Northland Pioneer College

 

Nursing Program

 

 

Project Evaluation Report

Homegrown Healers

Arizona Department of Commerce

Community College Grant for Nursing Programs

G058-05

 

 

September 30, 2006

 

Submitted by: Debra McGinty, RN PhD

Dean of Nursing and Allied Health

Project Director

 

 

Changes in Key Personnel

 

Dr. Debra McGinty, Dean of Nursing and Allied Health at Northland Pioneer College, has replaced Dr. Penny Fairman as the Project Director. Dr. McGinty is qualified to serve as Project Director for Homegrown Healers.  Her varied roles as nurse, nurse educator, and nursing administrator have brought her experience that will allow her to understand all aspects of the management and direction of the project.  Throughout her professional life, she has managed programs, schedules, personnel and budgets, and evaluated project outcomes.  She also understands the dynamics of the service area and the characteristics of its people, and has strong working relationships with health care providers in the Whiteriver service area.  Dr. McGinty’s resume may be found in the Appendix A. Dr. McGinty was a part-time Nursing Advisor for six months of the first year of the grant assigned to the southern region of the Northland Pioneer College district and thus is intimately familiar with the Homegrown Healer grant.

 

The most effective candidate for the position of Nursing Advisor to replace Dr. McGinty was Marilyn Page, RN who holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Arts.  Since joining the Homegrown Healer Project the first week of the semester, Ms. Page has demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills, communicating effectively in both oral and written formats in individual and group settings. She is developing a solid understanding of nurse education programs and is working closely with the Project Director and college advisors to contact alumni to serve as mentors.  She is an excellent listener, a troubleshooter and problem solver, with the traits of empathy, compassion and positive attitude. Ms. Page herself has overcome barriers to her educational attainment, as she is the first-generation in her family to earn a college degree and thus has the ability to relate to the needs of participants of the grant-funded project. She knows firsthand the value of nurse education, and communicates this knowledge to Homegrown Healers through each and every contact.

 

The nursing program is in the process of hiring an additional faculty member supported by grant monies to support our Homegrown Healers currently enrolled in the nursing program. The person in this position will plan and implement key project activities to support student academic performance. Retention of students will be supported by conducting assessments of student academic performance, identifying knowledge and skill deficits, and developing and providing direct services to students at risk in collaboration with faculty. Student progress will be tracked by confidential, individualized portfolio for each participant describing structured learning plans. Scheduled participation in study groups, individual tutoring, mentoring, and laboratory skill reviews in the laboratory will provide opportunities to note progress in knowledge acquisition and clinical competence. The nursing program review committee is awaiting approval by the College President of a highly qualified Master of Science in Nursing (MSN-prepared) candidate with extensive experience in critical care nursing and quality assurance methodologies. Her qualifications, experience, and salary are currently being reviewed by the President’s staff. The Project Director and nursing faculty are very excited to have found this candidate and look forward to improving our student performance and promoting retention with the use of this grant-supported position.

 

 

 

 

 

I.       Formative Evaluation

 

 

To ensure continual refinement and improvement of the Homegrown Healers project, and to assure that progress is being made toward achieving objectives, formative evaluations were conducted by Project Director. The formative evaluations examined 1) evidence of progress as related to the outcome measures identified in the Work Time Schedule charts (Appendix B), 2) participant satisfaction with program services (Appendix C), and 3) numbers of participants served, the services each received, and anticipated entry of Homegrown Healers to the nursing program as a result of project services.

 

A. Participant Satisfaction Survey

 

To analyze participant satisfaction, a survey instrument was completed by program participants, for services described in the Work Time Schedule charts (Appendix B).  Follow-up phone interviews were completed to increase the response rate to 70%.

 

Using this information, we were able to examine program effectiveness from the standpoint of participant satisfaction. Some activities were modified to optimize their effectiveness in promoting the success of key process objectives. First, we’ve decided to focus more recruitment efforts north of the I-40 corridor since the majority of the contacts and support was occurring in Whiteriver. Secondly, the series has been well attended and students are requesting additional topics, the weekly Skill Building Seminar Series (Appendix D) is continuing in Whiteriver. The sessions are also an opportunity to evaluate student schedules and provide student support services. We are providing additional topics, i.e., self-testing, critical reading, and concentration techniques. We will also be repeating the series for the benefit of the new 2007 cohort. Thirdly, having discovered our students in the 2006 cohort are experiencing difficulty performing on examinations, we are offering a Learning Cornerstone class entitled College Survival Skills for Nurses for the 2006 cohort. Topics require higher levels of integration with more advanced, integrative nursing concepts than the Student Study Group Series. Didactic, collaborative, and computer-assisted methods support the progressive instruction of critical reading skills, test-taking strategies, theoretical nursing guidance, and increased NCLEX test-taking confidence.  

