|
|
Nursing student Ashley Might checks vital signs during an examination
of the patient simulator
(iStan) during an exercise at Edison Community
College.
|
|
Edison Nursing Program Granted 8-Year Accreditation
Edison Community College...
Edison Community College’s Nursing Program, in its 31st year, has
earned the highest level of accreditation a program can receive from
the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC).
“We’ve been awarded an accreditation for the next eight years, the
highest we can attain,” said Gwen Stevenson, Dean of Public Health and
Service for Edison. “This is the fourth time that the college’s nursing
program has been granted this, the first coming in 1987. We then
received it in 1995 and again in 2003. We’ve held that accreditation
ever since.”
The NLNAC accreditation certificate will be valid up until 2019. On its
web site, the NLNAC champions its accreditation process as a way of
helping to heighten faculty and system awareness and responsiveness to
areas needing improvement, and as a tool for assisting in student
recruitment. It is also a benefit to employers in medical fields who
are seeking graduates who have the skills necessary to become competent
practitioners.
The entire nursing faculty at Edison was involved in the process of
working with the NLNAC prior to the February 2011 site visit. The
process began in January of 2010 with the development of sub committees
tasked with putting together a self-study. In early 2011, the
self-study was submitted to the NLNAC prior to their site visit.
According to its web site, the NLNAC is responsible for the specialized
accreditation of nursing education programs (Clinical Doctorate,
Master’s, Baccalaureate, Associate, Diploma, and Practical programs).
The Commission has authority and accountability for carrying out the
responsibilities inherent in the application of standards and criteria,
accreditation processes, and the affairs, management, policy-making,
and general administration of the NLNAC. The organization is nationally
recognized as a specialized accrediting agency for both post-secondary
and higher degree programs.
At a time when nursing programs around the country are coming under
fire for failing to maintain standards that are required to hold
accreditation, Edison’s program has shown a remarkably consistent
record of quality.
“Students coming in here have the assurance that we have met the
standards set forth for excellence in nursing education,” said
Stevenson. “Going through this process gives Edison an opportunity to
examine our program and measure ourselves against the standards.”
Those standards and the outstanding reputation of Edison’s nursing
faculty and curriculum are what continue to drive students to the
program, and why the program has continued its long history of success.
Edison’s Nursing Program received accolades at the end of 2010, with
the announcement that 100 percent of the spring graduates had passed
the National Council Licensing Examination (NCLEX). In January, 2010,
59 new students started the program.
|
|
|
|
