Yeah.

This scene is being repeated at this moment in many 

places.

A nurse is many things to many people.

She is called upon to fulfill many roles.

She is of assistance to the physician.

She's a means of comfort and counsel to the patient's 

family.

She's a symbol of constant vigilance to the general public.

To the educator,

she's a competent member of the nursing profession.

At this moment,

to the patient,

she brings reassurance,

comfort,

care,

and a friendly smile.

Under the exterior of this uniform,

the patient sees someone who cares.

She is confident in her ability and knowledge,

knowledge gained through formal education and 

experience as she brings relief in 

answer to the call for help.

As the population increases,

there's a growing demand for the services nurses 

render.

Concern not only about the supply of nurses,

but the quality of nursing care is an old 

story,

but a realistic one that produced a 

nationwide program of nursing education 

through one of the fastest growing collegiate enterprises 

in America today,

the community colleges.

Taking supply,

demand,

and quality into consideration,

a new story of an experiment in nursing education 

was produced.

It created an idea,

an idea with a future.

Any idea with the future must have a 

past.

It began in 1952 and spread 

across the nation.

Seven two-year colleges were selected as pilot 

institutions to begin the associate degree nursing 

program.

This cooperative group included a variety of types of 

junior and community colleges.

This college,

Virginia Intermount,

and Virginia State were among the pioneering 

seven.

Along with Farley Dickinson in Rutherford,

New Jersey.

Orange County Community College in Middletown,

New York.

Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn,

Michigan.

Pasadena City College in California,

where an associate degree nursing program is offered.

In Ogden,

Utah at Weaver College.

It started with these seven in 1952 

and has since grown to include close to 

100 such community colleges.

One of these colleges may be in your own community,

like this one located in Suffern,

New York.

Rockland Community College,

where a nursing program is in progress.

The purpose of any community college is to serve 

the local educational needs of the community.

Here at Rockland,

a 2-year curriculum is provided in the arts and 

sciences,

business,

and nursing.

Graduates may go directly into the world of industry and 

business or continue their studies by 

transferring to a 4-year institution.

Two degrees,

the associate in applied science and the Associate in 

arts are offered in its day and evening divisions.

Rockland provides students of all ages with a 

college education that includes a full range 

of extracurricular activities.

Come on 

This is Dan Meadows,

science major.

He plans to apply his two-year course credits toward 

advanced study at a four-year college to obtain a 

bachelor's degree.

Carol Heineman is Rockland's outstanding cheerleader.

Her ambition is to be an outstanding secretary in the 

business world when she completes her two-year course of 

study.

Dave Charnovsky is one of the married students at the 

college.

He came to Rockland to study accounting.

Come on,

come on 

This is Karen Hudson.

She wants to become a nurse.

She entered Rockland because the college is close by her 

home.

Many of her friends attend the school.

The tuition is within her means,

and an associate degree nursing program is offered.

This chair might well remain empty 

if there were no associate degree nursing 

program.

A potential nurse would be lost to the nursing 

profession.

But there is a Karen,

a nursing program,

and a class in session.

How was your psychology exam?

We've been discussing the problem patients have with 

mobility.

Last week,

several of you took care of patients who had difficulty getting out of 

bed because of paralysis.

Others took care of patients who had difficulty walking because 

they had fractures.

Still others took care of patients who had 

difficulty turning in bed because of surgery affecting the 

spinal cord.

Were you able to identify what had happened to the patient to cause 

his limitation?

You will recall from the anatomy and physiology you studied with Mr.

Lake last semester how the muscles act under normal 

circumstances.

What has happened to these patients to interfere with what 

their muscles would do normally?

Soon these students will receive their associate 

degrees.

Most have decided to enter the nursing field in this community.

Time has a way of passing quickly for active 

people.

For Karen,

it doesn't seem so long since she first started 

the nursing program at Rockland.

It all really began with her first interview with the 

chairman of the nursing department of the college.

She's the key coordinator of the nursing program.

It's her job to make all the pieces of a 

complex program not only fit into place,

but to work perfectly.

Welcome to Rockland,

Karen.

As you know,

this program will take 2 years.

It'll be 2 busy.

To earn your associate degree will mean a great deal of work on 

your part.

The faculty will work with you 

and for you During this 

initial discussion and in the months to come,

Karen will learn what the department chairman really means by 

the statement.

The faculty will work with you and for you.

As a student,

Karen will profit from the college's well planned 

curriculum,

personal guidance,

and appropriate teaching methods.

