Examining Parts of the Nursing Program A deep cough, a soar throat, and a spiked fever all lead to a doctor’s visit. One of the first people a patient sees is a nurse. The Hutchinson Community College nursing programs jump-start the life of a nurse. To acquire the proper knowledge and skill to be a nurse, it takes time and effort, and HCC walks students through this process. Someone interested in becoming a nurse through HCC has the option to do so in two ways: the traditional program to receive an RN degree, or the Online Bridge Program to receive
Amanda McCoy, Hutchinson, reads the label of an IV bottle. Carol List, nursing laboratory assistant/ tutor, directed an assignment that showed students how to calculate dosage for individual patients.
an LPN or Paramedic degree. To be admitted into the program, a 2.75 GPA is required along with a few prerequisites. “For the traditional program, the two classes that must be completed is Anatomy and Physiology and English Composition One,” Debra Hackler,
director of associate degree nursing program/department co-chair allied health, said. “There are six other general education courses within the curriculum: Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Public Speaking, Microcomputer Literacy, Medical Terminology
and Microbiology.” The Online Bridge Program works in the same way. It, too, requires courses that need to be completed with a 2.75 GPA to be accepted into the program. The prerequisites are similar to the traditional program, however, instead of Medical Terminology and Microbiology, the online students take Pathophysiology. “We literally have students all over the country, corner to corner,” Terri Leroy, secretary associates degree nursing program, said. “I have even talked to potential students in Alaska and Hawaii.”
Tabitha Reid, Hutchinson, concentrates on the precision of her needle as she inserts an IV into an artificial arm. Nursing students studied IV’s and how and where to put the needle.
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