'We're the best deal for the American taxpayer'

In Fox Business News interview, VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois explains the importance of the $12 billion federal community college initiative in turning economy around ...

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VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois this week on Fox Business News: "Harvard has been around for 10-plus generations or more. Community Colleges have been around for less than our lifetime. And already we've enrolled half of the nation's undegraduates--here in Virginia we enroll two-thirds of undergraduates. "We've come a long way in a short period of time and I think we're prepared to help more and more Americans..."
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SURGE IN GRADUATION RATE PUSHES GERMANNA TO THE FOREFRONT AS STATE, NATION TRY TO COPE WITH CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF NURSES

A Germanna surgical scrub nursing class is preparing to work in operating rooms at area hospitals.

BY KAREN BOLIPATA

The Free Lance-Star


Meaghan Gallagher inserted a syringe into a vial of medicine, careful not to withdraw more than she needed.



"Now you see the difference between giving babies medicine [compared] to adults," nursing instructor Judy Hampton told her.



Gallagher, 22, approached her patient, a toddler who wasn't particularly happy to see her.



"Can I see your arm, buddy?" Gallagher asked the squealing child.



It was Gallagher's first time doing the procedure, and Hampton, a registered nurse, stayed by her side.



In the halls of the pediatric ward of Mary Washington Hospital, Gallagher's classmates--all nursing students at Germanna Community College--had their own patients to worry about.



When they finish the two-year program, they'll help offset the nationwide nursing shortage.



"That is a crisis that surrounds us in our community," said Jane Ingalls, director of Germanna's Nursing and Allied Health Programs.



By 2020, Virginia will need an additional 22,600 nurses, according to a 2005 report released by the Virginia Community College System and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.



The VCCS challenged its schools to produce 80 percent more nursing graduates to meet that need, Ingalls said.



With an 88 percent success rate in graduating nurses, Germanna is at the forefront of those efforts, followed by Lord Fairfax Community College with 85 percent.



Overall, the VCCS has a 70 productivity rate in turning out nursing graduates.



"We are so excited about the success that our efforts of enrollment and expansion and student retention" have brought, Ingalls said.



In 2002 to 2003, 817 students graduated from VCCS nursing programs, according to a press release. Last year, the number rose to 1,365.



At Germanna, about 70 nursing students graduated from the program in 2007, nearly doubling the 2005 graduating class.



The majority of Germanna nursing graduates work in area hospitals, and two new hospitals--Stafford Hospital Center and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center--are opening in the next few years.



"In order to meet the increasing demand, we're going to need more qualified teachers, and we need space," Ingalls said.



When Gallagher graduates in May, she hopes to work at a hospital in the Fredericksburg area before finding a job at a children's hospital.



She said she's not worried about the nursing shortage.



"I think having a degree in nursing, you'll be able to find a job," she said. "There's always going to be someone needed."

Posted by Publications at 2:52 PM
Labels: Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Germanna Community College, higher education, Jane Ingalls, nursing, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford
3 comments:
Nurse Jen Doll said...
Nurse Jen Doll said...
The shortage of nurses is a big time problem. the problem is because of education. they put too many people on the wait list in schools. its very frustrating.

November 12, 2008 8:15 PM
Dr. Jane Ingalls, RN, GCC Director of Nursing and Allied Health said...
We admit as many qualified nursing students as we have qualified teachers, seats in classes, and spaces in assigned clinical settings. We do not keep waiting lists, but ask qualified applicants who are not offered admission to reapply for the next appropriate admission cycle.

November 12, 2008 8:17 PM
MikeZ said...
Germanna is currently engaged in an effort to raise funds for much needed expansion and renovation of our nursing facility and for the hiring of additional faculty members.
If we can find community backing for this, it will increase our capacity for providing learning opportunities for students, increase the number of nursing graduates we produce even further and will help offset the local shortage of nurses.

November 13, 2008 8:45 PM
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GERMANNA BATTLES NURSING SHORTAGE BY TOPPING STATE IN GRADUATION RATE

BY KAREN BOLIPATA

The Free Lance-Star

Meaghan Gallagher inserted a syringe into a vial of medicine, careful not to withdraw more than she needed.

"Now you see the difference between giving babies medicine [compared] to adults," nursing instructor Judy Hampton told her.

Gallagher, 22, approached her patient, a toddler who wasn't particularly happy to see her.

"Can I see your arm, buddy?" Gallagher asked the squealing child.

It was Gallagher's first time doing the procedure, and Hampton, a registered nurse, stayed by her side.

In the halls of the pediatric ward of Mary Washington Hospital, Gallagher's classmates--all nursing students at Germanna Community College--had their own patients to worry about.

When they finish the two-year program, they'll help offset the nationwide nursing shortage.

"That is a crisis that surrounds us in our community," said Jane Ingalls, director of Germanna's Nursing and Allied Health Programs.

By 2020, Virginia will need an additional 22,600 nurses, according to a 2005 report released by the Virginia Community College System and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

The VCCS challenged its schools to produce 80 percent more nursing graduates to meet that need, Ingalls said.

With an 88 percent success rate in graduating nurses, Germanna is at the forefront of those efforts, followed by Lord Fairfax Community College with 85 percent.

Overall, the VCCS has a 70 productivity rate in turning out nursing graduates.

"We are so excited about the success that our efforts of enrollment and expansion and student retention" have brought, Ingalls said.

In 2002 to 2003, 817 students graduated from VCCS nursing programs, according to a press release. Last year, the number rose to 1,365.

At Germanna, about 70 nursing students graduated from the program in 2007, nearly doubling the 2005 graduating class.

The majority of Germanna nursing graduates work in area hospitals, and two new hospitals--Stafford Hospital Center and Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center--are opening in the next few years.

"In order to meet the increasing demand, we're going to need more qualified teachers, and we need space," Ingalls said.

When Gallagher graduates in May, she hopes to work at a hospital in the Fredericksburg area before finding a job at a children's hospital.

She said she's not worried about the nursing shortage.

"I think having a degree in nursing, you'll be able to find a job," she said. "There's always going to be someone needed."

YOUNG PEOPLE PUT OBAMA OVER THE TOP-- AND PRESIDENT-ELECT HAS PROMISED TO HELP MAKE COLLEGE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THEM, OTHERS

A record turnout by young voters may have put Barack Obama over the top.

MSNBC reports that young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68 percent to 30 percent — the highest share of the youth vote obtained by any candidate since exit polls began reporting results by age in 1976.

And InsideHigherEd.com reports that that support may be rewarded with easier access to higher education, with special emphasis on aid to community colleges like Germanna:

[Obama said] that he worried about the challenges families faced paying for college. Included in his college access plans:

A fully refundable tax credit to cover the first $4,000 in college costs — enough for two years of community college tuition in most cases — for everyone. The only requirement would be 100 hours of public service a year; this could be performed in the summer or between semesters.


Simplification of federal aid applications. (There has been some progress on this issue, which attracts bipartisan support, since Obama spoke on it and prior to the election.)
A pledge to keep Pell Grant maximums rising at the level of inflation or higher if possible.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES: Obama has proposed a new grant program that would provide funds to community colleges to conduct more thorough analysis of the types of skills and technical education that are in high demand from students and local businesses; to create new associate of arts degree programs that cater to emerging careers; and to reward institutions that graduate more students and also increase their numbers of transfer students to four-year institutions.