Recently, the Bellevue College nursing program has begun implementing a new pathway to a bachelor’s degree in nursing by making the transition easier between BC level courses and other universities in Washington. The goal of the new program is to create ease of access to courses which are required before transferring to a different university, as well as strengthening the already present system.
The point of the revised pathway for nurses is “so that we can get more nurses to the bachelor level. It is found that when 80 percent of nurses in a hospital are educated, mortality rates go down. The ADN program is just the beginning to a bachelor’s program and prepares nurses for taking higher level classes at other universities. These courses prepare them to take the licensor exam and get an ADN degree,” said the Associate Dean of Nursing, Suzanne Beltz. “We decided to join with other schools in Washington to be able to transfer easily between the ADN programs if students wish to go to another college or university, making it easier on the student when deciding what classes they need to take to transfer.” Including universities such as University of Washington Bothell campus, University of Washington Tacoma campus and Washington State University. Beltz continued to say that the refinement of the program “strengthens the ADN program in a more holistic way to support students to practice with diversity and culture in mind.”
According to the online nursing resources page, BC already offers programs such as baccalaureate degrees in Nursing, associate degrees in nursing and a nursing assistant certification program which all work on developing skills for aspiring nurses in the medical field. The baccalaureate degrees, RN to BSN, are a series of classes which allow registered nurses to become bachelor certified by “enhancing professional values and role development, scholarly inquiry, leadership, communication skills, health information technology and community and public health.” Associate degrees in nursing are also provided on campus with the goal being to “[encourage] the development of competence, critical thinking and collaboration,” in terms of nursing and medical care. Similarly, the Nursing Assistant certified program aids students in gaining supervised clinical practice in real hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as gaining in class laboratory instruction.
Lavinia Ilisan, a nursing student who is taking two years of pre-requisite classes on BC campus, said that after taking a break from classes she feels “a bit of anxiety but [she] really wants to get into the RN to BSN program so that once [she’s] finished [she] can get a bachelor’s degree in nursing.” She hopes to be able to transfer into Northwest University and complete her degree so that she can have the ability to work in an ideal care home taking care of elderly people like her mother does.
If students wish to learn more, resources are available online at www.bellevuecollege.edu/nursing/ or in the nursing administration office, which is located on the second floor of the T building in room 208.