NURSING WASHOUTS LOW GRADUATION RATE IN L.A. PROGRAMS WORSENS SHORTAGE IN STATE.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

Aggravating California's critical nursing shortage, nearly a quarter of all students studying to be nurses in Los Angeles community colleges dropped out in 2003-04 - a rate more than 35 percent higher than the statewide average.

College officials say the dropout rate is so high that it is becoming one of the most significant bottlenecks in an already-strained system that produces two-thirds of the state's nurses.

Seeking to stem the drain, growing numbers of college officials have begun pushing for tighter admissions standards that they say would help prevent unprepared applicants from ever entering a system that already has student waiting lists of as long as three years. Students now are admitted based on a lottery for slots, without regard to their preparedness.

``At no point have we said we want to deny access,'' said Sue Albert, southern section president of the state organization for directors of programs that award associate degrees in nursing. ``We just want to make sure people are prepared to come into the program.''

LACCD nursing students had a districtwide dropout rate of 23.2 percent, compared with 17.1 percent at community colleges statewide. The attrition rate in nursing programs at four-year schools is even lower, 10.8 percent compared with the 17.1 percent at community colleges in 2003-04, according to the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

Six of the Los Angeles district's nine colleges have nursing programs, with individual schools' dropout rates ranging from 1.2 percent to 43.6 percent, according to the education commission and the Board of Registered Nursing.

Officials would not identify individual schools' rates.

The high dropout rate in the community colleges, especially in Los Angeles, was blamed primarily on the fact that students often try to juggle courses with the demands of full-time jobs and family duties. Students also may be struggling with English or finding themselves underprepared for the demanding courses.

Darroch ``Rocky'' Young, senior vice chancellor for LACCD, said he didn't know why the district's dropout rates are higher than those in the rest of the state, but he noted that 40 percent of the district's students do not speak English as their first language and that many work and have families.

Albert, who also is head of the nursing program at College of the Canyons, added other reasons.

``Then you have the issues where people are unable to do critical thinking and can't do correct math and can't recognize that their math is incorrect. A decimal in a wrong place can be a lethal dose.''

LACCD officials said they are working to improve the system and standardize curriculum. Pierce, Valley and Harbor colleges also have started a pilot program for admissions criteria to give priority to the best-prepared students.

Instead of a lottery system, the colleges will use a ``cut score,'' based on a student's overall grade-point average, as well as grade-point averages in English, anatomy, physiology and microbiology courses. Officials also will take into account whether the student had to repeat any of those classes.

Students who don't qualify will be offered remediation classes. The new admissions system is scheduled to start next year.

``We want to put the people who have a high probability of success in the program, and maybe we can encourage (the others) to take additional course work - or bring them up slower,'' said Mary Cox, chairwoman of the Health Sciences Department at Valley College and director of the nursing program.

Cox, who took over Valley's program last October, has whittled its waiting list from 467 students to about 141, and she isn't letting more students apply until that list has been handled.

The program accepts about 36 new students every semester - more if grant money is available.

Valley College student Bessie Euceda, 19, of Panorama City, said she's pleased the college is streamlining its process.

With a ``B'' grade average, Euceda is completing her second year of prerequisite courses, working full time at a clinic and hoping to be able to enter the nursing program next year.

But she thinks struggling students should be helped, too.

``I think everybody (who wants to) should get in,'' said Euceda, who has a 4-year-old son and a husband who works for a restaurant. ``If somebody gets good grades, it may not be because of intelligence but because they work harder.''

Christi Hamilton, nursing department chairwoman at Pierce College, said there are about 200 people on the waiting list for her program, which admits about 44 students each semester and graduates about 60 nurses a year.

She credited the college's low dropout rate of 1.2 percent to faculty members' efforts to identify potential obstacles and to help students overcome them.

Officials note that the LACCD nursing programs themselves appear to be doing well in educating students. More than two-thirds of all who complete district programs pass the state nursing exam. The rate ranged from 72 percent at Trade-Technical College to 92 percent at Harbor College last year.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Patricia Moynihan, right, a Pierce College nursing student, gets close supervision from Michele Borenstein, a registered nurse at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer