Orange County
Two programs that have included successful business partnerships and have had an impact on the healthcare workforce for Southern CA are short-term training for incumbent nurses in specialty areas and preceptor preparation programs. The Health Workforce Initiative (HWI) at Golden West College (GWC) has assisted 16 local hospitals in training new registered nurses and incumbent nurses to work in the specialty areas of critical care and telemetry. The HWI offers the didactic/classroom portion of the training, while the participating hospitals pay their employees to attend and provide a paid clinical internship at their own facilities. Simulation experiences have been included in the program over for the last two years. The simulation experiences provide the opportunity for students to practice the concepts learned in the didactic portion in a safe and supportive environment. The HWI program is the only specialty nurse program which provides this opportunity. The participating hospitals depend on the HWI Specialty programs and would not be able to hire new grad nurses into critical care or telemetry without these preparatory courses. Over the last two years, HWI has prepared 112 critical care and 68 telemetry specialty nurses in the greater Orange County area.
The HWI also provides the Preceptor Instructor "train-the-trainer" course which is a two-day highly interactive workshop to educate faculty, clinical educators and senior preceptors from nursing and allied health. The participants then go back to their own schools and facilities and implement programs and specific strategies which better prepare their own faculty and staff to provide clinical training for new hires and students. Preceptors must be well versed in their roles of role model, educator, facilitator and evaluator. Well-prepared preceptors who provide the one-on-one initial clinical training are crucial to the development and success of students and new employees and also assist in retention and job satisfaction. The HWI-GWC continues to supply the learning materials to hospitals that implement these programs. In the past two years, the HWI has prepared 145 educators or senior preceptors from 28 clinical facilities and 8 colleges in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The curriculum which is available on CD has been widely distributed throughout the state.
North Far North
A three-way collaboration between Enloe Medical Center, the Health Workforce Initiative, and the Northern Rural Training Employment Consortium (the local workforce investment board) created a unique blend of training for the North Far North region.
- Strategies for Excellence in Stroke Care Class - 45 participants
- Critical Care - 40 participants
- Basic Arrhythmia - 60 participants
- ACLS Classes - 100 participants
- Computer Skills classes in preparation for EHR implementation - 130 participants
Partnerships like this are critical in advancing the health care workforce in the state of California.
South Coast
HWI, South Coast, would like to acknowledge and express appreciation for the following industry partners who provided support for the Center for Nursing Expansion - Governor's WIA grant, 2005-2010 (Phase I):
- Arroyo Grande Community Hospital
- French Medical Center
- Marian Medical Center
- Mee Memorial
- Regional Medical Center
- Cities Community Hospital
- El Centro Regional
- Cottage Health Systems
- Regional Medical Center
- Community Hospital
- County Medical Center
- WIB, Santa Barbara County
- Hospital Assn of Southern California (HASC)
The support of these partners made it possible for the 5-college partnership of Allan Hancock College, Cuesta College, Moorpark College, Santa Barbara City College, and Ventura College, to not only qualify for and receive this grant in the first place, but also to successfully meet its goals - the most significant goal being the enrollment of 196 additional A.D.N. students!
Phase II of the Center for Nursing Expansion - Governor's WIA grant (2010-2014) is currently in progress and experiencing the same success through the partnership of the same colleges and the same industry partners (coordinated and directed by HWI, South Coast). Together, we make extraordinary things happen!
Bay Area
According to Kaiser Permanente, an estimated 20 percent of the Northern California KP workforce was not comfortable using computers. With the shift to more use of computers at work as a standard in the health care workplace, KP was interested in offering computer training to its employees.
Working with Kaiser Permanente's Office of Labor Management Partnership in Oakland, California, the Bay Area Health Workforce Initiative (HWI) at Mission College in Santa Clara, CA, taught basic computer skills to KP employees beginning in the fall 2009. This initial effort was so successful that additional courses in Word and Excel were scheduled. Approximately 160 South Bay Kaiser employees enrolled in the program. The classes were voluntary, usually with 20 students and were held in the evenings or on Saturdays, either at the KP medical center in Santa Clara or on the college campus. Students who signed up for the classes came from many departments across the organization including support services, nursing, and management. The project was funded by a grant from the California Community College Chancellor's Office.
San Diego/Imperial
The San Diego/Imperial Region HWI, formerly RHORC, has a long and successful history of collaborating with Kaiser Permanente. HWI is incredibly appreciative of the dedicated support of this outstanding partner. Some of the highlights of this long-standing relationship include:
- Mr. Chris Crisafulli initiated the relationship between Kaiser and RHORC with a grant of office space to house RHORC in the Kaiser Office Complex in Bonita, CA, along with the Welcome Back Center [WBC]; the HWI Offices are now located at Grossmont College, however, the Kaiser office space remains the home of the WBC, which helps internationally-trained health care professionals become licensed to work in California through the provision of educational and case management services
- Marlene Ruiz, RN, BSN, MA, Director of Education and Consulting Services at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, has coordinated and taught a portion of the NCLEX Review Course for Foreign-Trained Nurses since inception in 2004, and she was a consultant for the development of the Pre-NCLEX Review Course for Foreign-Trained Nurses, which she continues to coordinate and teach; many of the graduates from these courses have gone on to pass the NCLEX, and are employed in health care facilities throughout San Diego County
- The San Diego Perioperative Nursing Program was a consortium training program of RHORC, Kaiser, the VA, Scripps Green, and Sharp Memorial Hospital, which won a Chancellor's Office Return on Investment Award in 2000
- HWI/RHORC, Kaiser, and several other industry and community partners [including but not limited to Scripps, Tri City Medical Center, Alvarado Hospital, Sharp HealthCare, Palomar Pomerado Hospital, Rady Children's Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, and the VA] worked together to establish the first MLT program in San Diego at Southwestern College
- RHORC funded 2 years of the San Diego Nursing Service-Education Consortium during its development phase until it became self-supporting; since 1996, the Consortium has provided clinical placements for all the nursing students in San Diego County; currently over 4,000 student placements are made per year
- HWI has recently funded the addition of an Allied Health Clinical Placement component to the Consortium website
- The Health Education Summer Institute [HESI] provide 3 weeks of clinical exposure to high school students interested in health careers; this program has now expanded county-wide and is moving toward state-wide implementation through the Health and Sciences Pipeline Initiative [HASPI]
- Marlene Ruiz, RN, BSN, MA, Director of Education and Consulting Services at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, is on both the local and statewide Advisory Board of HWI, as well as the Welcome Back Center, and has been one of our most ardent supporters over the years
We extend our sincere gratitude to our very valuable community partner, Kaiser Permanente.
