Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
9:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Thursday, July 22, 2004
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Community Partnerships for LPN to BSN Career Mobility
Priscilla Ramsey, RN, PhD, Department of Adult Nursing, Department of Adult Nursing, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA
Objective: To promote career mobility for LPNs to obtain a BSN with a program of academic support and counseling and employer tuition reimbursement. Design: Descriptive with longitudinal outcome measures. Population and Setting: Area LPNs were surveyed (N=1800, 21% return rate) to determine interest in a LPN to BSN program at a local university. Eighty-five percent wanted to pursue a BSN degree, and 49 LPN students have been admitted as project participants. Outcome Variables: Progression and retention rates and GPAs. Methods: Five LPN cohort groups have been recruited from four area medical centers, nine hospitals, two long term care facilities, and two LPN vocational schools who are project community partners. The health care agencies agree to pay tuition and participate in recruitment activities. The LPN to BSN program is a five year, "learn and earn" curriculum so that students can work full time and attend class parttime. Each student is counseled with an individualized plan of study. Peer tutoring is provided for core and nursing courses, and faculty mentors are assigned. Unique features of the project include a BSN graduate "partner" for special clinical experiences, clinical experiences with a nurse practitioner in nurse-managed clinics to role model advanced practice nursing, and semester cohort seminars to promote professional role transition. Findings: At the end of year 2 of a three year project, the retention rate is 75% and cohort GPAs range from 2.42 to 3.20 (ave. 2.88). Progression rate analyses are in progress. Conclusions: Tutoring, mentoring, and role transition strategies promote academic and professional success in this student group. The full impact of this program on all outcome variables have not yet been determined but are predicted to improve. Implications: LPN to BSN programs require meeting the unique needs of this clinically experienced nursing student group.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004