Faculty matters.(Orange County Community College)

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

DAVID RABINOWITSCH, DNP, RN, is an assistant professor of nursing at Orange County Community College (OCCC) in Middletown, New York, one of the original AD nursing programs started in 1952. A holistic nurse and certified Healing Touch practitioner and instructor, David teaches HT in Sweden and Denmark, primarily for nurses and other allied health professionals. He also works per diem for a local hospice.

The expectation at OCCC, David explains, is that faculty have multiple areas of expertise. He teaches fundamentals, medical-surgical, intensive care, psychiatric mental health, and occasionally pediatric nursing in at least two and sometimes three settings (lecture, nursing skills lab, skill evaluation area, and clinical). Plus, he offers HT as a nursing elective.

Like most schools of nursing, OCCC has had a shortage of nurse faculty, even adjuncts, in the last few years, leading to double clinical assignments for full-time faculty. David likes this role. "We have found that it helps maintain standards and increases support for students because the faculty members are also available for them on campus."

In their last few weeks of school, OCCC students take part in a "preceptorship" clinical, in which students work one-on-one with a staff nurse, caring for multiple clients. "It is a way to transition from student to new nurse, with no instructor standing over them. Here, my role is facilitator of learning, helping students work with their preceptors, ensuring that they can meet the course objectives."

Although the vast majority of nurses in the United States enter practice at the community college level, David is concerned that many nursing organizations and nursing journals minimize this education and devalue the quality of the faculty. "Our students often have full-time jobs and family responsibilities," he points out. "Of 128 newly admitted students, only a dozen or so are right out of high school and have parents to support them. Many were high school or first-time college dropouts, and they still carry that stigma with them. Many are in nursing as a second career and suddenly go from the top of the ladder to novices in an unknown environment. These situations can be scary and difficult. As mentors, faculty often have to be part social worker, yet maintain very high academic standards, successfully preparing new nurses in two years."

Noting the rigor required for success in a nursing program, David is concerned when students are overly confident. "Some think that if they just show up and do the minimal work, that is enough. It is challenging working with students who don't put client needs first. These same students often have difficulty dealing with accepting criticism and limit-setting." Another concern he notes is that students are graduating from high school ill prepared to do well in real science courses, "never mind understanding the two-volume, 20-pound medical-surgical textbook we use!"