I recently met with Halifax Regional Medical Center CEO Will Mahone and some hospital staff members. Our conversation focused on issues of training. One important piece that came out of that was whether or not we could partner with a four-year institution to offer a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program to complement the associate degree nursing (ADN) program that we already have in place.

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Vice President of Nursing Services at HRMC Karen Daniels expressed in a letter last fall that an RN-BSN program would be extremely helpful. According to her, the hospital looks to magnet criteria for guidance in demonstrating excellence in the nursing workplace. The newest criteria require 46 percent of the RNs have a four-year degree. Daniels wrote, “I have many fine ADN nurses who work here and could certainly go on academically except for the distances required and their need for a cohort peer group to support their endeavor. Is it possible to bring a university program here to Halifax for that purpose?”

In an effort to establish an answer to that question, I met with the Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council. The council is working with community college projects, high schools, superintendents, and the UNC system to bring more programs and training opportunities to northeastern North Carolina. I had a meeting with the council’s chair and we were joined by nursing department representatives from North Carolina Central University and East Carolina University. We talked about the possibility of bringing a cohort program to the HCC campus. Both university representatives were supportive of this idea.

“We are excited about our partnership with Halifax Community College, Halifax Regional Medical Center and the Upper Coastal Plains Learning Council, and the opportunity to offer the RN-BSN program in Halifax County. This partnership will be beneficial to everyone, most importantly to the nurses who wish to further their education. The RN-BSN program at HCC will allow nurses to continue to work, care for their families and advance their education in their own community. The program is designed for the working professional. It will offer face to face instruction, advisement and instruction to technology and learning. This program will be beneficial to all RNs that wish to further their education,” commented Chair of North Carolina Central University’s Department of Nursing, Dr. Lorna Harris.

This support was welcomed news since, according to “A Study of Associate Degree Nursing Program Success,” compiled by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in October 2008, on-time graduates from the state’s community college ADN programs have a high retention rate (90 percent) in the RN workforce. This means that the returns in increasing graduation rates are nearly twice those of increasing program size. Also, on-time graduates from ADN programs enter practice near to where they earn their degree. The study found that half of all on-time graduates practiced within 13 miles of their program of enrollment. Lastly, ADN program graduates are more likely to practice in long-term care, home care/hospice, mental health settings, and in rural counties. Our nursing graduates are more likely to practice in counties designated Health Professional Shortage Areas.

So, now we need to find out if our current RNs in all health care settings are interested in this opportunity. We are developing a needs assessment of how many nurses would be interested in the HCC program for RN to BSN. From the President’s Perspective, I am very excited about the partnerships we are developing to bring another BS degree completion program to the service region especially in the area of nursing. If this concept works well, we will look at other BS degree completion programs needed by our service region in the future.

Please contact the President’s Office at (252) 536-6399 or e-mail me at president@halifaxcc.edu if you are interested in possibly participating in this program. We will hold community meetings in the future to make sure that we have enough interest in the program to bring it to campus.

Now, it is up to the groups affected as to whether to enroll or not. More information will be forthcoming on this program. To learn about our current programs, stop by campus, call us at (252) 536-HCC1 (4221) or visit us online at www.halifaxcc.edu.