She will have the opportunity to obtain direct nursing 

experience by educational assignments in local 

health agencies,

agencies that can be found in almost every community.

The curriculum is also designed to provide Karen with 

courses of study in general education.

Byron,

Dostoevsky,

and Frost find their places in Karen's educational 

life along with petri dishes,

test tubes,

and respirators.

Raskolnikov's crime,

as well as the implications of his crime are not 

those of the usual criminal.

His first motive is this Robin Hood 

concept in which he regards himself 

as sort of a modern day Robin Hood,

who robs from the rich and gives to the poor.

The second of these motives is the extraordinary 

man theory in which Raskolnikov 

places himself above ordinary 

morality,

places himself above and beyond the moral code 

of his fellow human beings.

The college aims at developing the individual as a 

citizen,

as a worker,

as a responsible person.

Through cooperative planning by the faculty and the 

administration,

a curriculum was developed that would meet the objectives of the 

nursing program.

This is the core of the idea with the 

future,

an idea which represents neither the first two years of a 

4-year baccalaureate program nor a 

shortening of the traditional 3-year diploma program.

General education courses account for about 

15 of the curriculum.

Along with other students,

Karen will study such courses as psychology,

physical science,

world literature,

sociology,

biology,

and English.

Her education in nursing will account for the remaining 

half of the curriculum.

Interrelated courses that provide the opportunity for 

study,

observation,

and experience will help cement a firm 

foundation for learning.

The instructor must choose from those experiences that 

best meet course objectives.

The community agencies offer innumerable learning 

experiences.

Throughout the program,

the college nursing instructor directs the application of the 

principles learned in the classroom through 

demonstrations and actual experiences in the 

hospital setting.

The instructor must then help Karen and the other 

students to relate these experiences to the 

total educational program.

With babies,

children,

or adults,

Karen will have enough practice to make her 

confident.

Oh.

Ah.

Learning the fundamentals of nursing will cover many 

areas.

For example,

it will provide Karen with knowledge about giving 

medication.

She will be taught about asepsis,

a technique for controlling the spread of infectious diseases 

from herself and her surroundings.

In brief,

Karen will learn the principles and practices 

necessary in order to care for patients.

To enable her to understand the nursing roles involved 

in caring for both sick and well children,

Karen will have the opportunity to learn in real 

life situations,

such as day nurseries and a pediatrician's office.

In this community's orthopedic hospital,

the students gain an understanding of the problems 

associated with long-term illness and the 

emotional problems that often come with prolonged 

hospitalization.

These firsthand experiences by the nursing 

student in this environment,

as well as other cooperative community agencies 

provide firsthand insight into 

understanding nursing problems.

At another specialized hospital,

Karen will learn the fundamentals of nursing in a 

setting different from the general hospital where most of the 

clinical experience takes place.

This hospital and other clinical facilities are used as an 

extension of the college campus.

It becomes a college laboratory.

Before Karen has experience with patients in any of these 

health facilities.

She attends a briefing session known as a 

pre-conference.

It is here that objectives are set for her experience in the 

clinical laboratory.

Each day,

the college nursing instructor separates the 

routine activities from the important activities 

that will be of most value in the learning process.

Each laboratory session is intended to provide 

meaningful experiences previously agreed upon by 

the faculty.

What she learns,

where and how she learns is based upon 

careful selection of clinical experiences.

This is the heart of her nursing instruction.

Today's assignment,

another aspect of maternal and child care.

Each student is given an assignment,

a learning experience for Jean,

an assignment that she has waited for for some time.

Today she will have the opportunity to observe the 

delivery of a baby.

Betty Ann's objective is set.

Today she will be in the hospital nursery.

Karen will be with a mother who gave birth to a 

baby boy.

Today's location,

Good Samaritan Hospital.

Here,

the students will have an opportunity to carry out their 

objectives as planned and discussed at the 

pre-conference briefing.

Armed with the information and knowledge of their 

assignments,

they begin the day's experiences.

How are you,

Mrs.

Peterson?

Fine,

I'm sure Dr.

Davis will let me go home tomorrow.

I know you'll be glad to be home to the other children.

Yes,

I missed them very much.

Why do you have to do that again?

You've been very active and it's wise to make certain there's no 

change in your blood pressure.

No change.

Thank you,

Mrs.

Peterson.

Good,

you student nurses do things so nicely.

Thank you.

You know,

we like to think of ourselves as nursing students rather 

than student nurses.

Oh,

is there a difference?

Yes,

you see,

I'm a college student with a major in nursing.

You mean you take other courses besides nursing?

