Nursing student Vadym Mykhaylov remembers the day he was doing field study at Glendale Adventist Hospital when a patient went into full cardiac arrest, causing a code blue.
"When I arrived there was no staff there," said Mykhaylov, a Russian immigrant. "That's the biggest adrenaline rush you will ever have. You have to think quickly. You have to have critical-care experience to be effective."
Clinical experiences like that are one of the reasons the college's program has been so successful, instructors said.
Verdugo Hills Hospital, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center and various other hospitals allow students to do their clinical study on-site, said Karima Esmail, an instructor of nursing at the college. And Glendale Adventist offers a grant program for registered nurses who want to pursue a higher degree by studying on-site.
"It is an extremely important part of the program," said Esmail, who was shadowing her students through their rounds at Glendale Adventist on Wednesday. "The reason it's more rigorous is because they are not only learning theory but they are expected to apply it."
Associate Professor Danny Ranchez, who teaches fourth-quarter students who are about to graduate, said the teachers and students must form a team.
"We teach with passion and compassion and the students see that and we work well together," Ranchez said. "But they have to learn at the bedside."
The program graduates about 30 students every semester and has about 150 students at any time, Ranchez said.
The college is building a new allied-health complex on the upper campus to expand the program. The success of the program, the new building and the new parking structure are all expected to attract more students at a time when enrollment is declining, college board President Kathleen Burke-Kelly said.
The health complex is expected to open in the fall of 2007, she said.
A nationwide nursing shortage has caused entry-level pay to go up to $50,000 or $55,000 per year, she said.
"Pay has gone up and there are a multitude of positions available to them," Dorroh said. "They are all guaranteed to obtain employment almost immediately and some get job offers in their fourth semester before they even finish school." Students Henry Kavorgian and Janet Warren have three days of clinical study left before they graduate from the program and take the state test, yet both have jobs waiting for them in emergency rooms.
