Community college nursing programs, straining to address a growing statewide nursing shortage, are facing a new difficulty: soaring dropout and failure rates that are shrinking California's already inadequate nursing pipeline.
Faculty blame the increased attrition on the lowering of admission barriers, which has made it easier for students with poorer grades to gain entry.
The change was made to ensure that the limited number of slots be equally available to all California students, allowing A students and C students alike to have an equal chance at admission.
The aim was to avert discrimination complaints. But faculty say it has allowed under-prepared students to enter nursing programs, only to find they can't handle the tough course work after they get there.
"It's hard for the faculty, and it's awful for the students," said Mary Parker, head of nursing at Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo, where attrition has increased from 3% to 40%.
"I've had students who were suicidal in my office," she said. "They were flunking out of nursing. . . . It's the end of their dreams."
The loss of students is an especially pressing problem given the severe lack of space in the two-year college nursing programs, suppliers of 70% of the state's registered nurses.
Nursing programs have become an educational bottleneck even as California has sunk to 48th among the 50 states in the number of nurses per capita and "thousands of dollars in hiring bonuses are being offered all over" as hospitals compete for nurses, said Stephanie Ruh, vice president of patient care services at Bay Harbor Hospital.
So, even as hospitals are filling pages of classified ads seeking nurses, would-be nurses by the hundreds are being put on waiting lists or rejected outright by training programs.
State and college officials have been reluctant to invest in nursing programs because nursing is more expensive to offer than other academic courses. So most colleges haven't expanded their nursing schools in years, and many turn away more students than they take in.
At the same time, changes in health industries have also placed limits on nursing programs. The downsizing of hospitals has reduced opportunities for nursing students to complete required training at the bedside.
Given the limits on programs, it's not surprising that the question of how to select students for limited slots became a burning issue in the community colleges.
