Nursing shortages in the South Florida area come as no surprise, but the shortage seems to have a deeper impact in the more rural Western communities of Palm Beach County. For this reason, Palm Beach Community College is looking for a few good men and women for its upcoming nursing Boot Camp to kick off the new RN program at the Belle Glade campus.
When approached about five years ago by the Glades Initiative Partnership Council with the difficulty in recruiting nurses to these communities, PBCC jumped at the opportunity. The college launched an LPN program three years ago and hopes to use that as a base for the RN program.
“A large number of nurses in Palm Beach County have been educated at Palm Beach Community College,” said Carol Alexander, nursing department chair. “But we noticed that there was a deficit in the western part of the county so were trying to rectify that.”
The school is pulling out all the stops. Thanks to the Glades Initiative Partnership Council, the county Health Care District, Nova Southeastern University and other community members, the program is scheduled to launch in January 2006. Moreover, each student will receive a scholarship to help offset costs of tuition and materials.
PBCC will provide faculty members for the nursing program at Belle Glade. The school also is working with the staff at Glades General Hospital and Hendry Medical Center to provide the clinical part of the program. Both hospitals also will provide faculty members.
Technology will play a big role in the program. By the fall of 2006, the school will have all nursing prerequisites and nursing theory classes from the Lake Worth campus available online, so the same curriculum is available to all students. In addition, PBCC recently perfected their teleconferencing technology, so some classes will be available through video simulcast.
One of the main goals is to find people who will take pride in their community. Because there hasnt been a nursing program in western Palm Beach County, hospitals have not been able to attract nurses who are completely devoted to the area. Many times, organizations rely on traveling nurses who leave.
“Rather than bringing in traveling nurses, The Glades Initiative wants to grow their own people from their own community who will be committed to staying there and working on bettering the healthcare of the area,” said Joanne Masella, RN program coordinator.
Since this is a new program to the area, PBCC created the nursing boot camp to help future students who will be accepted into the program for the January semester prepare for the rigors of a nursing program. The nursing boot camp will be a nine-session program that will take place in November in which prospective nursing students will learn study skills, time management skills, note-taking methods, medical terminology and other topics that will help them navigate through nursing school.
“These are basic skills that you need to survive a nursing program,” Masella said.
Interest for the program in increasing virtually every day, and there are a limited number of spots available. Those who are interested in the program should apply soon.
