In June 3, 2007 Fresno Bee, there was an article about the recently passed Assembly Bill 1559 which would require Community College nursing programs to implement merit-based policies.  The article discussed local community college response and highlighted a near straight-A student who is hoping her name is picked in the lottery for the nursing program at Fresno City College.

The topic in this article is something that nursing leaders have discussed with our community college leaders many times.  In fact, the Paradigm Program was developed in 1999 to address some of our frustrations when hospital staff, who are committed to nursing already through their work in the hospital, were not lucky enough to be selected by the lottery system 3 - 4 semesters.  Through the Paradigm Program, our staff who meet the qualifications of Fresno City are able to move into a Paradigm slot if they are not selected through the lottery.  As of April, 2007, 118 additional RNs (Community employees) have graduated and passed their State Boards through the Paradigm Program.  Two years ago, however, we did increase our GPA requirements from 2.5 (required by the college) to 3.0 for Community's Paradigm applicants because we had a number of Paradigm students who were unable to keep up academically with the program, and graduates who were never able to pass their state boards. 

In this time of a critical shortage of RNs to care for the patients in our valley, when there are 16 - 20 candidates for each nursing student slot available, we must work together to ensure the right candidates are selected for the programs and that there is support for those students who need it during the program to prevent drop outs when possible.  I participate in the San Joaquin Valley Education Consortium, funded by the governor which has identified 4 strategies to increase graduating RNs by 250 each year beginning January 2008.  It is important to ensure the right candidates are selected for our nursing programs to increase the odds that each will successfully complete the program to ensure we will have enough nurses to care for those who need them in our valley.

I support the concepts in AB 1559, which is endorsed by the California Hospital Association, although details of what "merit-based policies" are not clear.  I hope that Nursing Leaders along with Community College Leaders will be able to work together to design the best implementation if this legislation becomes law.  That is still to be determined since the bill has only passed the Assembly but still has a ways to go.