STC is offering a 16-week Registered Nursing Re-Entry Program for individuals interested in reentering the nursing profession.

The current shortage of health care workers in the U.S. has created a dire need for qualified registered nurses and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Rio Grande Valley. In an effort to fill the void, South Texas College’s Nursing and Allied Health Campus is offering a Registered Nursing Re-Entry Program to prepare individuals who have been out of nursing for more than four years to reenter the profession.

The Texas Board of Nurse Examiners recommends that any nurse out of the workforce for more than four years take a refresher course to brush up their skills. The college has joined forces with Austin Community College (ACC) to make the nursing re-entry course easily accessible for RNs and LVNs living in the Valley.

The program consists of 112 hours of online didactic studies with modules covering topics like trends in nursing, the nursing process, review of pathology and patient information. Additionally, students must complete 16 hours of lab work, and an 80 hour clinical preceptorship, which includes 16 hours of skills lab work. ACC will teach the online portion of the course while an STC instructor will lead the skills lab and preceptorship.

“A large number of individuals who have been out of the workforce for some time want to practice again and our new program will make it possible,” said Dores Jay-Pang, director of STC’s Center of Excellence for Health Professions Development. “We want to prepare the experienced nurse for re-entry into the profession and help them develop the clinical competence to make that transition in just 16 weeks. So all you retired nurses, don’t miss the opportunity to get back into the healthcare workforce. Our community needs you!”

The cost of the skills lab and clinical preceptorship portions of program is $650, which covers all course materials, supervision and coordination of the course, as well as consultations between participants and STC instructors. Registration begins December 1, 2009.

For more information or to enroll contact Jay-Pang at 956-872-3106 or at djaypang@southtexascollege.edu.