 

B. Effectiveness of Key Process Objectives

 

To analyze the effectiveness of key process objectives, please refer to the Work Time Schedule charts (Appendix A) which indicate if outcome measures for each process objective have been met.  Some process objectives required modification because they were not instrumental in promoting overall project outcomes. Outcome measures have been realized because the program director worked with the nursing advisor and faculty to determine the cause for the shortcoming and made changes to rectify the situation.  When it was discovered, for example, that  students enrolled in the Homegrown Healer cohort were needing to take lighter courseloads to fulfill the prerequisite nursing requirements due to family and work responsibilities, admission criteria in terms of the number of courses required prior to making application to the program were reduced. That is, the requirement to have completed a certain number of prerequisites prior to applying to the program was removed. This strategy allowed more students to enter the program because they were able to satisfy the prerequisite requirements between February 2006 when the admission committee convened and August 2006 when class began. Future changes are being considered to change current courses from prerequisite to co-requisite status, thus reducing the time to enter the program by an additional year in many cases.

 

While the nursing program enrollment increased by 38% from June 30, 2005 to June 30, 2006 and a substantial number were from non-traditional populations, only two of the students enrolled in August 2006 were from the Homegrown Healer cohort. These two students differed significantly from other members of the cohort - they were single without dependents and employed in part-time, flexible positions. They were able to complete the prerequisites to the nursing program expeditiously. Most other students in the cohort are single mothers and many are employed full-time. These students are able to complete only one or two prerequisite courses each semester.

 

C. Homegrown Healers

 

Beginning January 2006 and continuing through June 2006, students from Native American populations currently under-represented in nursing were enrolled in the Homegrown Healers program. Students were identified from Certified Nursing Assistant classes in the Whiteriver, Show Low, and Winslow geographic areas. Fifteen students in the Whiteriver area and 5 students enrolled in additional nursing prerequisites at either the White Mountain or Little Colorado Campus were selected.  The nursing advisor developed a program of study for each student and reviewed results from a personal learning style inventory. Referrals to financial assistance sources both on and off campuses supported student efforts to acquire funds. Students were denied in some cases because they had already exhausted their eligibility for financial aid or were attending classes on a part-time basis. Students attended sessions with the advisor to receive tutoring in math, biology, English, philosophy, and other prerequisite subjects listed in Appendix E. Additional advisement was provided as necessary. Students were encouraged to take the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) to identify strengths and weaknesses and conduct self-paced remediation modules to address areas to improve performance and optimize strengths. These techniques are reinforced at the Skill Building Seminar Series (Appendix E).

 

To determine progress toward the project goal, Table 2 displays data collected for the 1) number of students enrolled in Homegrown Healers, 2) the specific support services each participant has partaken of, and 3) anticipated entry of Homegrown Healers to the nursing program. While these data support the Homegrown Healers goal that overall progress is being made toward increasing the number of students in the nursing program from under-represented populations, the anticipated timeline for students to complete the four semesters of prerequisites prevents timeliness. Personal and financial responsibilities limit choices to acquire educational prerequisite college credits and must be overcome with funding.

 

Despite the limited outcomes of work with the Homegrown Healer cohort, the grant-supported outreach efforts undertaken by the Nursing Advisor attracted a large number of applicants to the nursing program who have subsequently enrolled. These results are explicated in the summative evaluation that follows.

Student

Academic Advisement

Instructional  Assistance

Tutoring

Financial

Aid

Counseling

Study Session Series

Planned Entry to Nursing Program

WRV1

X

X

X

X

X

2006

WRV2

X

X

X

X

X

2007

WRV3

X

X

 

X

X

2006

WRV4

X

X

X

X

X

2008

WRV5

X

X

 

 

X

2007

WRV6

X

 

 

 

 

2008

WRV7

X

X

 

 

X

Medical Assistant Program

WRV8

X

X

X

X

X

Medical Assistant Program

WRV9

X

X

X

 

X

Moved to Phoenix

WRV10

X

X

X

X

X

2008

WRV11

X

 

 

 

 

ASU 2006

WRV12

X

X

X

X

X

2008

WRV13

X

X

X

X

X

2007

WRV14

X

 

 

 

 

2009

WRV15

X

 

X

X

X

2008

WN1

X

 

 

 

 

2010

WN2

X

X

 

 

 

2010

WN3

X

 

 

 

 

2009

WN4

X