I had an opportunity to participate in a press conference to celebrate the beginning of our LVN to RN Bridge Program this past Saturday with Senator Mike McGuire, HSU President Tom Jackson, Sutter Coast CEO Mitch Hanna, and California Endowment Program Director Geneva Wiki.

Our LVN to RN Bridge Program is extremely important to the delivery of healthcare in Del Norte County and the entire North Coast.  The LVN to RN Certificate of Achievement will prepare students for careers as Registered Nurses (RNs) and get them ready to take the National Council Licensing Exam of Registered Nursing (NCLEX-RN).  The LVN to RN Program Learning Outcomes include the following:

• The student will implement nursing care to patients, families, and groups from diverse backgrounds in a variety of settings that is compassionate, age and culturally appropriate and based on a patient`s preferences, values and needs.
• The student will participate as a member of the interprofessional healthcare team in the provision of safe, quality patient-centered care.
• The student will identify best current evidence from scientific and other credible sources as a basis for developing individualized patient-centered plans of care.
• The student will participate in data collection processes that support established quality improvement initiatives.
• The student will implement strategies that minimize risk and provide a safe environment for patients, self, and others.
• The student will use evidence-based information and patient care technology in the provision of safe, quality patient centered care.

We would not have been able to put this historic Del Norte Campus based program in place if not for the support of several of our CR colleagues. We owe a great deal of thanks to Nursing Director Roberta Farrar, Del Norte Campus Director Rory Johnson, and Dr. Melody Pope for their herculean efforts to get this program established. Thank you to the our Eureka Campus based Nursing Faculty—Professor Sally Urban, Professor Katie Schoenfield, and Professor Connie Wolfsen (retired)—who traveled to Del Norte to identify clinical sites, ensure like services, and who helped write the application to the Board of Nursing.

Thank you to Professor Christopher Callahan and Dr. Dave Bazard for providing the necessary science classes for our nursing students, Professor Ed Macan for grant writing support, Del Norte Campus Administrative Office Coordinator Tanya Anderson for administrative support, and Dr. Angelina Hill for providing the essential leadership needed to guide the program's development.

I attached an article written about the press conference event to this blog post.