A Qualitative Exploration of the Community College Baccalaureate in Nursing

Baccalaureate
degrees
are
now
being
offered
by
many
community
colleges,
in
many
different
degree
programs,
and
in
a
number
of
different
states.
Because
this
is
a
relatively
new
practice,
little
empirical
research
has
been
conducted
on
the
community
college
baccalaureate,
and
many
questions
continue
to
arise
about
whether
the
community
college,
with
its
multiple
missions,
can
academically
prepare
students
for
the
workforce
at
the
baccalaureate
level.
Because
of
the
national
shortage
of
nurses,
the
nursing
baccalaureate
was
one
of
the
first
that
community
colleges
offered.
However,
while
a
number
of
community
colleges
across
the
country
confer
BSNs,
little
is
known
about
whether
the
community
college
can
prepare
students
and
uphold
standards
required
of
the
nursing
workforce.
Since
community
colleges
have
been
asked
to
play
a
prominent
role
in
addressing
the
nursing
shortage
crisis,
it
is
imperative
that
community
college
BSNs
are
assessed
so
that
they
meet
the
expectations
of
the
profession.
Therefore,
this
study
sought
to
determine
if
community
colleges
can
academically
and
professionally
prepare
BSN
students
equivalently
to
their
university
counterparts
at
the
baccalaureate
level.
This
qualitative
study
explored
the
perspectives
of
two
groups:
nurse
leaders
and
community
college
BSN
graduates
that
are
currently
working
in
the
healthcare
industry.
Six
nurse
leaders
were
interviewed
using
open-­‐ended
questions
that
were
generally
constructed
to
compare
the
readiness
of
BSNs
that
graduated
from
the
community
ii
college
and
those
that
graduated
from
the
traditional
university
model.
In
addition,
six
community
college
BSN
graduates
were
interviewed
using
open-­‐ended
questions
that
were
constructed
to
have
the
graduates
compare
themselves
in
the
workforce
with
their
colleagues
that
have
a
BSN
from
a
university.
Based
on
the
perspectives
of
the
nurse
leaders
and
the
community
college
BSN
graduates,
this
study
yielded
for
conclusions:
(1)
both
BSN
programs
(community
college
and
university)
seem
to
adequately
prepare
BSNs
to
enter
the
workforce,
(2)
the
success
of
a
BSN
in
the
workforce
is
determined
by
several
other
factors
that
are
more
important
than
the
institution
attended,
(3)
There
is
a
distinct
skill
level
difference
between
an
ADN
and
a
BSN
nurse,
and
(4)
community
college
BSN
graduates
are
able
to
compete
in
the
workforce.