There are waiting lists at local healthcare training facilities for nursing and related healthcare programs. This is due primarily to the lack of qualified instructors as well as clinical placement sites. This situation was also noted in the Brockton Education & Workforce Training Task Force Report Draft, Spring 2010. One innovative solution to faculty shortage being tried at the University of Massachusetts Boston, College of Nursing and Health Sciences are Dedicated Education Units (DEUs). Staff nurses take on the role of clinical instructors for students in the nursing program. The school website calls the DEU approach “a creative response to the education-practice gap”.
Another innovative approach utilized by the Oregon Consortium of Nursing Education (OCNE) is a partnership linking eight community colleges and five universities who have established common standards and share curriculum to better align continuous learning.
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A telephone survey of the needs of healthcare training providers was conducted July, 2011. Information was discussed regarding employment supply and demand in the Southeast training area and if these providers feel their training is meeting these demands. A summary of comments from training facilitators follows.
Massachusetts Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Lisa Morris
AHEC offers Medical Interpreter Training. Lisa revealed “that demand for their programs is interesting”. Many companies do not hire their students into full-time positions but hire on a per-diem basis. Hiring into a full-time or part-time position is slow. Some companies require a certificate and experience to be considered for hire. There students achieve the certificate, but have difficulty acquiring the experience. AHEC suggests their students accept per-diem assignments to gain experience in the interpreting field. Students who complete the AHEC program receive a certificate of completion. They are not certified interpreters. As of January, 2011, a national certification exam has just become available. The exam consists of an oral and written section. The only language currently available to certify in is Spanish. Other languages will be rolled out over time. Lisa mentioned that demand for interpreter training depends on the refugee population coming into an area. Currently, the areas of Worcester, Lynn, Boston, and Springfield are seeing an influx of Nepali, Burmese, Karen, African, and a high Arabic population. Many of these populations are highly trained, some physicians and educators, who are seeking a certificate of completion as an interpreter in their native language. In the Southeast Massachusetts training area, the AHEC graduated a total of 241 students from their various locations this past year (July, 2010 – June, 2011). Their Brockton facility successfully trained 45 interpreters in the languages of Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish. Of one class of 15 students, only 1 graduate was offered a full-time position, the others work per-diem. The AHEC keeps their class size small, accepting no more than 25 students per class, with an average class size of 15 students. Some people who are currently employed by local healthcare companies attend AHEC to earn an interpreter certificate. Many companies will, in turn, reward these employees with a pay increase or a promotion to use their newly acquired interpreting abilities. Lisa knows of two Brockton hospitals with this policy and assumes others do this as well. The interpreter certificate is allowing healthcare workers to advance up the career ladder. Students coming to any of the six regional locations of AHEC can utilize funding from MA Health. AHEC’s website notes that their representatives visit elementary, middle and high schools exposing students, teachers, parents, and administrators to health career professions. Specific recruitment efforts focus on Latino and African American men and women interested in nursing. Their health care recruitment programs have been effective in making area children and faculty aware of the many rewarding career opportunities available to students in healthcare.
Brockton Hospital School of Nursing / Fisher College, Sue Taylor, Dean
BHSN offers a variety of certificate programs in healthcare. They offer a 2 year full-time, 4 year part-time nursing program awarding a diploma in nursing from BHSN. Eligible students also receive an Associate Degree in Science from Fisher College. 150 nursing students are accepted into their program each year, 100 daytime students and 50 evening students. BHSN cannot accept every student applicant to the program and does not feel it is appropriate to expand their program at this time. This is due to limitations acquiring qualified faculty, limited clinical placements, and a reduced number of RN jobs in the region. Students accepted into the program include high school graduates and for the last few years a number of non-traditional students such as men, adult learners and single parents. Sue mentioned “there is national demand for RNs, however, in our area, not so much right now”. BHSN does not offer placement for their students, but prepare them for the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN). Students apply for employment after successful completion of the NCLEX exam. The school surveys their graduates six months after graduating to obtain employment information. From their most recent graduating class, fewer students are employed than they’d like to see. Sue said, this is similar to other programs in the neighborhood. She expects demand to increase over the next few years since nursing is cyclical.
