Meeting the challenge of mobility in nursing education: one program's response

Plans for the future include exploring linkages with baccalaureate programs, developing online offerings for courses at the ADN level, and tracking retention according to admission requirements. The department head has presented a proposal to the local BSN programs that will allow selected students in the ADN program to take one of their nursing courses at the RN-BSN level prior to graduation. A lead instructor at the ADN level is participating in a Title III grant to design online course offerings. A faculty member has been assigned the responsibility to track retention and develop a retention plan for the division. So far, we have recognized the following advantages of the new curriculum. 1) The liberal articulation for CNA and LPN means that these individuals can become registered nurses in less time. 2) Students have the opportunity to become credentialed at an earlier level and enter the workforce prior to becoming a registered nurse. 3) Implementation of the new curriculum has been a way to capitalize on college resources in order to maximize enrollment. In the past, some slots in the low enrollment NA and PN programs were not filled. As a result of the implementation of the new curriculum, we admitted a total of 65 (37%) more students in 2001 than we did in 2000 because we were able to fill available spaces in these low enrollment programs with ADN students. In a time of tight fiscal resources and increasing demands for healthcare providers, this multiple entry, multiple exit program provides an effective strategy for meeting the challenges confronting nursing education in the 21st century.