Feb. 6, 2020 — CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI)’s Nursing program is once again making a strong showing in state and nationwide rankings.
RegisteredNursing.Org ranked CSUCI’s Nursing program 11th for registered nursing students out of the 126 programs in the state.
On a national scale, the Nursing Schools Almanac ranked CSUCI’s Nursing program in the top 20% of 3,000 programs nationwide in its list of 2019 Best Nursing Schools. CSUCI ranked No. 73 in the West region and No. 37 in the state of California.
Chair of Nursing and Health Science programs Lynette Landry, Ph.D., R.N., credits the high rankings to a faculty that consistently goes above and beyond for students and to students who go above and beyond for one another.
“I think we have a lot of out-of-the-box thinkers,” Landry said. “Jaime (Hannans) and Colleen (Nevins) are on the cutting edge as far as technology goes. And as far as coursework, this faculty is constantly innovating. I’ve been at schools where they do the same thing, year after year, but this faculty is very different in terms of the way they engage students.”
CSUCI Associate Professor of Nursing Jaime Hannans, Ph.D., RN, CNE and Assistant Professor of Nursing Colleen Nevins, DNP, RN, CNE have worked extensively with students using virtual reality technology in which students are able to don virtual reality headgear and step into the shoes of a patient with Alzheimer’s or macular degeneration, for example.
The entire nursing faculty is innovative, Landry said, in all aspects of the program.
“About a year and a half ago, as part of Open CI, we bundled our textbooks in order to save the students money,” Landry said. “The faculty has access to that bundle, so as they lecture, they might walk the students through a simulation. If a patient has pneumonia, for example, they might pull up a virtual simulation of a patient with pneumonia and let the students make on-the-spot decisions on how to treat that patient, and it provides the students with immediate feedback.”
Open CI is a campuswide effort to find affordable alternatives to expensive textbooks, often moving coursework online.
RegisteredNursing.org makes its determinations based on how well nursing students do on the NCLEX-RN (National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurse) which determines whether or not a nursing student can be licensed to practice.
CSUCI’s Nursing program NCLEX pass rate is frequently 100%, or in the high 90th percentile for each graduating class.
Student pass rates on the NCLEX were also considered by the Nursing Schools Almanac in its methodology, along with the breadth and depth of the nursing program and the institutions academic prestige and perceived value.
“I’ve never worked anywhere where the students are so engaged,” Landry said. “Most of them do between 100 and 1,000 hours of community service each semester from staffing a first aid tent at a marathon to a health fair to working in a food pantry. We have amazing students.”
For a look at the rankings, visit: www.nursingschoolsalmanac.com/rankings or www.registerednursing.org/state/california/#rankings.