Lincoln Technical Institute Angela Corby, Executive Director
Lincoln Tech ensured that their training institute provides training in topics that are in demand, meeting the current needs of the community. They are very excited to have two buildings in Brockton, MA. One, houses a brand new hands-on clinical laboratory. Inside there is a full massage clinic, mock-ups of doctor offices and hospital settings
Enrollment data was not available during our phone conversation. The acceptance process at Lincoln Tech includes an application, an interview, and successfully passing an entrance exam. If students do not pass the entrance exam, Lincoln Technical Institute instructors will work with the student, at no cost, to help strengthen troubled areas. Lincoln Tech offers students full service placement services. They employ 5 full-time advisors to assist current students and past graduates locate jobs. Lincoln Tech is having great success placing their students in appropriate positions and currently notices a pickup in the economy, helping to increase placements. The Placement Office also offers their students instruction in interviewing techniques, resume writing, and basic soft skills.
Massasoit Community College, Anne McNeil
Massasoit spoke freely about their health related training courses, as listed in Table 19 above. Massasoit runs three nursing programs one daytime and two night programs for approximately 150 – 160 students. Anne was excited to speak about a new clinical lab which will be added soon to the school. This lab is critically needed to support and expand their healthcare programs. Placement services are available for graduates of the nursing program with networks available across the United States. Anne noted very soon there will be a large increase in the age of our population which will require more healthcare workers and healthcare educators. Trained healthcare workers will be in high demand while, at that time, many RNs will be retiring. Massasoit offers courses on the Brockton and Canton campuses as well as now in Cape Cod, New Bedford, and Boston. They are not training in anyone else’s territory since no one else is currently offering these exact programs. New to the healthcare related topics at Massasoit is Polysomnography (sleep technician) program, a Health Information Technician program which will blend the healthcare profession and the IT professional, and an evening program in Billing and Insurance.
Bristol Community College, Mike Metzler, Director of eHealth @ New Bedford
eHealth first began at Bristol Community College’s New Bedford campus one year ago. These hybrid programs combine on-line training with traditional on campus learning. Students attend one day a week on the New Bedford campus where they meet with faculty members and complete their remaining instruction with an on-line component. Faculty support is available for students throughout their on-line component. Bristol will offer a Nursing eHealth component in 2012. Bristol is the first in the area to offer a nontraditional form of educating students with their on-line/on-campus programs. They believe the program format helps both underemployed and currently employed workers gain knowledge in healthcare courses. All healthcare students, including certificate trainings, have access to placement services. Bristol’s New Bedford campus is easily assessable to the community and they only create programs based upon demand from the neighborhoods and believe they are meeting this demand.
Excelsior School of Nursing, University of the State of New York
Excelsior developed one of the first non-traditional nursing programs 35 years ago. Today, Excelsior offers assessment-based degrees in nursing at the associate, bachelor and master’s levels offering an alternative educational approach to earning a degree in nursing to mature working professionals. What makes Excelsior’s Nursing program different is that their program is designed for adult learners with healthcare experience such as current LPNs, paramedical or military corpsmen. Excelsior is proud of a proven high success rate with more than 36,000 RN graduates providing healthcare services in all 50 states. Current enrollment in their Associate Nursing program is 13,000 students. There is no classroom requirement for their programs. A student self-studies following a study guide provided by the school, listen to on-line conferences and lectures, practice on simulated clinical tests preparing them for their 2.5 hour in-hospital clinical exam. Nursing faculty is available for students for tutoring during their program. This innovative model of nursing has years of documented proven success. Their students pass national exams at rates which are consistently equal or better than the national average. Excelsior surveys employers of their students receiving high praise for their quality of work and caring attitudes with patients. This proven methodology allows for different learning styles and circumstances with high quality education and flexibility. Excelsior feels their program provides access to underserved groups such as minorities, males and older workers, and is helping to build a stronger, diverse workforce to meet the needs of the 21st Century.
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