Yes,

I take liberal arts courses,

and there's lots of opportunities for all sorts of other school 

activities.

I'm like all the other students at the college,

except they're not majoring in nursing.

It sounds like a very busy schedule.

Sure is.

I spend most of my time at classes at the college and here 

at the hospital,

but I have time for school athletics and I belong to the 

drama club.

I'm also chairman of the annual concert series.

By the way,

I hope you'll come to our concert next month.

I'll be glad to come if I can.

Your nursing program sounds very interesting.

It's certainly been a break for me.

Here,

let me fix your pillow for you.

How long does it take to graduate from the course?

2 years.

Then I'll get an associate degree from the college.

There now,

isn't that better?

What do you mean by an associate degree?

Won't you be a registered nurse?

The degree is given by the college to show that I've completed 

all of the college courses,

but I have to pass the state board examination to become 

licensed as a registered nurse.

The RN is not a degree.

It indicates registration by the state.

I'll take the exam right after graduation.

You'll make a fine nurse.

Just between you and me,

I don't think you have a thing to worry about.

And Hello,

Mrs.

Peterson.

Oh,

doctor,

I will be going home,

all I.

My blood pressure is fine.

Well,

now,

let's just take a look.

Do.

Of course,

everything's fine.

I'll have to call my husband right away and give him the good news.

Everyone's been so wonderful,

including the student nurse,

or I mean the nursing students.

No,

doctor,

I had no idea our community college taught 

nursing.

Yes,

we've all been pleased with this development in our 

community.

We've been working with the college from the start.

Do you teach the students?

Well,

not in the usual sense of classroom 

lectures.

We,

the doctors help the student in the hospital setting to 

better understand the medical implications of the 

patient care they are learning.

In my opinion,

it is a most dynamic way of teaching.

Type of medications,

this is Peterson.

Immediately after each hospital experience,

the students attend a post conference.

Here,

the skill and understanding of the faculty are put to the 

test.

Impressions,

comments,

opinions are reported and discussed concerning the 

immediate and newly gained knowledge.

Karen will have an opportunity to share her 

experiences with other students,

and they will share theirs.

I don't know how to explain how I felt.

I'm not even sure where to start.

I've never seen anything.

So wonderful.

It was the most exciting experience,

and I was so glad to be able to help.

If only all of you could have been there,

you'll probably all have a chance later.

How do you think the mother felt when you showed her the baby?

It was thrilling to see the mother's reaction.

Why don't you start at the beginning?

All right,

Ms.

Rubino.

It started when you and I admitted the patient.

We assisted her during her labor.

Here the comments about the students' experiences are 

drawn out and examined by the faculty and other students.

What were the responsibilities of the nurse in the delivery room?

What did the doctor do to assist with the delivery?

And so the questions go.

The answers come and knowledge increases.

Through group discussion,

the experiences of the individual student 

becomes the experience of all.

Karen and her classmates will remember only 

too well their past learning 

experiences.

If it were not for the associate degree nursing program,

many would have missed this opportunity to find their place in the 

nursing field.

Housewives and mothers who have raised their families 

often welcome the chance to prepare themselves for a 

second career,

that of bedside nursing.

Men also needed in the nursing field are being 

attracted to these programs.

With half the curriculum concentrated in the sciences and 

humanities,

students develop a broad educational background that is 

a benefit to them and their community.

The chance to attend general education classes with 

other non-nursing students is an important part of 

their educational experience.

Of equal importance is the way in which they are 

being prepared to adapt nursing knowledge and 

skills to a constantly changing pattern 

of health care.

What does the development of the community college nursing program 

mean?

The meaning depends upon whose eyes see 

the program.

To each group,

it has a different meaning.

It is seen through many eyes.

To the nurse,

it means.

The associate degree nursing program with its 

emphasis on direct patient care is in 

itself a contribution to our profession.

To the citizen,

the nursing program has meaning in the community.

We're very much aware of the college's contribution 

to the people of our community in providing 

preparation for nursing as well as other 

occupations.

Direct benefits to the community will be 

realized through the graduates of this program.

The program seen through the eyes of the 

educator.

The nursing program at our community college has 

provided educational benefits for the students 

by making possible a close working relationship 

between the members of the faculty,

the students,

non-nursing and nursing,

and the many community agencies which cooperate with 

the college.

To the student,

it has a very special meaning.

It's the inner satisfaction of knowing that I'm able 

to answer the call for help.

To get a college education is in itself an 

accomplishment.

To become a nurse while getting that education is the 

fulfillment of a dream.