(Butler, PA) The first Grove City College juniors are expected to earn an associate degree in a Butler County Community College career program that will enable them to work in the high-priority occupation of registered nurse as they complete a bachelor’s degree at their home institution of higher education.
Grove City College students since fall 2021 have received clinical and technical training through BC3’s two-year Nursing, R.N., program as a result of a partnership established in 2019.
Upon graduation from BC3 in May, Grove City College students Emma Clark, Finnley Coglon, Sadie Kriebel, Sara Layton, Elizabeth Mackey, Abigail Montgomery and Emily Smyth can take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.
“The education gained at BC3 allows us to be eligible to take the boards this summer to become a certified R.N.,” said Smyth, of Lancaster.
“I then can work during my senior year as a registered nurse,” said Coglon, of Morristown, N.J. “This is beneficial financially and gives me more experience.”
The “unique” partnership, said Clark, of Chicora, “allows students to jump-start their career.”
“Students can work as R.N.s after earning their credential at BC3, then pursue the last leg of their baccalaureate at such a storied institution as Grove City College,” said Dr. Nick Neupauer, president of BC3. “How perfect – especially with the need for nurses in our communities.”
“We knew going in that BC3’s nursing program was top-flight, and the past three years have clearly proven that to be true.”
“A win-win for everyone involved”
Grove City College created its Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing and its nursing program in 2019 through a gift from Jayne Rathburn.
Grove City College that year also established the partnership with BC3 with a $500,000 gift that helped to fund construction of the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.
The partnership has been an “an extraordinary development” for Grove City College, said Paul McNulty, president of the Mercer County college.
“We knew going in that BC3’s nursing program was top-flight, and the past three years have clearly proven that to be true,” McNulty said. “This collaboration hits the sweet spot of GCC’s mission to equip our students to serve others with skill and determination.”
Partnerships are designed to share resources, said Dr. Patty Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
“Grove City has wonderful science programs, supporting courses, and we have the nursing program,” Annear said. “Merging those two together is just a win-win for everyone involved.”
The seven students from Grove City College are among nearly 85 from 15 Pennsylvania counties and two states who in May expect to earn from BC3 an associate in applied science degree in Nursing, R.N., and in what could be the program’s largest graduating class in at least six years.
Additional Grove City College students who intend to graduate from BC3 in May 2024 will be among the first to attend classes in the high-tech Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building, which is scheduled to open in August.
The facility will provide an immersive learning environment with a hospital-like interior featuring simulated medical-surgery and ICU rooms, said Brian Opitz, BC3’s executive director of operations.
It will also house BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
“We’re very excited about what’s to come,” Annear said. “And I think the Grove City students are certainly looking forward to being in the new building.”
“They teach us not just book material, but give us real-life advice when it comes to being a nurse.”
R.N. retirement risk high in region
According to the state Department of Labor & Industry’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, registered nurse is a high-priority occupation in the West Central Workforce Development Area, which includes Lawrence and Mercer counties; and in the Tri-County Workforce Development Area, which includes Armstrong and Butler counties.
Retirement risk of registered nurses is high in Butler and Mercer counties, according to Lightcast, an Idaho research company that conducts economic impact analyses for educational institutions.
Nearly 365 of the 1,116 registered nurses in Mercer County are age 55 or older, as are 505 of the 1,600 registered nurses in Butler County.
A 6 percent increase in jobs is expected through 2031, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Students in BC3’s Class of 2022 in Nursing, R.N., reported job offers that ranged in hourly rates from $28.90 to $34.69 and signing bonuses reaching $10,000.
“BC3 has a wealth of resources.”
“Set me up for success”
Grove City College students in their sophomore and junior years pursue 41 credits in nine technical and clinical courses through BC3 while also taking classes in Grove City College’s Charles Jr. and Betty Johnson School of Nursing.
As part of BC3’s Nursing, R.N., program, Grove City College students train with state-of-the-art medical educational technology equipment at BC3 that includes simulated patients that can be programmed by nursing faculty to exhibit symptoms or scenarios.
“BC3,” said Mackey, of San Antonio, “has a wealth of resources.”
Grove City College students who expect to graduate in May attended through BC3 clinical training last fall at Butler Memorial Hospital and this spring are attending clinical training at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh.
“Seeing a wide variety of patients and gaining experience in different units has made me a well-rounded student,” Clark said, “and will set me up for success.”
“The networking opportunities that BC3 provides have been instrumental in my education,” said Montgomery, of Mercer. “As BC3 students, we have had opportunities to network with multiple health systems throughout our clinical experiences.”
Students are bused from Grove City College to BC3’s main campus, and drive from Grove City College to the site of their clinical training.
“Every day, I am blown away by how smart and knowledgeable they all are.”
“The students are just so thrilled with the support of the nursing faculty at BC3,” Roach said. “… You have to be a mature student to be able to take an educational program that’s offered in two different places under two different learning management systems. So these students truly value the support that they receive from (Dr.) Patty Annear and from the faculty.
“That’s what they talk about the most.”
Nursing faculty at BC3, Coglon added, “push us to think critically, which prepares us to go out into the field after graduation.”
“They teach us not just book material, but give us real-life advice when it comes to being a nurse,” said Kriebel, of York.
“Every day,” said Layton, of Ford City, “I am blown away by how smart and knowledgeable they all are.”
Health care providers Concordia Lutheran Ministries, based in Cabot, and Penn Highlands Healthcare, based in DuBois, also established partnerships with BC3 in 2020 and in 2022, respectively.
The Grove City College students will join BC3 Nursing, R.N., graduates who will be recognized during BC3’s 2023 nurses pinning ceremony May 11 in Succop Theater on BC3’s main campus.
NCLEX-RN success rate averages 86%
An average of 86 percent of BC3’s first-time NCLEX-RN test-takers in the past three years have been successful, Annear said.
Following their graduation from Grove City College, Clark hopes to work in critical care; Coglon, as a missionary nurse; Kriebel, as a traveling nurse; Layton, in labor and delivery; Mackey, as a traveling or flight nurse; Montgomery, in prenatal care; and Smyth, in an intensive-care unit.
In addition to Nursing, R.N., BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health offers career programs in health care science, physical therapist assistant and technical trades-massage therapy management option. It also offers certificates massage therapy, medical coding and billing specialist and in practical nursing.
