NEWS RELEASE
Maricopa Community Colleges ¨ 2411 W. 14th Street, Tempe, Arizona 85281
Contact: Charles Reinebold
Manager of Media Relations,
480.731.8503-office
Sept. 24, 2008
Maricopa Community Colleges’ Bilingual Nursing Program Wins 2008 Excellence Award and $5,000 Scholarship
Tempe, AZ -- The Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program (BNFP) of South Mountain and GateWay Community Colleges has been selected as a 2008 “Example of Excellence” by Excelencia in Education. The award is in the group’s associate-level category.
On Sept. 23, program representatives accepted $5,000 for student scholarships during the National College Access Network conference in Houston, TX. Excelencia in Education is a national organization committed to promoting Latino educational success.
The BNFP, which is a partner with Banner Health System, was honored at the Celebration of Excellence and the Examples of Excellence workshops. In presenting the award, the organization cited the colleges’ “(outstanding) record of achievement in serving Latino students…. We are proud to include the Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program in Excelencia’s national effort to promote evidence-based practices that support greater success in higher education for Latino students.”
A summary of the Bilingual Nursing Fellowship Program was included in the event program and in an edition of What Works for Latino Students in Higher Education: Compendium of 2008 Examples of Excelencia. In addition, BNFP representatives participated in a panel discussion about the innovative program -- which is designed to increase the number of registered nurses able to read, write and fluently speak both Spanish and English.
“I feel very excited to see that the Bilingual Nursing Fellows Program has helped our students achieve the dream of becoming a bilingual professional nurse,” said Tony Bracamonte, BNFP Program Director at South Mountain Community College. “However, I am more thrilled to know that these bilingual nurses are currently providing quality health care to many of our low income, Spanish speaking patients in our local communities.”
To date, 86 students in the program have earned their Registered Nurse (RN) degrees; 133 have completed the Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) requirements; and 155 have completed their Certified Nursing Assistant program (CNA).
By 2010, BNFP projects that the program will have produced a total of 185 Spanish-speaking Registered Nurses. Ninety percent of BNFP graduates, including the 35 percent of nurses who work for Banner Health in inner-city hospitals, work for hospitals that serve a large number of Latino patients. The first cohort, or “pilot” of 27 students started classes in spring 2003 and finished in fall 2006. From this cohort, the program graduated 19 RNs, four LPNs, and three CNAs.
This year’s award marks the second time in three years that the Maricopa Community Colleges have been cited as an Example of Excelencia. The Colleges’ Achieving a College Education (ACE) Programs, was selected as the 2006 Example of Excelencia at the Associate Level for its demonstrated results over the past 20 years to reach, engage and support high school students who aspire to a college degree.
To learn more about the BNFP, go to http://nursing.southmountaincc.edu/
South Mountain and GateWay Community Colleges are among the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges of Greater Phoenix, Az. Congressman Ed Pastor was instrumental in securing federal funding to help support the program.
The Maricopa County Community College District is one of the largest community college districts in the nation. It includes 10 colleges – Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Estrella Mountain Community College, GateWay Community College, Glendale Community College, Mesa Community College, Paradise Valley Community College, Phoenix College, Rio Salado College, Scottsdale Community College and South Mountain Community College. The District also includes the Maricopa Skill Center, Southwest Skill Center, several satellite campuses and business/industry; technical and customized training institutes.
-Maricopa Community Colleges-