Funds for nursing

Published in Long Beach City College's Viking newspaper in 2005.

$1.09 million granted to reduce hospital shortage.

In an effort to address the shortage of nurses in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has awarded $30 million to 19 Community Colleges including LBCC, which received a $1.09 million grant.
The grant's term is scheduled for Oct.1, 2005 through Aug. 31, 2010. During the period, the school expects a completion rate of 90 percent and an extension of support to more than 690 students.
"We elected the grant option because the others required significant growth, which we could not accommodate," Dean of the School of Health, Science and Math Lauren Sharp said. Sharp will supervise the program.
According to a statement in a LBCC newsletter, Sharp said some applicants are challenged by deficiencies, which greatly reduce their ability to complete the program.
"The deficiencies are in reading, written and verbal language, patient interaction skills, critical thinking, computation, study and test-taking skills," Sharp said. "We have a better-than-average retention rate, but because of open enrollment, many students need more assistance than is normally given. This grant will allow us to provide the additional services. We want everyone we admit to be able to succeed."
According to a LBCC news release, the new resources will include one-on-one mentors, comprehensive assessments with individualized feedback, workshops in math and critical thinking, English as a second language courses, access to human patient simulator labs and an on-line communication center.
"The nursing program is demanding, but I'm learning a lot," third-semester nursing student Saylom Sorn said. "The Library resources should be upgraded too for the research reports we have to do. I think everyone would agree with that."
The fostering student success grant is one of three awarded by the California Community Colleges chancellor's office workforce investment act.