College, hospital partner for new nursing program

Michael D'Agnes

Middlesex County College and Raritan Bay Medical Center have developed a new associate degree nursing program that will admit 110 prospective nurses each year.

The students will take classes at Middlesex and participate in clinical experiences at the medical center. The degree will be from Middlesex County College, while graduates will receive their nursing pin from Raritan Bay.

The first class will be admitted next fall.

The new associate degree program will replace the Charles E. Gregory diploma program at Raritan Bay, which takes three years to complete, as well as a smaller program the college is running.

"This is an extremely exciting development for us," said Middlesex President Joann La Perla-Morales. "It is of great benefit to all. First, the program can be completed in two years. Second, the graduates will be receiving an associate degree, which is an advantage as they move up the career ladder."

La Perla-Morales said the college anticipated developing articulation agreements with four-year colleges and universities with bachelor's in nursing programs so that Middlesex graduates could transfer into those programs as juniors.

At its regular meeting Oct. 5, the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders passed a resolution to support the partnership, and Freeholder Director David Crabiel praised the initiative.

"The educational opportunities at Middlesex County College will ensure that qualified, talented students will meet the ever-increasing health care needs of our area residents," he said. "Middlesex County College will continue to be on the leading edge and play a major role in providing health-care resources for the health-care industry. Our goal is for our county college to become the premiere nursing and health education facility in New Jersey."

The students will complete 35 credits in general education and science taught by Middlesex faculty, and 35 credits in nursing taught by the Raritan Bay faculty, according to a press release from the college.

Raritan Bay Director of Nursing Education Michelle L. Foley, who will be director of the new program, said the nursing curriculum will include basics of nursing; medical-surgical nursing; a combination of obstetrics/pediatrics/psychiatrics; and then advanced medical-surgical, with an emphasis on critical care and nursing leadership and management.

Michael D'Agnes, president and chief executive officer of Raritan Bay, said the partnership will benefit health care in the region.

"We look forward to this new collaboration with Middlesex County College, as it will provide more students with the vital, hands-on clinical experience that only a hospital like Raritan Bay Medical Center, one that is nationally recognized for nursing excellence, can give," he said.

Karen Hays, vice president for academic and student affairs at Middlesex, said there will be a transition period as nursing students in the current programs progress. Students currently in the program will finish their education in their respective schools. Therefore, the current Middlesex program will not end until the spring of 2008 and the Charles E. Gregory program will not be finished until the spring of 2009.

"We will admit 70 students into the new program for the fall of '07, and then the full class of 110 for the fall of 2008 and beyond," she said.

Foley said she expects to retain the faculty now at the Gregory nursing program.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs for registered nurses will grow 23 percent by 2008, faster than average for all other occupations.

By the year 2020, it is projected that there will be a nursing shortage of 800,000.