PUC’s new Paramedic to RN program has received full approval and is ready for its first cohort to begin in Fall 2022. The program is one of only a few of its kind in the state of California and will enable students with a paramedic background to continue their education and become registered nurses (RN). The program was presented to the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) during an onsite campus visit during April and granted official approval on May 17.
Classes and labs for the Paramedic to RN path will be held at the college’s satellite campus in nearby Napa, California, which makes the program more accessible for commuting students. The new program also follows a non-traditional format built to accommodates busy professionals, following the successful model of PUC’s existing licensed vocational nurse (LVN) to RN program.
“Classroom instruction is taught in ‘core weeks’ where students come to class Sunday to Wednesday for eight-hour days every six weeks, and 12-hour clinicals are held on Sundays,” said Debra Wallace, Associate Professor of Nursing and Director of off campus programs. “This format allows individuals to be able to pursue a professional nursing degree while continuing to work full-time, fulfill military commitments, or keep up with other life obligations that do not always fit into a traditional college schedule.”
Plans for the new program, formally titled Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P) to RN, began in the summer of 2021. Wallace worked with Kimberly Dunker, Professor of Nursing and department Chair of PUC’s nursing and health sciences programs, as well as Cori Carlson, advisor for paramedic students, to see how the department could best support an expansion that would meet the interest of paramedics eager to obtain nursing degrees.
In addition to the core week structure, the operations model they developed for the Paramedic to RN path also parallels the LVN to RN program by starting with an initial seven-day “bridge” course. This is followed by a comprehensive exam before the program’s students join others in their first session of nursing curriculum.
Interest in PUC’s new path for paramedics is already showing a similar level of popularity. Within hours of the school launching a social media promotion campaign, there were more than 35 inquiries for the nine available spots for Fall 2022.