There are many new and exciting things happening at the RCC School of Nursing. This is a highlight of just a few of them...
- Vocational Nursing program ranks 2nd in California for NCLEX-PN exam first-time pass rates!!! Click here for article.
RCC's partnership with Kaiser Permanente- Riverside Campus graduates 5 Licensed Vocational Nurses. Click
here for the article.
RCC developed a comprehensive nursing curriculum in the 1970’s which was refined and modified many times over the last 30+ years. Three years ago, the nursing faculty determined a more radical approach was needed to better prepare our graduates to meet contemporary nursing practice expectations. Towards that end, RCC engaged a renowned nursing curriculum expert, Dr. Linda Caputi, to assist the nursing faculty in this endeavor. Starting with the development of a vision for the future, the nursing faculty developed a new curriculum that incorporates current nursing initiatives, such as the Institute of Medicine studies, National Patient Safety Goals, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Quality & Safety Education for Nurses competencies. The new curriculum for the ADN (RN) program began in Spring 2012 and Fall 2015 for the VN program.
The new School of Nursing building was occupied in January 2012. The new building has tripled the classroom and lab space as well as provides students with a state of the art Virtual Hospital that allows for the implementation and recording of realistic patient case scenarios using human patient simulators. Through Perkins and additional grant funding, new Pediatric and Newborn high fidelity simulators have been purchased.
In June 2011, the RCC School of Nursing, in collaboration with Health Workforce Initiative (HWI), began a Transition to Practice program for newly licensed registered nurses who have not yet found employment. This program has been implemented throughout Northern California and has recently made its way to Southern California community colleges. The program’s purpose is to improve the employability of new graduate registered nurses by providing an unpaid preceptored clinical experience as part of a cooperative work experience program. This 12-week program includes a variety of experiential teaching-learning techniques, such as simulation, reflective journaling, seminars, and clinical-based experiences. The course emphasizes the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses concepts throughout its curriculum. RCC has completed four cohorts to date and is currently being funded by Riverside County Regional Medical Center. RCC has also partnered with RCRMC and is offering a Critical Care Course for new graduate nurses and nurses transitioning to Critical Care areas.