BCCC receives grant to address nursing shortage

Beaufort County Community College's nursing program has been chosen to participate in a program that strives to address a nationwide nursing shortage by increasing the number of nursing students who receive bachelor's degrees, college officials announced recently.

The project is funded through a $1,370,000 grant from the Duke Endowment to The Foundation for Nursing excellence to increase the number of Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates in the state by expanding a regional project designed to increase the nurses who earn bachelors degrees. The project is known as Regionally Increasing Baccalaureate Nurses, or RIBN.

Laura Bliley, director of nursing at BCCC, and Mandy Jones, BCCC’s Allied Health admissions counselor, along with nursing educators in the region have been planning for this project for more than a year, with the goal of accepting applications this fall for entry into the Eastern North Carolina RIBN Curriculum in 2012.

The program is designed to allow students to take specific courses to earn both an Associate Degree Nursing from Beaufort County Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from East Carolina University in ten semesters.

“We are pleased to continue our investment in The Foundation for Nursing Excellence and the RIBN program,” said Mary Piepenbring, vice president of The Duke Endowment. “This project works with innovative partnerships to implement an NC IOM priority recommendation and delivers the results we seek to strengthen the nursing workforce in our state and improve the delivery of care.”

Students accepted into this program will participate in a rigorous curriculum for four years, Bliley said.

During the first year of study through the program, students will complete many of the general education requirements for a nursing degree.

During their second and third years, students will complete their Associate Degree Nursing at BCCC while taking more general education courses. At the end of the third year, students will be eligible to take their licensure exam, and if successful, and work as registered nurses.

The fourth year of study is designed to enable students to complete their bachelor's degrees at ECU.

Throughout the four years the student will be enrolled in at least one on-line course as an ECU student.

The savings of both time and money for students in this program are significant, BCCC officials said in announcing the program.

Students who participate in the program will be required to apply for acceptance into a nursing program at BCCC or one of the other participating local community colleges and ECU.

Financial aid will be available to qualified students enrolled in the program. The first three years of aid should be requested through the participating community college and the fourth, through the university.

To learn more about the program at BCCC, interested persons should contact Mandy Jones at 252-940-6242.