Chaffey College to Expand Nursing Program
By Annette Wells, San Bernardino County Sun, Calif.
Dec. 16–After exhausting every option in an effort to expand its nursing program, Chaffey College soon will have some wiggle room.
Relief, though, won’t be complete until about 2008 when its $10 million health science center is built.
The center, to be located at Chaffey’s future Chino campus, has received $4 million from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for the express purpose of helping the school expand its nursing program.
Only 40 students each semester are accepted into the school’s registered nursing program. The school receives between 90 and 100 applicants each year, so a large number of interested students are being turned away.
The county operates Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, which, like other hospitals, is impacted by a nationwide nursing shortage. Chaffey College could become a training ground for future Arrowhead Regional nurses, officials say.
“With its new satellite campus, Chaffey College, for the first time, is going to offer a two-year degree program in the 4th District and with our great shortage of nurses, it just seemed like the right thing to do,” said 4th District Supervisor Gary Ovitt, who pushed for the funding.
The nursing shortage, which began in the late 1990s, in recent years has spurred many hospitals and schools to seek new ways to boost recruitment, including scholarship packages and signing bonuses.
Chaffey’s problem with turning students away because of lack of space isn’t uncommon. Cal State San Bernardino is receiving up to 200 applications a year for just 44 spots, said Marsha Raines, dean of the school of nursing.
At Chaffey, Peggy Cartwright, director of marketing, said, “We are really at capacity. We cannot bring in any more nursing students. We have exhausted every option for getting a facility that would allow for more nurses.”
In recent years, Chaffey College has partnered with nearby San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland to create more teaching spaces for its nursing program.
The school currently uses the hospital’s radiological technology facility for student training, which has freed up some space on campus for nursing classes.
Also, nurses from San Antonio’s intensive care and cardiac rehabilitation units are serving as instructors at Chaffey, said Jaynie Boren, vice president of marketing and business development for San Antonio.
Groundbreaking for Chaffey’s science education center is scheduled for some time in May.
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