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Nursing Discipline |
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December
15, 2001 Members
Present: Chairs and faculty representing Cerro Coso Community College, Fresno City College, Bakersfield City College, Merced Community College, College of the Sequoias and the CSU Bakersfield campus attended the IMPAC meeting. Louise Timmer distributed minutes of the two regional meetings along with handouts of the community college prerequisite course grids, the total units for the community college nursing program grid, the compiled outlines for 5 integrated chemistry courses, sample mathematics quizzes for the CSUS nursing program, a copy of the PowerPoint presentation for the CSU Core 8 Prerequisite Courses by Robyn Nelson, Chair, CSU Nursing Core Alignment Committee, Summary of the Recommendation from last year's IMPAC Nursing Meetings, and a Survey Questionnaire for the Community College Nursing Programs requesting descriptions of all nursing courses. IMPAC Co-Chair, Wendy Hollis will develop a grid from the Survey Questionnaire. After introductions, Louise Timmer reported on the progress of the two regional meetings this year. It was noted that the integrated chemistry course committee was formed at the regional meeting, November 17 and James Armstrong, Chair, Chemistry Department; San Francisco City College would chair the committee. A request was made for nursing faculty to serve on the committee. The agenda was distributed and discussion began with the CSU Core 8 prerequisite courses. It was the consensus of the nursing faculty that the 8 prerequisite courses are common to several community college nursing programs. An integrated chemistry course and math course that is not statistics but one that satisfies the transfer and GE course requirement for the community college system would be better. Math content was discussed and the need for ratio, proportions, systems of measurement and conversions to be included in the required math course for GE was identified. Jane Church, Articulation officer, shared the Chabot College, Math 72, 1 unit course that is offered for nursing students with the group. The drug quizzes for CSUSacramento nursing program were reviewed and the faculty agreed that they should be distributed at the meeting with the mathematics faculty in the afternoon. The members agreed to bring back the Core 8 prerequisite courses to their faculty for discussion and possible adoption as prerequisite courses for their nursing programs. The Survey Questionnaire for the nursing courses in the community college nursing programs was discussed. The intent is to develop a grid to compare the 71 nursing programs for alignment with each other to reduce articulation and transfer barriers for nursing students among the community college nursing programs. Louise Timmer informed the nursing faculty that the CSU Core Alignment Committee's goal this year is to review all nursing programs' courses to align the lower division courses with each other. Mary Kowalski, Chair, Cerro Coso Community College nursing program reported that there are several hundred students in her area who are seeking entrance into nursing programs. Her campus is very isolated and she needs access to other nursing programs that have space for more students. She would like to have a statewide database developed for the nursing programs that all chairs/directors can access to inform students in impacted programs of availability in other nursing programs. The CSU nursing programs share the same problem of some campuses that are impacted and others that have space available for more nursing students. There was consensus that a statewide database of nursing applicants would be extremely beneficial to both the CC and the CSU nursing programs. The total number of units to the Associate Degree in Nursing was discussed. The grid was reviewed. The nursing courses varied in the number of units, ranging from 36.5 - 56 units and the GE units ranged from 16 - 49 units. Total units to the nursing degree ranged from 71 - 90 units. The nursing students spend 3-4 years in the community colleges fulltime to complete all of the requirements. Considerable discussion occurred regarding the variance in the GE requirements campus to campus in the community college system. The CSU nursing faculty reported similar variance among the CSU campuses. Louise Timmer mentioned that the CSU Nursing Core Alignment Committee is reviewing the GE coursework this year and is considering a proposal for a GE pattern for the nursing programs. NLN accreditation was discussed as a barrier as only 72 units are allowed for community college nursing programs. The group recommended that the chairs/directors discuss this issue at the next community college nursing statewide meeting. The retention of nursing students in the community college nursing programs was discussed. The nursing faculty agreed that this was a serious problem and some classes have a 50% attrition rate. They believed that reading comprehension, communication skills, critical thinking and writing are considered important factors for retention and success in nursing programs. It was suggested that recruitment efforts should begin in the middle schools with mentor programs, career fairs, hospital volunteer programs, summer college programs, etc. Jane Church, articulation officer for the nursing discipline, reported on the CAN courses that are for the CSU CORE 8 prerequisites. They
are: Co-requisites
These CAN courses should be reviewed by the CSU Core Alignment Committee for currency. The afternoon meeting was held between the chemistry faculty and the math faculty. A request was made to the chemistry faculty to develop an integrated chemistry course that focused on the knowledge, skills and competencies needed by nursing students. It should be a five-unit course with a lab that emphasizes the biochemistry of the human body. The course would include inorganic and organic chemistry with the major emphasis on the biochemistry of the human body. A synopsis of 5 integrated chemistry courses from CSU Chico, Dominguez Hills, San Bernardino and San Francisco City College and Coastline Community College were distributed and reviewed by the chemistry faculty. The chemistry faculty were in favor of developing such a course and Sharon Roberts, CSU Bakersfield, Chris Riegle, Irvine Valley College, Joe Brundage, Cuesta College, and Robert Dietz, Bakersfield College agreed to serve on the committee. Wendy Hollis, LA Harbor Community College and Bonnie Raingruber, CSU Sacramento agreed to serve as nursing representatives. Louise made a request for 2 more nursing faculty to serve on the committee. The committee will review the 5 integrated chemistry courses as part of the work in developing an integrated chemistry course CAN prototype. It is anticipated that the CAN prototype course will also meet the GE pattern and IGETC requirements. The goal is to have it ready for the last IMPAC meeting, April 12-13, 2002. The nursing faculty met with the math faculty to discuss inclusion of math content in the GE math course for the community college system. Copies of Chabot College Math 72 course and math quizzes from CSU Sacramento nursing program were distributed to the math faculty for discussion. At first glance, the math faculty agreed that this math was 4th grade work and not really appropriate for the GE math course as it was too elementary. One math faculty member believed that the word problems in the math quizzes were application of math concepts and it would be better to teach the math concepts to the nursing students. He added that the textbook used in Math 72 course is specific to drug dosage calculations and students will learn the formula without knowing why the formula is set up in a particular manner. Both the nursing and math faculty agreed that further discussion is needed on this subject. Louise Timmer requested that a math committee be formed to discuss how best to integrate the math content needed by nursing students without having to take a separate math course.The nursing faculty reinforced the need to reduce the number of units in the nursing program to meet national accreditation requirements and for the CSU system to meet the new Title 5 requirements of 120 units for the baccalaureate degree. Patrick Staley, department chair, mathematics, Southwestern College agreed to serve on the committee. Louise Timmer requested that the nursing faculty provide her with names of individuals who would like to serve on the math committee. Recommendations: 1. Complete the integrated chemistry subcommittee membership and provide the members with copies of the 5 integrated chemistry courses for review. 2. All chairs/directors/deans of the community college nursing programs review the CORE 8 prerequisite courses with the nursing faculty for possible alignment with them. 3. Complete the survey questionnaire and return to Wendy Hollis. A grid will be developed for review at the April 12-13 meeting. 4. Establish a math subcommittee to develop a GE math course for nursing/allied health students or integrate the math content into an existing GE math course. 5. Provide the committee members with Chabot College Math 72 course syllabus and the math quizzes of selected nursing programs. 6. Develop an internet statewide database of nursing applicants that chairs/directors can access when the nursing programs have space available for additional students. Submitted by Louise Timmer, Co-Chair
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